Asking for it

When I finished teacher training I asked the studio if I could teach for them. I didn't get a reply which I interpreted as you might expect. Fair enough. The last message I remember us getting as little trainees was that we were 'babies who knew nothing'. Not quite the graduation pep talk I was... Continue Reading →

April 15, 2022 4

Forceful yoga

I was listening to a senior teacher talking recently about her background in dance and music and performance and wondering how to relate to that. I am not an exhibitionist or a performer. I write an anonymous blog. I prefer to be a silent witness in the back corner. Barely seen, not heard. My social interactions... Continue Reading →

July 8, 2017 2

The secret formula

I saw one of my teachers recently whom I haven't seen in a while and perhaps only a few times since TT. We had a great chat after the class he gave. He asked whether I was teaching and because he's one of those quiet steady types with eyes that see right into you, I found... Continue Reading →

March 24, 2017 3

Equal parts of hope and doubt

I had lunch today with a fellow new graduate. She wanted to talk through the questions she's asking herself right now about teaching. It felt funny with her seeking my perspective on this. She has much, much more yoga experience than me (not just more years, but wider experience of different traditions) and her teaching... Continue Reading →

March 16, 2017 1

Come on, it’s not that weird

"How weird is that? I mean -- how weird is that?" I met up recently with a girlfriend, one of my dearest, oldest friends, but absent from the country for quite some months now. Last time she saw me in early summer I was pre-TT, still unable to articulate what I was doing or why,... Continue Reading →

March 11, 2017 2

Open invitation

Jon Kabat-Zinn (the father of secular mindfulness) could have been talking about yoga when he said "As long as you are breathing there is more right with you than wrong with you". But he wasn't. He was (as I recall) talking about living with a chronic illness and finding a place of positivity from which... Continue Reading →

February 17, 2017 4

Taking refuge in yoga

Despite the title, this isn't a blog about yoga and politics -- though there's a lot of that about these days. Maybe too much. And incidentally as I write I have half an ear on J. Brown's latest podcast which begins with a reflection that yoga teachers shouldn't feel the need to comment on politics... Continue Reading →

November 15, 2016 2

The new morning habit

I met with a fellow new graduate this week. We caught up on life and work, and of course yoga. We both admitted feeling a bit disconnected with our practice recently. "At least you've been doing it, though" was her comment to me. For reasons of life changes and injury she's not been practising at home... Continue Reading →

November 9, 2016 0

Stretching into space

My teacher seems to talk to me differently now that I've done TT with him. As just a regular student he was oh-so-careful not to bring any expectations to our conversations. I can appreciate why, even if sometimes it felt a little strained. So I was highly amused by his more genuine response to what... Continue Reading →

October 19, 2016 4

P*ssing about in yoga

I went to my penultimate Iyengar class (5/6 introductory classes done) this weekend. Arriving early at the Institute I decided to roll out my mat in the neighbouring park. The October sunshine was warm enough to roll lightly through some parts of my teaching sequence, establishing it in my body-brain ready for a few classes I'm leading this... Continue Reading →