Sick of winter?

Last autumn I made a commitment to myself to try to approach my least favourite season of the year with a lighter attitude, hoping to lessen the winter darkness with a bit of positive thinking and some constructive actions. Now we've passed the shortest day I'm breathing something of a sigh of relief. I'm on the home straight,... Continue Reading →

January 7, 2016 3

What yoga teaches me about learning Sanskrit

I still have nightmares of learning Latin as a child. One year my teacher had me reading Caesar with him ‘for fun’ once a week. We read at speed as a bit of a warm up for the real work. One class was particularly punishing: he was impatient and pushing faster, I lost my place... Continue Reading →

October 17, 2015 1

Walk slowly

You know those times of coincidence, when the universe seems to offer you every chance at receiving a message -- it's offered to you in several forms and you somehow keep turning a blind eye to it? I've had so many messages to practice patience lovingly thrown across my path this week. The messengers have come... Continue Reading →

October 11, 2015 2

Hooded crow

Today I've mostly encountered the world from under a deep black hood. It's been raining on and off all day and it seemed to be bucketing down each time I needed to be on the move, by foot. And the grey skies and bleak weather suited my mood, creating this sense of justified misery. See... Continue Reading →

September 22, 2015 4

Doing nothing is doing everything

I think of energetic people as active, always on the move. Energy equates in my mind to restlessness. But paradoxically, the more energy I come to have, the more I discover greater depths of patience. More energy means I can move more, but it also gives me a greater capacity to be genuinely still. At... Continue Reading →

July 28, 2015 3

Learning to love the questions

I just can't not offer feedback, when I love something or when I hate it. 'Continuous improvement' (to use the business jargon) is central to who I am, and I can't help but foist that on others, even if they don't ask it or necessarily want it. So I offered my comments to my teacher... Continue Reading →

April 30, 2015 4

The yoga of airports? Not so much!

I'm writing this stuck at the airport trying to get home after my conference. The weather is bad so I'm delayed. But at least we seem to have a flight time. And if it sticks to that new schedule I will not quite be home before the end of today, but not too far off... Continue Reading →