A further taste of Iyengar

Finally I got to an Iyengar class! I had attended an introductory course at the Iyengar Institute in London a couple of months back, but given the distance and awkward schedules I haven't made it back there for a 'normal' class. Meantime I was recommended a teacher locally, and although her small class is regularly... Continue Reading →

January 4, 2017 6

The universe offers, believe it or not

In one of our assessments in TT we were given a sutra from Patañjali at random (we picked blindly out of a box) and we had to present it to the group a day or two later. The process of receiving a sutra was almost as interesting as the presentations themselves. I was struck by how... Continue Reading →

September 1, 2016 3

Talking-to-the-plants-yoga

I've been trying to have a day or two without yoga. It's been a bit intense recently and I'm feeling a bit wary. Or do I mean chary? Either way, I thought consciously stepping back for a short time might be no bad thing. It's weirdly harder than you think! Yoga seems to have permeated my... Continue Reading →

May 29, 2016 4

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 →

May 11, 2016 2

Sunday is not the day of rest

Before Yoga found me and took a hold of me Sundays meant this: a lazy lie-in, followed by a cooked breakfast (with lots of bacon!), an afternoon nap, and then a slightly miserable evening involving alcohol in an abortive attempt to avoid thoughts of work the following morning. OK, so this is a slight exaggeration or simplification,... Continue Reading →

April 24, 2016 7

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

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 →

February 18, 2016 3

Beware yoga sheep — baaa!

I intended to go to yoga class this morning. Hubby was off to the hairdresser so I had the morning to myself. Perfect for sneaking in an extra class, I thought. I don't usually practice on a Saturday. Not for me an aṣtanga thing, that's not my style -- just an acknowledgement that Saturday needs... Continue Reading →

October 31, 2015 4

Back to school

My Facebook feed recently abounds with proud pictures of friends' kids in their new uniforms all ready for the start of the school year. It gives me the heeby-jeebies. School definitely wasn't the happiest days of my life. Hubby confesses that he still has anxiety dreams about school exams, and once I got through uni finals... Continue Reading →

October 1, 2015 6

Reading Kaminoff’s ‘Yoga Anatomy’

I've started reading Kaminoff's Yoga Anatomy again. I hope now that I understand a bit more overall about yoga I'll be able to get more benefit from it compared to a bewildering first perusal. I'm still in the front-matter and loving their notion of the body as laboratory for the exploration of what it means to be human and... Continue Reading →