Flying carpets and the weight of expectation

I've heard people describe their yoga mat as a flying carpet, alluding presumably to the places it transports them in their practice. Having been on the road with my mat for a month in Greece I'm just back at home for a day before I head back to Heathrow for another trip. So I also am feeling... Continue Reading →

March 28, 2015 4

Wherever I lay my mat

I'm away from home for a while, travelling in Greece with my husband for his work and my pleasure. I packed up my yoga mat and my travel zafu and hoped that I was all ready to take my practice on the road. Except it's not that simple, just uprooting from your routines and expecting... Continue Reading →

March 5, 2015 1

Simplicity

I've been struggling to write something about bhakti yoga, about devotional practice, about letting go of the small self and all one's quotidian concerns, the trivialities that make the world go round and make my head spin. I just let all that go for today at least. Instead I lit a candle, rolled out my... Continue Reading →

February 16, 2015 0

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

From parachutes to why I started yoga

"Weave your parachute every day, don't wait until you need to jump out of the plane" -- Jon Kabat-Zinn So I jumped out of the plane this week. My hamstring niggle combined with a temporarily-absent husband, some long-running emotional family stuff, a failing project at work, plus the usual hormone cycle to create the perfect storm. I... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2015 4

Yoga practice as a ‘keystone habit’

I've been having a very gentle couple of days doing very limited asana practice at home as I nurture myself and my unhappy hamstring. This was the candlelit view from my mat today: I've been moving slowly, exploring what causes pain and investigating how to modify poses to suit my current physical state. It's humbling and... Continue Reading →