The art of simplifying

Hubby overheard me the other weekend fielding my mum's questions about my yoga. I was frustrated that she just asked one new question after another without following up on anything I said. Did she actually hear? Was she listening? It felt as though she was just going through a questionnaire, where the act of asking was... Continue Reading →

May 22, 2016 8

Now I’m a pro (just kidding!)

So now that I've spent a whole two hours teaching my friend yoga during these past two weeks, I'm practically a professional! Oh yeah! 🙂 Seriously, this teaching thing is hard, and mixing it with a friendship brings its own challenges. As well as making some parts of it much easier, I guess. So here's a... Continue Reading →

April 28, 2016 0

Trying on a teacher’s shoes

Now that I'm definitely signed up for teacher training, I'm trying hard to get on quietly with the pre-course reading, but otherwise just keep on with doing my practice as well as I can and not start second-guessing what preparations I might otherwise do before the course. I'm trying to trust my teacher: if he... Continue Reading →

April 10, 2016 8

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

Myself as a question mark

Hubby came and sat with me the other day at the end of my āsana practice. I was playing some music he liked, so we just listened, breathed, did whatever we each did for those short moments together. He's a bit cautious with physical practice at the moment which is entirely good and fine but I'm trying to... Continue Reading →

March 30, 2016 0

Too soon to celebrate (much!)

I've been congratulated three times this past week! What have I done to merit this? Nothing at all! Yet. All I've done is pay the deposit for a teacher training course. But actually this does strangely feel like something worth celebrating! For me it's a big step in itself. Finances aside, it's a definite commitment to whatever... Continue Reading →

March 26, 2016 12

Child’s pose for Hubby

Hubby has a phobia of restorative yoga. And I'm sure he's not the only one. If you're used to a more dynamic practice, the long passive holds and quiet spaces for the mind to go crazy in can be a bit daunting. For Hubby there's a lot of bodily tension in general and a complaining sciatic... Continue Reading →

March 19, 2016 5

TT heebie jeebies

Someone was talking really loudly before class the other night. They were outside the studio door, but their voice carried clearly. I tried to ignore it. I'm breathing. I'm preparing. This is my time. Accept the sounds and then let them go -- that's what I was taught early on in meditation (in an absurdly... Continue Reading →

March 5, 2016 5

Do I care to share?

I try not to be evangelical about yoga, despite how passionately I feel about it. It's too easy to assume you know best what might help other people -- or indeed that they want any kind of help or relief. Suffering of all sorts is complex. And there's some martyr tendency in all of us... Continue Reading →

February 27, 2016 2

From plank to standing on my own two feet

I passed this sign today outside a café -- as I was following my head and heart to the yoga studio! My teacher was leading a small workshop looking at Chaturaṅga Daṇḍāsana. Such a luxury to spend more than an hour on a single āsana. And in really nice company. I got the feeling that everyone there... Continue Reading →