Snow-ga

I once heard someone say you should never take up yoga if you like a good personal drama, if you're attached to making your life more exciting than it perhaps needs to be, if you actually enjoy getting a bit high on the everyday stresses. I think you'll know what I mean. I can fall... Continue Reading →

March 2, 2018 1

Practice time

Time was when I'd wear a watch to every class so that I could keep an eye on the time. I wanted to pace myself so that I'd have enough energy to take me through the full sequence. I needed to reassure myself that I could get to the end OK. And aside from lacking... Continue Reading →

February 11, 2018 2

Safe space

I remember early days of yoga class when I felt really intimidated simply by being in the room and I would sit anxiously waiting for class to start, fidgeting mindlessly and half-considering doing a runner to the pub while there was still time to get out. (Nowadays I admit I still often feel this anxiety... Continue Reading →

February 7, 2018 5

Trust up and down the line

A yoga friend recently told me that whenever she had a ‘good practice’ in class she always made sure to tell the teacher what a great class it was; if she didn’t have this experience she simply said a brief thank you as she left. Wow, really? I observed that, while I take care to... Continue Reading →

February 1, 2018 3

Promises, promises

I feel that yoga promises much. Inherently. If you listen carefully. Sure, there are sometimes big bang fireworks moments where everything (and I mean everything) suddenly hits you with a crystal clarity that life is epically awesome, that you are awesome, and the cosmos is perfect. I feel fortunate that I have experienced something of... Continue Reading →

January 20, 2018 0

Getting serious

I was talking with an experienced teacher recently about to how to keep yoga class (vinyasa specifically) safe. His pointers were really interesting. I was expecting loads of alignment stuff and the need to draw boundaries between being a yoga teacher and being a doctor/physio. But this wasn't it. Sure, he talked some about the... Continue Reading →

January 17, 2018 3

New year, old me

So inexorably the year has turned. On social media I see others partying, recovering, and setting intentions for the next 12 months. I've managed the first two of these to some degree, but I don't feel at all ready to look forward yet. There still seems so much unresolved from the previous year. So many... Continue Reading →

January 3, 2018 7

A little bit Christmassy

This week my yoga boss offered me a bag of Santa hats in case I wanted to give them out during the last class of the year... ...I didn't! But I did offer my class a festive treat my own way -- I taught them to chant lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu, with some of my... Continue Reading →

December 23, 2017 3

Best offering

Class started in full praṇām. Prostrate, arms outstretched, palms turned upward. The ultimate giving pose. Deeply humbling, stretched out on the floor, no defense. It's impossible to transition easily out of this posture. But then this pose is not about moving on: it's about being committed here. It's not about the look of it, and... Continue Reading →

December 18, 2017 2

Not quite half a decade

Last month my local yoga studio sent me a sweet email acknowledging our anniversary! Apparently I've been going to class there for four years now. This is only a little less than the total length of time I've been practising. One of the teachers then messaged me with the breakdown of my 'stats' -- how... Continue Reading →