May wildflowers come up on my yoga mat

I was really looking forward to going back to class again today. Hamstring feeling pretty OK after its recent debut back at my home studio. And heaven knows I felt in need of all that yoga could offer me after my day yesterday: travelling to a conference, all day standing up in suit and heels,... Continue Reading →

April 12, 2015 3

Back to class

My alarm went off at 5.45 today -- not a mistake! I was up early to walk across town (no cycling allowed yet) to my yoga studio for MY FIRST CLASS IN 3 MONTHS! Excuse the shouty capitals, but I was just a little bit excited by this (as regular readers will have noticed!). And the... Continue Reading →

April 10, 2015 4

Where I part company from my physio – hopefully for some time!

I didn’t sleep much last night. My mind was running round and round in circles (like a dog chasing it's tail -- you got it!). It wasn’t bad. I mean I wasn’t churning anxieties over or replaying conversations with what-ifs or thinking up belated clever ripostes. I was just too excited plain and simple. I... Continue Reading →

April 8, 2015 4

Will my mum give up yoga?

My mum is awesome. I reckon she invented the concept of unconditional love. She has always been my number one fan, even when she didn't quite get what I was up to or why it was important to me. She has been my rock through the years, the person I turned to for advice and... Continue Reading →

April 6, 2015 3

Flying carpets and the weight of expectation

I've heard people describe their yoga mat as a flying carpet, alluding presumably to the places it transports them in their practice. Having been on the road with my mat for a month in Greece I'm just back at home for a day before I head back to Heathrow for another trip. So I also am feeling... Continue Reading →

March 28, 2015 4

On my mat with the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I love audiobooks. They are terrific for me when I'm too tired to read and want some easy entertainment. Recently I've been revisiting my childhood and listening to an audiobook of the Narnia stories by C.S. Lewis. One of the plot devices in the stories is that Narnia time is different, and that however long... Continue Reading →

March 21, 2015 4

Me and my physio

It seems like a long time ago that I frantically asked my teacher for physio recommendations. Now I feel as though I practically have A on speed-dial! She's been great in helping me heal the damage to my hamstring tendons and very patient with me, despite the fact that she more often deals with proper... Continue Reading →

March 18, 2015 3

Enjoying sufficiency — on and off the mat

Being away from home with limited possessions, clothing, books, company, and vocabulary even has paradoxically made it easier to focus on what I have, rather than what I don't have. On this trip I often feel that everything is simply sufficient, all that is required. Amazing preparation and uncanny packing abilities or just my state of... Continue Reading →

March 16, 2015 3

Come rain or shine

The view from my temporary home in Laconia in Greece today offers me a palette of grey as alternating rain, mist, and hail rolls past my window. Each of these weather phenomena has been thick enough to virtually obscure the surroundings. It's not a day to be out and about it. So we're taking a... Continue Reading →

March 13, 2015 0

Changing my (mental) landscape

My asana practice has taken a knock of late owing to a hamstring injury and since I'm away from home for a few weeks I've been finding it difficult even to keep to my routine of physio exercises. When I rolled out my mat yesterday I was actually full of dread. That's not an emotion I... Continue Reading →