Home town girl

I bought a vegan ice-cream, bantering with the young girl running the kiosk about whether she’d tried them herself. I noticed a same-sex couple kissing on the beach. The old Victorian pier, half burnt-down some time ago, now boasts a couple of hipster coffee shacks and a crepe stall where the slot machines and fortune... Continue Reading →

May 25, 2024 3

Dropping in

I just took my first overseas trip since covid began. Not long planned, just a sudden realisation that I could join my husband for a few days of his work trip in Greece and use up a travel voucher that was about to expire. That gave me two nights only. Not long to orientate oneself... Continue Reading →

May 8, 2022 1

Beach style

Since being in Australia I've watched the beach culture in action, observed little kids being schooled by their parents or grand parents, taken in the water etiquette of surfers vs swimmers, admired those on boards or body surfing. I spent the first few days wondering how I could fit in here. In my imagination I... Continue Reading →

December 28, 2019 1

Hearing voices

Hubby jokes that I'm a wannabe Ashtangi because I usually take Saturdays off physical practice. It's not actually planned, it just fits with the flow of my week and I think a day off is good for mind and body. But now I'm on holiday with family my whole routine is out the window and... Continue Reading →

December 26, 2019

Holidaying at home

I was talking with my teacher recently about how wonderful I felt when I was on holiday. I felt physically much freer, more flexible and more confident in my energy and strength. I loved the fact that I went off for a morning run by the sea before it got too hot -- and before... Continue Reading →

September 25, 2019 1

Holiday pleasures

Before I left for my holiday my yoga theme in practice and teaching was about examining preferences. I was mostly thinking about how to learn to let them go, following the philosophy that preferences are a cause of suffering, preventing one achieving the equanimity that the Bhagavad Gita teaches yoga to be. Now I'm on... Continue Reading →

August 16, 2019

Tourist manners

It's funny being such a tourist for a while. I'm not very used to it. Childhood holidays were pretty low-key affairs and usually in quiet, more rural locations with only occasional forays into the larger towns to see the museums and cultural sites. Now I'm in central Rome in the height of summer. Everywhere I... Continue Reading →

July 20, 2019 0

Yoga everywhere

I recently got caught up in a discussion about 'Egyptian Yoga' and whether ancient representations of the human body in various shapes depict yoga asana. I know this is a fashionable idea in some circles as yogis seem to desperately seek some ancient validation of modern postural yoga. It's a nice idea, but intellectually dishonest,... Continue Reading →

July 17, 2019 3

Careful

One of my teachers seems to me to be indomitable. I don't know her well personally, but from what she shares publicly I know she's been through a bunch of sh*t. Most recently she underwent pretty serious surgery and from a distance I followed her steps towards healing and mobility with a sense of awe.... Continue Reading →

September 30, 2018 0

Life in the slow lane

Sometimes in my everyday life I feel as though I'm a terrible yogi -- off the mat I mean. I feel as though my attention is fragmented, I struggle to fit into my days all the things I want to and I always feel as though I should be somewhere else, doing something else. It... Continue Reading →