Idling by the river

I sat a long while by the river today. The sun came and went, the sky was stacked with puffy white clouds. Birds appeared according to their individual habits. A kingfisher flew low and long over the water. A prehistoric-looking heron stalked its lunch. Half a dozen ducks came whirling in from somewhere and landed... Continue Reading →

September 27, 2021 1

80 years

Numbers again. This time celebrating a birthday -- my mum's 80th. Not that she's counting. She says this feels ridiculous, that she simply can't believe she's 80. And she doesn't look it, I tell her, and I mean it. We zipped down recently to spend a weekend with her and my dad. Time always flies... Continue Reading →

September 14, 2018 3

Resistance is futile

I sometimes wonder whether I will ever have enough humility to practise yoga with any true commitment. Two snapshots from class today: We were in Child's Pose and I could tell what was coming: it wasn't intended as a resting pose as often in class, rather it was meant as a posture to bring us to our... Continue Reading →

January 28, 2017 0

Will the day be bright or cloudy?

We got yoga homework from class last week -- maybe that's my teacher's take on being more strict! On the theme of change: the challenge was to see if we could take a different route to work each day. Of course that's just the 'physical practice', the real interest lies beneath. What might this change in a... Continue Reading →

January 23, 2017 2

Tuning in and reprogramming

I adjusted the hands of a student in down dog the other day; she had one much further forward than the other. She twisted to look up at me anxiously: "Are you sure? That feels really weird!" I reassured her that weird was OK. She does this every single down dog and she's been practising... Continue Reading →

November 23, 2016 0

Under observation

First days of TT offered all sorts of new experiences -- obviously. One major feature was observation in various ways. We practised watching each other in a pose; we were asked to begin to reflect on anatomical alignment and energetic qualities. This needs much more experience and understanding than I currently have, but these first... Continue Reading →

July 11, 2016 0

The yoga of redecorating

We've been redecorating recently, and are now on the way to returning to normal living. It's been very disruptive for several weeks, because we have a small apartment so there's only so much juggling room when we need to move furniture out of the way. This has forced us to live rather differently (that's a... Continue Reading →