Sitting and standing

"Don't teach if you're tired or not feeling well" my teacher advised us during TT. I'm sure this is overall good advice, but a little hard to put into practice in the real world. Especially for me. I'd got a good early night, definitely not feeling well. Just low-level stuff. It could be a cold... Continue Reading →

October 13, 2016 9

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 →

October 12, 2016 4

My whispering heart

I bumped into a friend today who asked me how my early steps in teaching were going. I told her about the practice class I'd just done with two teachers at my local studio, getting ready for teaching a charity class there later in the week. The mentor teacher had offered me some quite amazing... Continue Reading →

October 11, 2016 6

Mala-asana

We were given mālā beads at our TT graduation. I'd been feeling weirdly guilty that I hadn't actually used them yet. If I don't use them, ought I give them back?! So after my usual sitting practice I used them this morning -- my first attempt at a formal 108 repetitions of a mantra! I chose something... Continue Reading →

October 6, 2016 4

Flirting with Iyengar

Since TT I've been reflecting simultaneously on how I proudly recognise how much I have learned and understood about yoga as well as humbly how little I know and how limited my experience is. If I want to teach, this will limit what I can offer. And as I try to explore the limits of my own... Continue Reading →

October 4, 2016 6

Getting (un)comfortable

My teacher often talks about playing the edge. I'm still not sure I get where this is exactly. Maybe that's part of the game, part of the playing -- first finding it, then flirting with it, finally staring it down rather than running away. I always thought I was good at the staring game, unblinking,... Continue Reading →

October 3, 2016 1

Yoga imperative

We just started to learn the imperative in Sanskrit. Since our verbal paradigm is bhavati (to become) I felt on familiar ground with the forms bhavatu ('may he become')and bhavantu ('may they become') presented in the textbook. My teacher quoted to me from the Upanishads: Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah... And I thought of the mantra we use... Continue Reading →

September 30, 2016 3

Thanks to the gods in my world

I sent out a few written notes of appreciation after my teacher training course. I felt super self-conscious doing this. Not helped by Hubby making some flippant remark about sucking up to the teachers! Uh, I really hoped it wasn't perceived like that. For myself I just feared it might be seen as overly dutiful... Continue Reading →

September 28, 2016 1

Singularly depressing

Yesterday I was really looking forward to meeting up with some of the other graduates from my recent yoga teacher training course. And we had a pretty nice time together catching up and looking forward. But actually I came home really depressed. So depressed that when Hubby asked me if I had a nice time, I... Continue Reading →

September 26, 2016 2

Joie de vivre

"F*ck, man, look at her!" I was on my way home last night after a long day of work plus yoga plus dinner with a friend. This guy was hanging around outside some bar and he shouted out at me as I walked past. I was a bit suprised. I'm not really the head-turning type.... Continue Reading →