National Iyengar Day, UK (almost)

Today is apparently the first ever National Iyengar Day in UK and Ireland. I had thought to mark this occasion by going to my first ever Iyengar class. A local teacher was offering a free session as an intro and it seemed like a great coincidence since blogging friends (you know who you are!) have... Continue Reading →

January 16, 2016 4

Sitting with authenticity

I'm just back from a professional development course on authenticity. I loved that the course ended with the choice of staying on for networking and conversation -- or for the self-confessed introverts to leave and 'find a dark corner' in which to reflect. So clearly I've done the latter. I'm tucked up at home at... Continue Reading →

December 16, 2015 2

What a difference a day makes

A friend of mine remarked recently that she would have been sceptical about the 'transformative power' of yoga if I wasn't a living example. She used to see me as super-stressed in the office, always bringing work home, unable to let it go at the end of the day, and offering self-recrimination that I wasn't always... Continue Reading →

December 3, 2015 5

Métro, boulot, dodo — just add yoga!

I love the French expression "métro, boulot, dodo". There's no good English equivalent. It means "work, work, work", or more literally "commuting, working, sleeping", summing up the treadmill where work seems to dominate your existence. Life feels a little like this at the moment, but (here's the silver lining) with little in the way of commuting... Continue Reading →

October 30, 2015 0

What yoga teaches me about learning Sanskrit

I still have nightmares of learning Latin as a child. One year my teacher had me reading Caesar with him ‘for fun’ once a week. We read at speed as a bit of a warm up for the real work. One class was particularly punishing: he was impatient and pushing faster, I lost my place... Continue Reading →

October 17, 2015 1

The Upward Spiral

There was a bit of reporting earlier in the year on the inter web (like this article) summarising some recent research by Alex Korb which -- as I understand it (I've not actually read it) -- he published in book form as The Upward Spiral. The book is marketed as the neuroscience of depression, but the popular reportage was entitled... Continue Reading →

October 8, 2015 4

Corporate yoga — it’s not what you think!

"What did you do to him while I was away?" My boss has just come back from holiday and was asking me about the change he could see in a team member I've just taken line-management responsibility for. He's like a different person: more engaged, volunteering information in meetings, and quick to propose solutions to the day-to-day challenges... Continue Reading →

September 14, 2015 2

The universe offers…

I was feeling glum on my walk in to work this morning. The weather didn't help -- the meteorological joke that is an English summer. It was low grey skies with a hint of rain. I had a definite hankering for Greece. For the climate, the landscape, the hospitality of people. For endless frappés (Greek iced coffee),... Continue Reading →

August 20, 2015 2

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 →

April 28, 2015 0

Mindfulness in my workplace

Mindfulness in the workplace is a topic I feel a little ambivalent about -- sure, I feel strongly that such techniques can help our professional (corporate) lives as much they can support our personal lives, but I am concerned about why and how mindfulness is taught within a business. There's a lot of pressure for ROI (return on investment) and some... Continue Reading →