“So, does anyone have any questions?” the teacher turned her face to look around the room, deliberately taking everyone in, no-one excluded. That’s her way. There was a silence. Perhaps the other students were as blown away as I was. We were on the last day of a week’s retreat, with 4 hours of yoga... Continue Reading →
Elephants and feet
I'm increasingly realising what it means to ground oneself, in āsana practice, in life. How standing tall is a deliberate and powerful act of engagement with the world, even if its power is subtle enough to have eluded me until maybe now-ish. I find myself instructing my students to stand 'as though they really mean... Continue Reading →
Corpsing in class
At the beginning of teacher training we were asked what our favourite and least favourite yoga pose was. As my least favourite I settled on Tāḍāsana. Though it was a close call between that and Śavāsana. No-one else seemed to get the difficulty I had here; these are simple poses right? Huh, well not so... Continue Reading →
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 →
My legs are amazing!
I'm standing up a lot at the moment. In my life I could easily spend 80% of my time sitting or lying down I reckon. But when you look out for opportunities to stand more -- and become less self-conscious about standing when others are sitting -- there are some easy changes to make. I was initially... Continue Reading →