The Colour Purple

I've just read Alice Walker's The Colour Purple for the first time. Yeah, I know: I'm so culturally impoverished and all that... But my excuse is that I was in the remedial class for English at school and we didn't actually read books (though we watched a few film adaptations), so I missed out on the... Continue Reading →

January 29, 2016 0

Discomfort in my yoga practice — and not how you might think

I've been reading recently about Conan Doyle (he of Sherlock Holmes fame) and his interest in Spiritualism (ectoplasm, fairies, and psychic phenomena). In the later part of his life Conan Doyle explored Spiritualism as a way of trying to resolve his religious upbringing and Jesuit education with his scientific training as a doctor: "Victorian science would... Continue Reading →

December 14, 2015 1

Transports of delight

Hubby's thinking about buying a car. We've never owned one, and on a practical level we mostly get by without. Plus it allows me to feel slightly smug about my (otherwise lamentable) eco-credentials! But ever since we guzzumped Eric Catona in a hire car office in the south of France and were freely upgraded to the... Continue Reading →

November 25, 2015 1

Beauty from within: finding grace in yoga and tango

A friend of mine took up tango recently and is clearly hooked by it, though I think she feels one step behind (pun intended) picking something up in her 40s. This reminds me of my yoga asana. She mentioned an article she'd been reading recently called "Why your dance does not look good despite all... Continue Reading →

October 24, 2015 2

Brahman and bacteria

Class started today with the teacher asking what came before Siri. His rhetorical line was to trace back a sequence of ‘what came befores’. What was before the internet, before reference books, spoken language, sound, breathing… "What was before breathing?" I volunteered "anaerobic respiration" which got a laugh at least (I am in a very... Continue Reading →

August 4, 2015 4

Vinyasa in the real world

In my early classes I was as graceful as a hippo: I didn't feel graceful and I'm sure I didn't look it. One of the first things my first yoga teacher explained to me in my very first class was what vinyasa meant -- placing in a special way, deliberately, thoughtfully, with intent. And as with... Continue Reading →

May 14, 2015 3

Silence is the language of God

“Silence is the language of God. All else is poor translation.” Rumi A while ago I wrote a first little something about the ineffable quality of the divine wondering what I might do with the notion of union with the divine in my own yoga practice. This is uncomfortable territory for me: I was brought up in a god-less... Continue Reading →

March 15, 2015 5

breathe. feel. be.

breathe. feel. be. don't push. don't strain. don't let your attention wander. don't panic! breathe. feel. be. I've been following physio's orders and holding off asana practice for a couple of weeks, giving my hamstring a chance to heal itself. So first practice today. Yes, in some ways this feels like the first practice ever.... Continue Reading →

January 31, 2015 4

The state of the union

Eternal God (for whom who ever dare Seek new expressions, do the circle square, And thrust into strait corners of poor wit Thee, who art cornerless and infinite), I would but bless thy name, not name thee now; And thy gifts are as infinite as thou Upon the Translation of the Psalms by Sir Philip... Continue Reading →