Mind your own business

Students in a class I attend regularly have started commenting quietly on a particular yogīni's practice and taking subtle steps to avoid practising too close to her. I thought it was only me that found her a bit disturbing at close quarters. I'm all too easily intimidated in the yoga room. She's not deliberately disruptive nor working her own... Continue Reading →

January 30, 2017 1

Resistance is futile

I sometimes wonder whether I will ever have enough humility to practise yoga with any true commitment. Two snapshots from class today: We were in Child's Pose and I could tell what was coming: it wasn't intended as a resting pose as often in class, rather it was meant as a posture to bring us to our... Continue Reading →

January 28, 2017 0

What am I really teaching?

My own teacher's professional biog has something about him teaching to affect head and heart. I don't remember the exact words but I do remember the wonder I first felt in his classes, still feel very vividly even a few years on. In my own practice I'm still very much figuring out the power of... Continue Reading →

January 27, 2017 2

Teaching prep

Prep for teaching today: a couple of hours on the sofa, clutching a hot water bottle against my stomach cramps, a box of tissues within hand's reach. I have a cold and it's rocked my system a bit overall; it doesn't take much to throw me off balance. It's OK, it'll pass, I know that.... Continue Reading →

January 25, 2017 4

Will the day be bright or cloudy?

We got yoga homework from class last week -- maybe that's my teacher's take on being more strict! On the theme of change: the challenge was to see if we could take a different route to work each day. Of course that's just the 'physical practice', the real interest lies beneath. What might this change in a... Continue Reading →

January 23, 2017 2

Mind the step

I've just stepped on the train heading home after a weekend with my parents. A 4 hour train journey ahead, laden with food from my mum (including a piece of her chocolate cake!). Suddenly she asked anxiously, "How will you spend your time on the train? Do you need a book to read?" She always... Continue Reading →

January 22, 2017 2

Heart stopping yoga

I thought I was going to have a (thankfully metaphorical) heart attack in class the other night. Not because I was pushing myself too far, certainly not because the teacher was driving us hard, and not because I'd stepped up to face my inner demons and taken myself (and the demons) along to the weekly advanced class,... Continue Reading →

January 20, 2017 0

In the way but moving in the right direction

Crazy, wonderful Tuesdays. Up early for some teaching practice before breakfast. Then a busy day at work including a full-on couple of hours with my boss working through something bogglingly technical together because it was a two-brain problem, my lunchtime spent writing a little story in Sanskrit for my homework, then finally running out of the office... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2017 5

Who wants a strict teacher?

Someone has asked my teacher to be more strict. He mentioned it in class last night. I don't know what he made of this request (inscrutable yoga teacher!) but it rang alarm bells to me. More strict? Seriously? For me he's strict enough already. But subtly so and only if I choose to meet him there (some... Continue Reading →

January 13, 2017 5

Incoming text message

When I finished my practice this afternoon, I spent a while crouching with one knee pulled up trying to massage my hamstring while the muscle was warm. I pulled it a bit recently (my tip: go super gently if you're cold, dehydrated and jet lagged and feeling impatient to get over the tightness of long-haul-hips!),... Continue Reading →