Once good, twice even better

So I just gave my Second Ever Yoga Workshop today. I'm feeling super-proud and a teeny bit accomplished! But I'm keeping things really modest, baby steps and all. The groups were really small, a handful of students each time, and the second workshop was essentially a repeat of the first for those missed it. Repetition... Continue Reading →

June 16, 2018 2

Observation

It seems to be all about observation at the moment. Trying to see (or feel) with more clarity and dispassion. Less drama, less judgment. I've been trying to prep for a private with my teacher, which is always a time for reflection and evaluation, but I'm trying hard within this work not to find myself... Continue Reading →

May 28, 2018 7

Just enough Greek

I went to a different studio for class today -- in the company of an old colleague I've not seen for some 15 years! She was using me as her excuse to get to class after losing the habit somewhere between work, marriage, and a couple of children. It amuses me that now I'm known... Continue Reading →

March 14, 2018 2

Practice time

Time was when I'd wear a watch to every class so that I could keep an eye on the time. I wanted to pace myself so that I'd have enough energy to take me through the full sequence. I needed to reassure myself that I could get to the end OK. And aside from lacking... Continue Reading →

February 11, 2018 2

Safe space

I remember early days of yoga class when I felt really intimidated simply by being in the room and I would sit anxiously waiting for class to start, fidgeting mindlessly and half-considering doing a runner to the pub while there was still time to get out. (Nowadays I admit I still often feel this anxiety... Continue Reading →

February 7, 2018 5

Ineffable

I'm reeling. Not just wobbly from physical fatigue as muscles I didn't know I had assert themselves with increasing soreness. I'm also reeling mentally from so many new ideas and possibilities... I'm just back from a weekend of workshops which involved some of the most physically intense asana and pranayama practice I've ever attempted, some... Continue Reading →

January 29, 2018 2

Yoga with my fitbit

I’ve started wearing a Fitbit recently. I feel bizarrely self-conscious, wondering if it labels me as aggressively sporty or something. I keep expecting people to engage me in conversation about split intervals, HIIT, Fartlek or whatnot... Actually I’m just trying to meet the advice of three health professionals who are currently helping me look after... Continue Reading →

December 11, 2017 10

Flotsam

I went to my local supermarket today and turned up the usual aisle for veggies, salads and what-not and instead found myself surrounded by endless packets of meat. Of course, they've rearranged again! And because it's nearing Christmas all the meaty stuff has made its way nearer the front of the store. Curiously I felt... Continue Reading →

November 14, 2017 2

Small transformations

I heard a teacher say recently that the term ‘authentic’ is used so often it makes you think the opposite. I have that feeling about ‘transformative’ also. I kind of groan inwardly each time I come across it, or hear myself about to say it. But it does seem that way, yoga really does seem... Continue Reading →

November 6, 2017 4

Complimentary yoga

“So pretty” is not a phrase I hear often when I’m in class. My teacher is very sparse with anything that might sound like a compliment. He’s big on no judgment, no expectation: everything is simply along a spectrum of experience, where we practise non-attachment to any particular outcome. It’s strong yoga medicine: ultimately good... Continue Reading →