I’m not a big fan of yoga teacher trainings. I pretty much hated my 200 hour end to end — which (I hasten to emphasise) says much more about me than about my patient teachers. I think they did a good job in 200 hours to set us up to be safe, competent enough, rooky... Continue Reading →
The privileged view
I remember the first time I encountered the idea of one’s physical posture reflecting one’s mental state, current or past (i.e. whether a reflection of stuff of the moment or a deeper expression of past experiences of whatever sort). It really made me angry. And afraid. I felt as though I was laid bare under... Continue Reading →
Changing our view
Hmm, the whole lockdown-pandemic thing is starting to bore me a bit. I know I’m lucky to have made it through 4 months or so before beginning to feel like this... and only in a minor way even now! Hah, perhaps all that yoga practice really does ‘work’! In UK it’s hard sometimes to believe... Continue Reading →
New trust
In these strange socially-distant times, where I haven’t physically interacted with anyone other than my husband for nearly eight weeks, I could easily regress into full on privacy mode, hiding myself at home away from the world. I’m deliberately not doing that. I was working quite hard on my ‘trust issues’ (horrible phrase, I know)... Continue Reading →
Virtually enough
I was having a bit of a teaching wobble earlier this week. One of those periodic crises of confidence. I’ve been teaching long enough now that I expect it and am usually content to allow the waves of uncertainty to wash over me a while, knowing it’ll pass. But this episode was magnified by the... Continue Reading →
Choose life
I was with my bodyworker on Monday. As always deep, deep work. She sure likes to give me my money's worth! 75 minutes gets right into the very fibres of my body -- the work on my fascia is just the superficial layer compared to what lies within and beneath. I had wanted to address... Continue Reading →
Siva and the mind-readers
My husband does this hand gesture: palms pressing together then opened out, like the pages of a book. He uses it to signal to me I don't need to tell him anything more: he knows exactly what I'm thinking. Darn, he's usually right. He knows me so well. Although I love him and happily share... Continue Reading →
Teaching honestly
I have a new regular student in class. She used to study with the Iyengar family in London -- and now she comes to me. Yikes! I was a bit freaked out at first, wondering what she would make of my lunchtime vinyasa flow class. But she keeps coming back, she seems content with what... Continue Reading →
Old ways, new ways
I got out of town this bank holiday weekend for a workshop plus kirtan. I've kept my yoga experiences pretty close to home for some time now, since my last visit to a new teacher was a bit more than I bargained for. Long story short: it's made me reluctant to leave the safety bubble... Continue Reading →
In good company
On Friday I went to a family funeral. Difficult occasions always. And always such difficulty is compounded by various day to day circumstances. The inconsequentialities of recent snowy conditions disrupting travel plans, minor illnesses creating anxiety, and also the deeper current of entrenched family dynamics... Such are our human lives, even in the face of... Continue Reading →