Love from the inside out

Until relatively recently I used to watch myself practise and not recognise myself. Who was that strong girl who moved through vinyasas with grace and ease? Where was the girl with dark rings of exhaustion under her eyes, the unwashed hair (simply too much effort), and the cautious movements that anticipated pain and weakness in... Continue Reading →

April 1, 2021 3

Feeding the wolf

They say the wolf that grows bigger and thrives is the one you choose to feed. Lately I’ve been taking care what I ‘feed’. Or to put it another way I’ve been taking care how much I listen to the inner critical voices (the wolf inside of me), lessening the amount of fuel I give... Continue Reading →

March 11, 2021 3

Viva la Evolucion

“Ksero ta vasika Ellinika” my husband proudly announced to me recently. “I know basic Greek”. He’s been using a language learning app every day for nearly a year since UK went into first lockdown. He does a couple of exercises everyday with an occasional splurge of more concentrated work. It’s a classic case of the... Continue Reading →

February 25, 2021 1

Learning to learn

After my learning overload of the past month, I was looking forward to making time to assimilate all my new learning. Oh, I’d forgotten I’d signed up for a short series of Sanskrit reading classes! According to my usual habit of imagining all learning situations will be challenging and difficult, with an over-demanding teacher who... Continue Reading →

October 29, 2020 6

Chasing the challenge

I’m starting to write this in the evening time, but I’m almost too tired to sit up (or slump on the sofa) to write, maybe too tired to think coherently. I’ll likely to have to finish writing tomorrow. My whole body is aching and I think it’ll be early to bed for me. Why? I... Continue Reading →

August 15, 2020 2

Screen time

I’m used to spending hours at a screen — I’m an office worker after all. Homeworking in iso times is no different. Except that it is! Screen time is more intense since it’s not leavened any longer by face to face meetings, corridor chats and all those small encounters I used to enjoy in the... Continue Reading →

June 5, 2020 0

New trust

In these strange socially-distant times, where I haven’t physically interacted with anyone other than my husband for nearly eight weeks, I could easily regress into full on privacy mode, hiding myself at home away from the world. I’m deliberately not doing that. I was working quite hard on my ‘trust issues’ (horrible phrase, I know)... Continue Reading →

April 27, 2020 1

Virtually enough

I was having a bit of a teaching wobble earlier this week. One of those periodic crises of confidence. I’ve been teaching long enough now that I expect it and am usually content to allow the waves of uncertainty to wash over me a while, knowing it’ll pass. But this episode was magnified by the... Continue Reading →

April 24, 2020 1

On being a quitter

Aside from whatever asanas I’m interested in, my teacher often gives me some creative ‘homeworks’, encouraging me to explore my practice from a whole range of perspectives. Current assignment is to consider ‘what is real?’ Answers on a postcard please! Everything feels distinctly unreal right now, but not in any interesting philosophical way...! Another recent... Continue Reading →

March 20, 2020 2

Choose life

I was with my bodyworker on Monday. As always deep, deep work. She sure likes to give me my money's worth! 75 minutes gets right into the very fibres of my body -- the work on my fascia is just the superficial layer compared to what lies within and beneath. I had wanted to address... Continue Reading →