Doing nothing is doing everything

I think of energetic people as active, always on the move. Energy equates in my mind to restlessness. But paradoxically, the more energy I come to have, the more I discover greater depths of patience. More energy means I can move more, but it also gives me a greater capacity to be genuinely still. At... Continue Reading →

July 28, 2015 3

Sweet vairagya — cake and yoga

My teacher started class last night with a personal story. It was about wanting something, having it taken away, finding a way of accepting that — and then having it offered to you after all. It happened trivially, rather sweetly, to be about wanting a cake-trip to a favourite café. But it could have been... Continue Reading →

July 22, 2015 1

Goodbye Nutella — it was nice knowing you

It was a landmark moment a few weeks ago when I finally threw out the half-eaten jar of Nutella in the kitchen cupboard. I can't remember when I last ate it; I've long favoured this bizarre paste made with brazilnuts and cocoa. It tastes a bit earthy, like some long-lost, slightly grizzled distant relation to... Continue Reading →

July 22, 2015 4

Their needs, my needs

These past few days I've been at a conference, so each day has been all about talking to delegates. And I've given a presentation. Plus I've had breakfast and dinner each day with a colleague who definitely likes company more than I do (what is wrong with eating alone, I ask myself?). Being with people... Continue Reading →

July 20, 2015 2

Relax, I’m a first-aider!

I'm now a trained first aider! I recently completed a three day course with the St. John's Ambulance, a charity in UK that provides first aid training for the public and sends volunteers to attend sporting events and suchlike. The course I went on was really well done and I met some interesting people there. We were... Continue Reading →

July 15, 2015 4

Respect for my mum’s yoga teacher

Yoga teachers are amazing people. I've practised consistently with less than a handful of teachers in the almost two years that I've been practising. OK two years is not a long time, but I am ultra-picky about who I would put my trust in and offer my respect to. And I do have experience of teaching... Continue Reading →

June 29, 2015 2

Space and boundaries: where I practice my yoga

I've been thinking a little about space recently, or maybe that should be spaces in the plural, since I don't mean the intergalactic variety but more on the smaller personal environment scale. I'm still thinking through the class vs. home practice thing I've been wondering about recently. An aspect of this is the different physical... Continue Reading →

June 17, 2015 0

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 →

June 11, 2015 0

Philosophy and Prosecco — the bookends of my week

It’s been a bit of a week of gritty conversations. Not bad conversations necessarily. Just some big ideas, some open questions, and maybe there’s a radical solution kicking about somewhere. In all cases only time will be the judge. These conversations have had a philosophical, even existential, quality: - what is the relationship between meditation... Continue Reading →

June 7, 2015 0

Letting go of expectations in yoga asana

It started when the yoga teacher said she was 'managing expectations' when she told students who hadn't pre-booked the class that they were unlikely to get a place in class. For my part, I came to class full of expectations. And I didn’t manage them all that well. I expected my hamstring to be tricky to... Continue Reading →