Kindling hope

I am starting to feel a slight warmth in my heart again. It is a comfort, a small illumination from my inner self. After time in the wilderness where I have felt nothing but fatigue, compassion worn too thin, energies depleted and my patience and temper frayed, this small glow within brings me feelings of gratitude. And... Continue Reading →

March 24, 2016 2

Books vs body

Prof Mark Williams -- the proponent of mindfulness meditation for depression and other chronic illnesses (a kind of British Jon Kabat-Zinn if I may) -- really spoke to me when he said that he once thought he could learn everything about Mindfulness by reading about it. And then he realised that it's a practice. And... Continue Reading →

March 23, 2016 2

Anatomy at the hairdressers

There's nothing weird about studying anatomy at the hairdresser is there? Heaven knows I find the whole process so tedious I need some way of passing the time. Flicking through one magazine is usually my limit on that form of entertainment, so my Plan B in hairdresser survival is to bring my own reading matter. (Plan A,... Continue Reading →

March 17, 2016 0

Turning my practice upside-down

Class the other day was all about change -- making changes oneself and accepting changes that occur. Some amusing thoughts, as always, from my teacher on his experiences of yoga. I liked his consideration of how many friends you might lose through yoga because you become apparently boring -- finding more pleasure in the emerging spring flowers... Continue Reading →

March 13, 2016 3

Tee-shirts and labels

I wrote a while ago how imposter syndrome made me feel ridiculously self-conscious about labelling myself as a serious enough yogini to merit mat-storage room at my local studio. Yeah, yeah, I know....!! The problems we create for ourselves! But, seriously -- calming my imposter syndrome down is a very real work in progress. Part of the practice for... Continue Reading →

March 11, 2016 0

TT heebie jeebies

Someone was talking really loudly before class the other night. They were outside the studio door, but their voice carried clearly. I tried to ignore it. I'm breathing. I'm preparing. This is my time. Accept the sounds and then let them go -- that's what I was taught early on in meditation (in an absurdly... Continue Reading →

March 5, 2016 5

Practicing with a blank page

I wrote a bit earlier this week about how I'm finding practice really difficult at the moment. I currently have little patience or mental focus and attempts at home practice have been tough -- or totally abortive. Today I was booked onto an evening class and looking forward to it. Ah, a chance just to be told... Continue Reading →

March 3, 2016 2

Yoga + stress = practicing patience

GP appointments on the NHS are standardly 10 minutes. What can you do in 10 minutes? A lot as it turns out -- if you're experienced and have good rapport with your patient. I was back with my GP yesterday as a follow-up to my original appointment to talk about workplace stress (blogpost: does yoga... Continue Reading →

March 1, 2016 0

Good vibrations

Yoga expands the more I practice. It throws opens new horizons to me all the time. Yet the whole yoga thing still makes me feel uncomfortable and sometimes doesn't settle easily around who I thought I was (or who I used to be). So I find myself examining all new aspects of it to be sure I'm not just... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2016 7

The hunt for ethical yoga pants

It comes to all of us doesn't it: that moment when you start evaluating your yoga clothes not so much for how they make your butt look but for what impact their production has on the environment. I'm not claiming any particularly high morals here, but there is something a bit iffy about going to yoga class... Continue Reading →