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

Mantra-asana

I boldly offered my teacher some unsolicited thoughts recently about how to chant the mantra we're working with in class at the moment. I should probably refrain from doing that, but it was interesting to receive a comment back about how the mantra changes with time, as he repeats the chant. I wonder how much chanting... Continue Reading →

February 28, 2017 4

Resistance is futile

I sometimes wonder whether I will ever have enough humility to practise yoga with any true commitment. Two snapshots from class today: We were in Child's Pose and I could tell what was coming: it wasn't intended as a resting pose as often in class, rather it was meant as a posture to bring us to our... Continue Reading →

January 28, 2017 0

Will the day be bright or cloudy?

We got yoga homework from class last week -- maybe that's my teacher's take on being more strict! On the theme of change: the challenge was to see if we could take a different route to work each day. Of course that's just the 'physical practice', the real interest lies beneath. What might this change in a... Continue Reading →

January 23, 2017 2

Heart stopping yoga

I thought I was going to have a (thankfully metaphorical) heart attack in class the other night. Not because I was pushing myself too far, certainly not because the teacher was driving us hard, and not because I'd stepped up to face my inner demons and taken myself (and the demons) along to the weekly advanced class,... Continue Reading →

January 20, 2017 0

In the way but moving in the right direction

Crazy, wonderful Tuesdays. Up early for some teaching practice before breakfast. Then a busy day at work including a full-on couple of hours with my boss working through something bogglingly technical together because it was a two-brain problem, my lunchtime spent writing a little story in Sanskrit for my homework, then finally running out of the office... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2017 5

Who wants a strict teacher?

Someone has asked my teacher to be more strict. He mentioned it in class last night. I don't know what he made of this request (inscrutable yoga teacher!) but it rang alarm bells to me. More strict? Seriously? For me he's strict enough already. But subtly so and only if I choose to meet him there (some... Continue Reading →

January 13, 2017 5

Everyday beginnings

Periodically I have a bit of a yoga crisis. I wonder quite seriously whether I'm any good at it at all. Not in the impossibly bendy kind of way; I've never especially aspired to that (though obvs I'm not immune to craving certain poses). Rather I become so acutely aware of the critical voices in my... Continue Reading →

January 3, 2017 10

Validation and witness

"I give you permission NOT to do full Chaturaṇga each time". I wondered at this comment from my teacher in class today. Do people really need this permission? Do they feel some necessity for this action in every vinyasa? If they do, would the validation of the teacher make a difference? I wonder... I don't do... Continue Reading →

December 18, 2016 6

The sweetness of nāda yoga

Recently I haven't felt much like moving. It's the time of year maybe. English winters are so terribly dreary; not cold enough, not dark enough, just endless grey days of mild drizzle or dampness. Everything stagnates. For a while I tried fighting through which resulted in some very messy classes where I just upset myself... Continue Reading →