Breaking the virtuous circle

I realise there's something of a virtuous circle going in my yoga: I am used to my regular teacher's take on things so this always seems self evidently 'the truth' because it's what I'm familiar with... because it's what he taught me... It's very comforting because it's self-reinforcing. Does that make it a vicious circle in... Continue Reading →

April 5, 2016 4

Beloved savasana

My teacher sometimes refers to śavāsana as a 'little death' and I have to fight an immature giggle at what can only sound like a sexual metaphor to my ears. Funny in contrast that his referring to the breath as 'the beloved' simply sounds esoteric and rather pure! Because 'bhakti' isn't from my native language... Continue Reading →

February 21, 2016 0

Dying for the yoga class to finish

Hot tears leak unwanted from my eyes. They trickle down the side of my face and into my ears making the teacher's voice a little distorted. I'm lying in savasana, corpse pose. Some say it's their favourite yoga pose. How can that be? What do they find there that eludes me? Some say it's the... Continue Reading →

September 12, 2015 6

Coming home in a Hatha class (of all places!)

Further to my explorations in restorative yoga last night, I followed up the spirit of trying new things with a Hatha class today. OK, so for most people I imagine [but please correct me if I'm wrong!] Hatha is the beginning, the vanilla yoga, the basic style from which they might then choose to diverge.... Continue Reading →

April 25, 2015 2

Breaking down my defences – with a bolster (and some Bollinger!)

I did my first restorative yoga class this evening. It's a new offering at my studio that has focused up to now largely on more dynamic flowing practices plus hot yoga. I'm keen to explore new ways of practicing and my hamstring is hopeful that I'll lighten up on the surya namaskars, so this is a... Continue Reading →

April 24, 2015 2

On my mat with the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

I love audiobooks. They are terrific for me when I'm too tired to read and want some easy entertainment. Recently I've been revisiting my childhood and listening to an audiobook of the Narnia stories by C.S. Lewis. One of the plot devices in the stories is that Narnia time is different, and that however long... Continue Reading →

March 21, 2015 4

Me and my physio

It seems like a long time ago that I frantically asked my teacher for physio recommendations. Now I feel as though I practically have A on speed-dial! She's been great in helping me heal the damage to my hamstring tendons and very patient with me, despite the fact that she more often deals with proper... Continue Reading →