In which I bid farewell to the Sanskrit professor…

Regular readers will have copped a little of my frantic first week of UG level Sanskrit classes. Workload was heavy and the pace was frenetic. I had occasional joyous moments where I could keep up with what was happening, but mostly it was a lot of hard yards at home going back through classwork as well as preparing... Continue Reading →

October 20, 2015 4

Lighter and deeper

A young friend of mine has just bought a house with her boyfriend. To her the financial commitment of joint property ownership comes easier than the emotional commitment of getting married. I thought this was strange. But now I wonder if it's not as topsy-turvy as it seemed. At my local yoga studio after an initial... Continue Reading →

October 19, 2015 5

What yoga teaches me about learning Sanskrit

I still have nightmares of learning Latin as a child. One year my teacher had me reading Caesar with him ‘for fun’ once a week. We read at speed as a bit of a warm up for the real work. One class was particularly punishing: he was impatient and pushing faster, I lost my place... Continue Reading →

October 17, 2015 1

A pearl fisher in camouflage

Spoonies are masters of disguise. I sure know that with years of diligent practice I've developed the art of camouflaging how I feel: I only go out on good days, and the bad days spent curled up at home are invisible to everyone but my nearest and dearest. I sometimes don't even offer my friends the... Continue Reading →

October 14, 2015 7

Me and the tree. “Tim-ber!!!”

We have a beautiful mature ash tree in our garden. I love this tree so much! It's one of the reasons we bought our place, and it brings me such joy to see the birds, animals, and insects that live in and around it. Because of the pleasure it brings me, I feel very protective... Continue Reading →

October 12, 2015 2

Walk slowly

You know those times of coincidence, when the universe seems to offer you every chance at receiving a message -- it's offered to you in several forms and you somehow keep turning a blind eye to it? I've had so many messages to practice patience lovingly thrown across my path this week. The messengers have come... Continue Reading →

October 11, 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

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date

It's October now and although in my part of the world we've been having unseasonably sunny weather until very recently, I'm bracing myself for Autumn. It's not my favourite season. It leads inexorably to Winter, which I associate with illness, darkness, and death. Cheery huh? In the past I've spent the darker months focusing on... Continue Reading →

October 5, 2015 2

The Joy of Sanskrit

I hauled myself down to London last night (it's never my fave destination and my icky cold isn't going away so this was a big effort). I'd booked on to a Sanskrit seminar weeks and weeks ago and I didn't want to waste the opportunity. Actually it turned out to be great timing since my local... Continue Reading →

October 3, 2015 2

Teenage crush or the real thing?

I often hear people proclaiming how in love they are with yoga, obsessed even. They must tell me, they have to share. They have a light in their eye and they are full of enthusiasm and energy. Being in love is wonderful, right? So why does this make me feel uncomfortable? Surely it's not just because I'm... Continue Reading →