Shift it

I’ve had some amazing moments with my students this week. A bit of Sanskrit punning after class from one, some good questions from another who is usually very self-contained (with a good line in sceptical faces!), and the one is who usually very physically cautious and always takes the lighter options was asking about how... Continue Reading →

October 8, 2017 2

What’s the answer? What’s the question?

My boss is just back from a conference so we spent some time chatting about it. The major theme for us was understanding how to organise information or data and how we find the information we need. We talked about the possible relationship between the availability of data and the questions we choose to ask,... Continue Reading →

July 13, 2017 2

Raw yoga

One of my reports at work has just been refused a place on a management training course, as part of a cost-cutting exercise. She's disappointed and she feels as though she's missing out on something. But really she's been doing just fine without this course for more than a year. "You don't need it," I told... Continue Reading →

May 19, 2017 0

The luck of yoga class

A busy class means you have much less say in picking your mat neighbours. I was 50% lucky. The guy on one side was someone whose practice I marvel at and I love his internal-ness during practice. He's just solid and it helps me feel grounded and more sure of myself. Great! But 50% lucky... Continue Reading →

April 18, 2017 1

Clowning around

Hubby came in and interrupted my practice this morning. He's usually really careful not to do this, but it turned out he thought everything had gone quiet and assumed I'd finished. He planned to tiptoe in to give me a bit of a head/shoulder massage in Śavāsana. Sweet thought! He hasn't realised that my āsana practice is... Continue Reading →

April 16, 2017 4

Yoga lyrics

I'm the urban spaceman, baby; I've got speed I've got everything I need I'm the urban spaceman, baby; I can fly I'm a supersonic guy I don't need pleasure I don't feel pain If you were to knock me down I'd just get up again ... I wake up every morning with a smile upon... Continue Reading →

April 7, 2017 2

Heart and ears

At work today I've been listening to a recording of a live kirtan hosted by a local Hindu group. I did this as a strange stress relief measure as I tackled an inbox burgeoning with technical queries that I must somehow understand and recommend solutions to. It pretty much worked -- though it didn't do wonders for... Continue Reading →

March 27, 2017 6

The secret formula

I saw one of my teachers recently whom I haven't seen in a while and perhaps only a few times since TT. We had a great chat after the class he gave. He asked whether I was teaching and because he's one of those quiet steady types with eyes that see right into you, I found... Continue Reading →

March 24, 2017 3

And music sets me free

Some time ago now my teacher -- who doesn't demo much in class -- came and took side angle alongside me, exaggerating his breathing so it was audible to me; I matched my breath to his and all of a sudden he'd exhaled the front hand right down onto the ground, although mine usually mine stays in a... Continue Reading →

March 14, 2017 2

Country mouse yogini

I committed the ultimate London yoga studio faux pas -- I spoke to people in the changing room!! I had had a great class. ...Well apart from two name calls from the teacher during class which I found slightly embarrassing -- being asked to translate Sanskrit after the opening chanting (of course not a chant I... Continue Reading →