Feeding the wolf

They say the wolf that grows bigger and thrives is the one you choose to feed. Lately I’ve been taking care what I ‘feed’. Or to put it another way I’ve been taking care how much I listen to the inner critical voices (the wolf inside of me), lessening the amount of fuel I give... Continue Reading →

March 11, 2021 3

Yoga conversations

I had a lot of ‘conversations’ about yoga today, albeit in a lockdown kind of way. A stranger wrote to me asking for advice. They know I teach part time and they asked me how I could do this, and didn’t I feel divided because I wasn’t a full time yogi. For them yoga was... Continue Reading →

February 11, 2021 3

Circle of support

I heard someone say the other day that you’re never alone when you’re practising yoga: whenever you step onto your mat anywhere in the world, day or night, you can be sure that someone somewhere is doing the same thing. The idea was that although yoga is inherently a solitary practice, you’re not really going... Continue Reading →

November 15, 2020 7

Soft heart practice

Saturday morning class. An effort to get out of bed and roll across the hallway to where my mat and camera is set up. The strange world of online yoga. Some days it’s difficult to be a student like this; it would be easy not to bother. But I don’t escape my teacher’s eagle eye,... Continue Reading →

August 9, 2020 1

Corona birthday

So it turns out I’m now 45! I’m pretty proud of that! Today I am happy to be alive; it wasn’t always so. Today I delight in my body, its health and strength and adaptability; it wasn’t always so. But I’m not really looking back at past darkness. Nor am I extending my hopeful vision... Continue Reading →

April 19, 2020 3

A good telling off

I don’t like being told off. “Don’t shout at me” I often say to my husband. “I’m not shouting” he usually retorts and at some volume. He’s from a more adversarial family than I am, whereas when I was a child, we never raised our voices. Ever. Well, I did as a teenager.... But I... Continue Reading →

September 14, 2019 3

Passing greatness

So a modern yoga great has just passed, a renowned teacher, said to be one of the first women to have studied with Pattabhi Jois. The corners of social media I inhabit are full of comment, some of it as banal as could be, some of it genuine and poignant, so much so that it... Continue Reading →

July 10, 2019 0

Rupture and continuity

One of my best friends nearly died recently. A ruptured appendix, a bungled diagnosis and delayed surgery. I've been visiting her in hospital, feeling helpless in the face of drips, oxygen, and the indignity of surgical gowns. She was weak and confused. I'm not sure she remembered if I'd been with her or not; she... Continue Reading →

May 16, 2019 0

Movie night

How much do teachers share their own practice with their students? I find this a constant balancing act. How to root teaching in my own experiences and practice while generalizing it enough to be accessible to a group? I went to class recently where I was baffled by a lot of what was offered, not... Continue Reading →

February 24, 2019 0

Talking back

I try not to be shy about asking my teacher when I don't understand something. I feel some increased imperative now, as I seek to clarify my own knowledge so that I can best support my own students. I take care not to give an alignment cue simply as he does, but to ensure I... Continue Reading →