The guru mantra got me from the first time I encountered it. After all I love learning, exploring, and sometimes mastering new things; I've always enjoyed finding ways to teach myself and I've been blessed with some truly phenomenal teachers through my life. I'm married to a teacher too! So I guess the surface message about learning... Continue Reading →
The sweetness of nāda yoga
Recently I haven't felt much like moving. It's the time of year maybe. English winters are so terribly dreary; not cold enough, not dark enough, just endless grey days of mild drizzle or dampness. Everything stagnates. For a while I tried fighting through which resulted in some very messy classes where I just upset myself... Continue Reading →
Terrible yoga, amazing yoga
"That was a terrible, terrible, terrible class" I told my teacher as I sat in his office afterwards trying to stop the tears running down my face, waiting for my heart to stop thumping, and slowly allowing the tremors of emotion to ease and resolve into something of a smile. He took it well, concentrating on... Continue Reading →
How *does* Yoga work?
I've just finished reading How Yoga Works. I'll say it's not a book I would have chosen to read and I did have to dig in a bit to see it through to the end, but it was loaned to me by my teacher and so I took the recommendation seriously and gratefully. I can't remember... Continue Reading →
Laughing and listening
The cue I was given about tucking the lower ribs in Kapotāsana made no sense at all -- my brain didn't understand and said so. "Why would I want to do that?" I asked my teacher. "Why indeed?" was his rather Delphic response which made me giggle. And hey presto -- it turns out that the... Continue Reading →
What’s your story?
"What's your story?" is a question I seem to get asked a lot these days. I guess that's exciting -- it means I'm talking to new people who want or need to know more about me quickly. Asking an open question can be very revealing -- it's a tactic that I love to use in my professional... Continue Reading →