Practice makes much less than perfect

"I don't want you to be good at this, I want you to practise being really bad at something." My teacher has given me a new chant to practise this week. She's going to give me a new chant to practise every week for six weeks. I'm not supposed to get good at them in... Continue Reading →

May 22, 2023 2

Dabbling

I'm dabbling a little in Vedic chanting right now. I'm not fully committed, just dabbling. Like a duck or a duckling, just very unlike a baby crow 🙂 I am drawn to the simplicity of this form, just as my mother was in a previous life drawn to plainchant. These limited tones carry an infinity... Continue Reading →

March 24, 2023 1

6 weeks later

I just completed my six weeks of beginner weights training! Oof, quite an experience. I was chatting over with a girlfriend recently. She's the best! Eagerly asking about it, keen to hear how I had found it, more interested in the mental/emotional difficulties she anticipated I would have with this degree of physical effort. She... Continue Reading →

March 10, 2023 0

30 day yoga challenge

One of the studios where I teach has just run a 30 day challenge. I found it really hard. Not because I participated myself but because I kept getting drawn into conversations I didn't want to have about it with the students. The judgmental part of my brain just wanted to laugh out loud at... Continue Reading →

February 23, 2023 0

Comparisons can be helpful

I finally got back to handstand class this week. I was paired with a really great partner who was fantastic at spotting me, giving loads of verbal and physical feedback which helped me feel safe and steady. I had a great practice. Yay! Much better than a previous experience of partner work. This time we... Continue Reading →

February 10, 2023 2

Where’s the new year headed?

"New year, new you"? No, that's never been my way! I'm a chronic hater of New Year's resolutions and that whole vibe of self-improvement. My changes tend to be slower and quieter, more integrated into my general practice rather than listed out in a goal-setting page in a bullet journal. But this year things are... Continue Reading →

January 29, 2023 0

Hero pose

In my early yoga years I looked up to everyone. The guys with a strength and stamina that intimidating me massively, the flexible girls who effortlessly folded in half or wiggled an ankle behind the neck, the energetic asana teachers who led a packed room through a sweaty sequence, the imperturbable meditation teachers who quietly... Continue Reading →

November 11, 2022 1

Goggles

I was at a wedding recently. It was loads of fun, with mealtime conversation ranging widely and lots of laughs, although we didn't know each other. A beautiful moment of coming together with strangers as we shared a common love for the bride. One small part of the conversation came back to me recently. A... Continue Reading →

July 15, 2022 5

Days of rest

Two days before I went on vacation I taught a yoga class. It was restorative style. I joked with the students about how difficult I find holiday-time, how it takes me a few days to slide from habitual busyness towards rest and days that are not filled with obligations and self-imposed duties -- yes, they... Continue Reading →

July 9, 2022 3

Mindful teaching

I'm part way through teaching a short course on mindfulness to a small group of students. It's my first time teaching a sustained course over two months and my first time teaching mindfulness. I was not at all sure it would work, that I could do it, or what the students would bring to it... Continue Reading →