Barriers and hurdles

I was at a workshop at the weekend in London with a fancy American teacher, someone whose published work I really like. It was a fascinating afternoon and I learned a lot, even though it was more a very long led sequence than a workshop as such. There was no time for questions or discussion, unfortunately. I... Continue Reading →

February 20, 2017 3

P*ssing about in yoga

I went to my penultimate Iyengar class (5/6 introductory classes done) this weekend. Arriving early at the Institute I decided to roll out my mat in the neighbouring park. The October sunshine was warm enough to roll lightly through some parts of my teaching sequence, establishing it in my body-brain ready for a few classes I'm leading this... Continue Reading →

October 12, 2016 4

Yoga at the British Museum

Last night I went to a panel discussion at the British Museum called "Yoga: austerity, passion and peace". I was encouraged to go by Jason Birch now at SOAS and working with James Mallinson and Mark Singleton on a fascinating research project documenting the history of Haṭha Yoga. I encountered Jason as the patient tutor of an... Continue Reading →

April 9, 2016 5

The mad dream that is a yoga intensive

Real email exchange at work today: Me: Would you please let me know soonest if it's ok to book off the above dates as annual leave? Manager: Sure. Me: Thank you! I’ve logged it in the holiday tracker now. So I’m now committed to 28 hours of yoga in 3 days… Manager: Wow. Have you told... Continue Reading →

June 15, 2015 3

A lesson in simplicity — meditating with Jon Kabat-Zinn

Life can get very complicated. And I'm great at making even the simple stuff difficult. I have a PhD in it -- pretty much! So it was really refreshing last night to be reminded of how amazing the simple stuff really is. That we can hear sounds and voices and make sense of them, that we... Continue Reading →