Perfect yoga leggings

I wear a Ganesha pendant on a chain that I originally thought was long enough for it to disappear under my clothing most of the time. But it doesn't. And people keep commenting on it. A lot just recently, for some reason, so I'm feeling hyper-sensitive. At work people simply ask what it is; at... Continue Reading →

October 25, 2016 4

Mala-asana

We were given mālā beads at our TT graduation. I'd been feeling weirdly guilty that I hadn't actually used them yet. If I don't use them, ought I give them back?! So after my usual sitting practice I used them this morning -- my first attempt at a formal 108 repetitions of a mantra! I chose something... Continue Reading →

October 6, 2016 4

Yoga imperative

We just started to learn the imperative in Sanskrit. Since our verbal paradigm is bhavati (to become) I felt on familiar ground with the forms bhavatu ('may he become')and bhavantu ('may they become') presented in the textbook. My teacher quoted to me from the Upanishads: Om Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah... And I thought of the mantra we use... Continue Reading →

September 30, 2016 3

Krishna love

"Where-ere-ere-ere is love? Does it fall from skies above? Is it underneath the willow tree That I've been dreaming of?" Today I feel as though I'm going to break out (most uncharacteristically, I must say! 🙂 ) into a Walt Disney tune! We've been exploring love and compassion in class a bit recently, using Krishna... Continue Reading →

September 19, 2016 0

Together alone

I've just left Hubby in Greece. He's staying out longer than I can, given my other commitments. We have a long history of airport/train station goodbyes as our relationship gradually shifted from two separate continents, to the same continent, then to the same country, and finally to the same town. What we don't know about... Continue Reading →

July 12, 2016 2

Body of peace

My teacher came to check on me (or rather my hamstring) before class and offered some words of wisdom for my practice -- to observe, not to go deep, just to feel and explore. To this I mentally added my own intention to cultivate joy and compassion. I really appreciated his care. I felt well-looked... Continue Reading →

June 7, 2016 0

Wants and needs

I want to be in class right now, to be listening to what my teacher is sharing today, to be sweating along with my yoga crew, synchronising my breath and my movements with them in an expression of belonging and togetherness. But wants and needs aren't the same thing. And for more than one reason... Continue Reading →

May 31, 2016 2

More joy, less effort

A coincidence of reading a (highly controversial!) research paper about the personality type most often associated with ME/CFS and the associated habitual swinging pattern of activity levels (overdo it then need to rest, then get bored/frustrated so overdo it again...) plus advice from my teacher on handling my current emotional reactions to backbends (even out the... Continue Reading →

May 8, 2016 2

Good vibrations

Yoga expands the more I practice. It throws opens new horizons to me all the time. Yet the whole yoga thing still makes me feel uncomfortable and sometimes doesn't settle easily around who I thought I was (or who I used to be). So I find myself examining all new aspects of it to be sure I'm not just... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2016 7

Purring cats and the power of Om

My teacher's on a thing with Om at the moment. So that kind of means I am too. We've been beginning class chanting PYS 1.28: taj-japas tad-artha-bhāvanam By chanting Om one realizes the meaning of Om He's talked to us about the three sounds that make up Om (AUM) and how they relate to the body --... Continue Reading →