When I think of yoga imagery, minimalism the last thing that comes to mind. The Hindu aesthetic is quite clearly maximalist, full of colour, symbolism and detail. This spills over into Western yoga. Yoga leggings, to choose an obvious example, are often brightly coloured and patterned. Many yogis adorn their studio spaces with multi-hued batiks.…
Yoga Breathing Classes 101
Yogic Breathing is Healthy Breathing I have spent much of the past two years teaching people to breathe. I still teach postures, but pranayama mostly fills my days, now. Sadly, I gave up teaching group yoga classes during, and then after, the pandemic. It was a super hard time. I am glad that all the…
Even yogis have down days
Today was just one of those days. Feeling narky, out of sorts, with too many troubling thoughts running around my head. I wasn’t in dire straits, just a little off-colour. It happens to all of us, even yogis. Difference is, we yogis have tools to work with when things seems askew. Mindfulness, deep breathing and…
How We Breathe: Moving things around
Introduction We usually just think of the breath as being Oxygen in and CO2 out…if we think about the breath at all. Yoga practitioners may think about prâna. But few of us take the time to contemplate all the other things that move around because of the breath. Most of us know a little about…
Teaching yoga from the heart
Every day I wake up thinking about yoga. It has been like this for as long as I can remember. It is my deepest passion, my guiding light, the shining star in my sky. Yoga teachers are bound to one fundamental rule: you can only teach what you know. And knowing yoga is about doing…
Get on your mat! Yoga to ease the symptoms of menopause
I came across this article about the benefits of yoga for peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women. I just had to share! The study was done by researchers in Germany, and examined groups of women in the USA, India, Brazil, China, South Korea and Germany. What is really interesting about the breadth of the study groups is…
On yoga and loneliness (the scourge of our times)
In this morning’s post, I mentioned one of the benefits of yoga is the relief of loneliness. This is not often mentioned when people talk about yoga. Mostly, yoga is said to relieve back pain, insomnia, sluggish digestion and various other physical ailments. Those of us who practice yoga with any degree of seriousness know…
New Year, new you
Good morning dear yogis, or yogis-to-be! Wouldn’t you like to make 2018 the year that you take up yoga? Yoga is so ubiquitous now, it seems almost silly not to at least try? But why should yoga be everywhere, and now? Because it complements any other form of physical education or sport, but can also…
New Term starts 12-Sept-2017
Hey people, sorry it’s been a while. The summer term has gone swimmingly and I’ve been kept busyingly busy!. Classes were sometimes full to overflowing, sometimes empty to the point of silence. But, the 90-days of consecutive classes is drawing to an end. And, of course, I have got my fingers in the pot, planning…
Some wise words about "how" to do yoga.
https://qz.com/1010262/international-yoga-day-indias-oldest-yogini-says-youre-doing-yoga-wrong-if-youre-working-up-a-sweat/