Come rain or shine

The view from my temporary home in Laconia in Greece today offers me a palette of grey as alternating rain, mist, and hail rolls past my window. Each of these weather phenomena has been thick enough to virtually obscure the surroundings. It's not a day to be out and about it. So we're taking a... Continue Reading →

March 13, 2015 0

Changing my (mental) landscape

My asana practice has taken a knock of late owing to a hamstring injury and since I'm away from home for a few weeks I've been finding it difficult even to keep to my routine of physio exercises. When I rolled out my mat yesterday I was actually full of dread. That's not an emotion I... Continue Reading →

March 10, 2015 2

On stopping half-way

If you read my last post you'll know I'm in Greece for a while. We've left Athens now and are staying for the next week or so near Sparta, in the Peloponnese. It's very dramatic scenery, with snow on the mountains still, and we have lovely cosy accommodation that already feels like a home away from home.... Continue Reading →

March 8, 2015 3

Wherever I lay my mat

I'm away from home for a while, travelling in Greece with my husband for his work and my pleasure. I packed up my yoga mat and my travel zafu and hoped that I was all ready to take my practice on the road. Except it's not that simple, just uprooting from your routines and expecting... Continue Reading →

March 5, 2015 1

Wise choice or ill thought out relativism? On being a ‘flexitarian’

I blogged recently about my food choices as a yogini, where I wondered if acting locally (looking after myself and those closest to me) was as valid a way of practicing ahimsa (non-violence) as acting globally (looking after the ecology of the planet). This blog post attracted quite a lot of attention (what does a 'like'... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2015 2

Is drinking alcohol incompatible with yoga?

Wine is a wonderful thing! And since I started practicing mindfulness meditation I find I enjoy a glass even more. I now drink more 'mindfully', taking time to savour the flavours in the wine, wonder at the alchemical process of winemaking, imagine the sunnier climes the grapes were grown in, and enjoy the company I'm keeping.... Continue Reading →

February 23, 2015 3

Simplicity

I've been struggling to write something about bhakti yoga, about devotional practice, about letting go of the small self and all one's quotidian concerns, the trivialities that make the world go round and make my head spin. I just let all that go for today at least. Instead I lit a candle, rolled out my... Continue Reading →

February 16, 2015 0

Walk, don’t run!

As a child I ran everywhere. And if I wasn't running, I was skipping. Not with a rope, just the basic hopping-twice-on-each-foot bouncing form of forward motion that you can only do un-selfconsciously until you're about ten years old. (Probably much earlier, in these more sophisticated days) I can still vividly recall the physical impatience I... Continue Reading →

February 13, 2015 2

Reader, I married a carnivore

I talked about good dietary choices last night over dinner out (yes, I ate veggie) with a runner girlfriend. And we thought about it simply in terms of fuel -- purer fuel burns more cleanly in your body and makes for a better physical experience. She said she could feel the difference if she was eating healthily or if... Continue Reading →

February 10, 2015 6

Asana as the icing on the (yoga) cake

Now that I'm currently spending very little time actually on my mat (a browse through my January archive of posts will tell the story why) I'm asking myself not just about the role of asana practice within yoga, but also how I can practice yoga without asana. Actually I think this is a pretty funny question, since it... Continue Reading →