I remember a picture I loved, that really inspired me. I told my teacher about it when I was studying backbends with him. It was a beautiful image of a girl doing urdhva hastasana. An outdoor setting, she had loose hair pulling free in the breeze, there was glowing sunshine and her posture was one... Continue Reading →
Begin again
Back when I met with my teacher regularly, I used to enjoy telling him what I was working on in my practice, what was interesting me, what I perceived as the challenge to address, how it evolved over the months until it turned into something different. The sharing of it was a key part of... Continue Reading →
Summer visit
One of my teachers visited me over the summer. It was a bit unexpected, in the middle of a very busy week, but I made time. I wanted to spend time with her. She is good for me. I can feel how my system relaxes in her presence. I down regulate. I’m sure I can... Continue Reading →
General public
I had a small gynae procedure yesterday. It might have been ‘routine’ for the clinical staff but it was a pretty extreme experience for me and way more painful than I was expecting. At one point one of the assisting nurses told me to ‘do yoga breathing’ as she could see I was struggling with... Continue Reading →
Month by month
In my current teaching I’m offering a monthly workshop at the gym where I teach. The manager is stretching the budget to pay for an ‘extra’ and something which is unlike anything else they offer. I love doing this. It is a privilege. Each month I relish the challenge : how will I choose a... Continue Reading →
Flower power
I’m in a supported pigeon pose, nicely set up and feeling comfortable in my body. There’s the right amount of firmness in the bolster I’m lying across to allow my body to yield, subtly but distinctly over time. I feel sensations change in my body, a little more stretch here, a slight reactive tightening there...... Continue Reading →
Eumorphia
Eumorphia Is that a word? I just made it up. The benefits of a classical education 🙂 The opposite of dysmorphia, as in ‘body dysmorphia’, a condition where you become obsessive about how your body looks, the bits you hate, how flawed and imperfect it is compared to how you see others. So what would... Continue Reading →
Courage!
At university when I was struggling to complete my final exams owing to a double combo of ill health and a painful wrist injury my tutor sent me a note (haha pre-email days!) that said ‘courage -- in a French accent’. I loved it. I think of it still when things get tricky. It made... Continue Reading →
The wise soul’s capacity
I’m still somewhere in the weird, uncharted territory of the grief cycle as it pertains not to an actual death but from a loss of a relationship, namely breaking up with my long-time yoga teacher. It’s not a socially-acceptable kind of grief and likely sounds all cultish and dependent and creepy to anyone not in... Continue Reading →
Social media lineage
I saw a thing on social media today. Looking at it one way, it was just a dumb marketing message. Looking at it another way, it was a teaching from my teacher’s teacher on the three things that make a good teacher: A lineage connection – A good teacher is part of a lineage and... Continue Reading →