The advent of selfish behaviour

This is not a rant about Black Friday, though it could be. Nor about Cyber Monday, though it should be. It's not even about Giving Tuesday though this final one incensed me so much I unleashed a full-on rant to colleagues when one of them told me about it. Are we so collectively rubbish on 364 days of... Continue Reading →

December 6, 2015 4

Lamp Posts and Bus Stops

I gave a mini-English lesson this evening as I waited for the bus home. I always have interesting moments at this bus stop after yoga class. Is it the bus stop? Maybe it's like the lamppost in Narnia -- where meetings happen! No, it's probably more likely another curious side-effect of yoga. Maybe somehow I give... Continue Reading →

December 1, 2015 2

Knitting up the ravelled sleeve

My favourite cardigan has a huge hole in one elbow. I guess it's the arm I lean on the table when I'm thinking. Part of my habitual asymmetry. It's just the cardie that I wear at home, but it's soft and snuggly and perfect for private times. My family urge me to throw my beloved cardie... Continue Reading →

December 1, 2015 6

Answering from the heart

"just wonderful!" "fruit and pizza" "gravity in the belly" What are these? Answers I've given this week to questions. Questions that people have asked me with the explicit instruction to answer first, think later. They're after gut-reactions, not reasoned cognitive responses, nor the sound of my ego projecting itself into the situation. I hate this!... Continue Reading →

November 26, 2015 0

Beginner brain and pomegranates

I'm guessing (from the wisdom of my two and a bit years!) that one of the secrets of a long-lasting yoga practice is to retain the 'beginner brain', to keep seeing things afresh, finding novelty in the familiar. Keeping it vital. It's a nice attitude to have in life too and I've been trying to... Continue Reading →

November 12, 2015 2

The Upward Spiral

There was a bit of reporting earlier in the year on the inter web (like this article) summarising some recent research by Alex Korb which -- as I understand it (I've not actually read it) -- he published in book form as The Upward Spiral. The book is marketed as the neuroscience of depression, but the popular reportage was entitled... Continue Reading →

October 8, 2015 4

Simple smiles

It's a long weekend in the UK. That in itself is enough to make me smile. Just a bit more time to do whatever presents itself. A feeling of a bonus day. It's been a day full of things to make me smile: Surprising sunshine on my way to class this morning. I felt properly... Continue Reading →

August 29, 2015 4

Slightly green and I’m lovin’ it!

I hate planes and I hate airports! Holiday travel this year was by train and it suits me much better. I'd like to say it's my green credentials cutting down airmiles (I'm being inspired by the lovely blog A Lazy Girl Goes Green) but it's more selfish than that, based on my preferences and the ease... Continue Reading →

August 3, 2015 2

A weekend of celebrations

Happy International Yoga Day, yogis and readers! I was excited that my home studio was offering 'bring a friend for free' today to celebrate the occasion. Ordinarily this would have been a great opportunity for me to mix up my yoga with my social life and maybe introduce someone new to yoga. But I wasn't... Continue Reading →

June 21, 2015 2

Expressing happiness

I realised recently that I've developed an emotional tic of biting my lip. Not an anxiety thing, but as a way of controlling the insane grin that's liable to break across my face at odd moments when I relax. I notice this a lot while I'm out and about, walking to work, doing the shopping. It's less a... Continue Reading →