Not (yet)

I got an unsought for lesson in acceptance today. Part of it involved letting go my dislike of city rain. Countryside rain is good: think dramatic cloud-driven skies, damp earthy scents, animal footprints filling up with water on a muddy path... I could go on; I love that. So evocative. City rain on the other hand is all impatient pedestrians seemingly intent... Continue Reading →

November 16, 2016 0

All in season

The season is changing. Autumn is at the pretty stage: golden leaves that crunch pleasingly underfoot and there are still blue skies to enjoy and days warm enough to encourage me to walk more slowly, to saunter and enjoy the sunshine. The horse chestnuts are looking a little bit drab because they drop early, but... Continue Reading →

October 23, 2016 3

Come on, ego!

My teacher's theme in class at the moment is driving me a bit mad. It's a good theme -- of course! -- but I'm finding it too hard to process; I don't want to hear it. He circles round the idea of ego and effort and honesty. Today was about 'unveiling', letting go all the accumulated cr*p from... Continue Reading →

October 18, 2016 0

One month on

It's nearly a month since teacher training ended. Coincidentally (we aren't so needy that we scheduled a one-month anniversary party!) I ended up socialising recently with most of the other graduates. It was interesting hearing snippets of what everyone is up to with their yoga. Of course the emphasis was on where they were with teaching.... Continue Reading →

September 10, 2016 4

Is preparation everything?

I got home from work the other day with one thing on my mind -- that I was going to be home early enough for a totally indulgent, non-rushed, much-needed yoga practice. Time to be alone, away from any responsibilities to others, time for rebuilding myself a little after fragmenting, splintering a little, under competing... Continue Reading →

June 24, 2016 0

Painful steps

When I wrote about my hamstring injury last year, I was totally self-absorbed. Of course! It was my first yoga injury and I had a lot to learn about all aspects of handling it. A voyage of discovery into working with a physio, starting to understand some anatomy (what are the hamstrings anyway?) and how muscles... Continue Reading →

March 8, 2016 2

Practicing with a blank page

I wrote a bit earlier this week about how I'm finding practice really difficult at the moment. I currently have little patience or mental focus and attempts at home practice have been tough -- or totally abortive. Today I was booked onto an evening class and looking forward to it. Ah, a chance just to be told... Continue Reading →

March 3, 2016 2

Yoga + stress = practicing patience

GP appointments on the NHS are standardly 10 minutes. What can you do in 10 minutes? A lot as it turns out -- if you're experienced and have good rapport with your patient. I was back with my GP yesterday as a follow-up to my original appointment to talk about workplace stress (blogpost: does yoga... Continue Reading →

March 1, 2016 0

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

National Iyengar Day, UK (almost)

Today is apparently the first ever National Iyengar Day in UK and Ireland. I had thought to mark this occasion by going to my first ever Iyengar class. A local teacher was offering a free session as an intro and it seemed like a great coincidence since blogging friends (you know who you are!) have... Continue Reading →