Wonder-ful

A yoga friend today told me that her physio advised against asana practice for 24 hours after any bodywork. I'd stopped her as she was rolling up her mat after class and asked her please to sit with me a few minutes. I wasn't ready to leave the room and rush straight back out into... Continue Reading →

January 18, 2018 4

Getting serious

I was talking with an experienced teacher recently about to how to keep yoga class (vinyasa specifically) safe. His pointers were really interesting. I was expecting loads of alignment stuff and the need to draw boundaries between being a yoga teacher and being a doctor/physio. But this wasn't it. Sure, he talked some about the... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2018 3

Yoga with my fitbit

I’ve started wearing a Fitbit recently. I feel bizarrely self-conscious, wondering if it labels me as aggressively sporty or something. I keep expecting people to engage me in conversation about split intervals, HIIT, Fartlek or whatnot... Actually I’m just trying to meet the advice of three health professionals who are currently helping me look after... Continue Reading →

December 11, 2017 10

Yoga with the dentist

So I've finally had my troublesome tooth taken out. It's been grumbling for a long time and I consulted with various experts to see if it could be saved... Turns out not. So facing one of my greatest fears, I went for an extraction. The last time I had a tooth out it was agonising,... Continue Reading →

November 28, 2017 6

Dying for some rest

I've been thinking a little about Śavāsana recently, doing a tiny writing assignment for my teachers. In the nice way of coincidences this weekend I also fell into talking with Hubby about introducing a more restorative aspect into his practice. As he's becoming more free of chronic pain I see him getting onto a bit... Continue Reading →

November 26, 2017 1

Heart and hearth

Some time ago my yoga teacher suggested I meditate on the difficulties I'm having physically: on why my physio has identified limited thoracic spine mobility along with grumbling shoulders and neck. What is this really? It's been weeks since he dropped this idea on me and I have been avoiding it ever since! Bad yoga... Continue Reading →

November 24, 2017 1

Uncomfortable truth

Life has been full of physical discomforts recently. Terrible toothache at times so bad I was maxing out on various types of painkiller, and for the final 45 minutes or so before the next dose reduced to whimpering, foetal position pain. It’s nerve-related and there’s no relief to be had from that. Just an extended... Continue Reading →

October 14, 2017 0

Getting a handle on yoga

We've just got new internal door handles at home! Not big news in the grand scheme, but curiously significant in my small domestic world. We'd just been putting up with the style that existed when we moved in quite a few years ago now. Neither of us liked them one bit, but they were serviceable.... Continue Reading →

September 18, 2017 1

Physiotherapy is no joke

I knew it wasn't going to be a laugh-a-minute when the physio started off the session by insisting that I speak up when (not if) the discomfort got too much to take. Cue instant muscular tension in my whole body in anticipation! But I find I've learnt a thing or two from yoga practices about... Continue Reading →

August 31, 2017 0

Grumbles and aches

I'm doing a lot of sweet-talking to my body at the moment, coaxing it to move, to loosen up, to come on a journey with me. All my muscles are hurting, some of them pretty uncomfortable, with old injury points reasserting themselves for no good reason. It's not an excess of practice, I think it's... Continue Reading →