Weird wonderful Wednesday

Wednesdays are weird days for me. It's the one day of the week when I work a half day in the office and then the afternoon is mine. Or Yoga's! 🙂 It's the time when I usually teach, and I also have time to work on some yoga-related writing assignments and maybe a bit of... Continue Reading →

May 31, 2017 4

More or less yoga wear

A yoga outfit fail last week! I was coming straight from work, in a huge hurry because we'd had an end of financial year celebration (involving a soft drink only for me, in my yogic virtue 🙂 ), and when I got to the changing room with minutes to spare before class I realised I'd forgotten... Continue Reading →

May 29, 2017 2

Change challenge

I hate yoga challenges, you might have heard me say this before. But now I'm thinking about setting myself one... Bear with me. I love to be contrary, you know! So here's the story: A student of mine posted a lovely note on my FB page last week, telling me I'd been top of her... Continue Reading →

May 15, 2017 4

Buddha and the badger

How hard is it to sit still? It's one of those things that seems easy until you try it! I took up yoga precisely to help me with sitting still. Ah, the irony that movement has become such a dominant part of my practice now...! But even so I like to think I'm a tiny bit better now... Continue Reading →

May 6, 2017 2

Layer (not lāya) yoga

I found myself quite naturally using the model of koshas when I was talking to a friend recently, a yoga friend that is, so it wasn't as weird as it sounds. She was expressing fear or frustration about decision-making and I was speculating that good decision-making was a matter of getting quiet enough to hear... Continue Reading →

April 26, 2017 3

Larkin’ about with my mum and dad

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. It's really unfortunate that Philip Larkin's words are echoing round in my head after a weekend with my parents! It seems super-ungrateful,... Continue Reading →

April 2, 2017 2

Heart and ears

At work today I've been listening to a recording of a live kirtan hosted by a local Hindu group. I did this as a strange stress relief measure as I tackled an inbox burgeoning with technical queries that I must somehow understand and recommend solutions to. It pretty much worked -- though it didn't do wonders for... Continue Reading →

March 27, 2017 6

Neighbourhood weirdo

Often when I go to yoga class on a Sunday morning I run into a particular guy in the street. He's one of those local characters, a bit larger than life. He hangs around by the bus stop or the coffee shop and shouts out to people as they pass. He's really friendly, with his calls... Continue Reading →

March 26, 2017 3

Tired of tired

I've seen a couple of news items recently about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Two different research teams coming up with different hypotheses about what triggers abnormal fatigue. Both firm in their message that this is a physiological, not psychological, condition. There's even some hint of a drug treatment... perhaps. The New Scientist piece was even accompanied... Continue Reading →

March 1, 2017 6

Mantra-asana

I boldly offered my teacher some unsolicited thoughts recently about how to chant the mantra we're working with in class at the moment. I should probably refrain from doing that, but it was interesting to receive a comment back about how the mantra changes with time, as he repeats the chant. I wonder how much chanting... Continue Reading →