Fallow land is land that is not planted with crops. It is left to lie uncultivated for a season in order to improve the quality of the soil. In the olden days, before chemical fertilisers forced land into continual productivity, parts of a farm would be left fallow for a short time before being replanted…
Yoga and minimalism
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…
Alteayoga is back!
Dear yogis and yogis-to-be – I am back! Soooo happy to report that yoga did not let me go. I had a wobble, I admit, back in June. After lockdown eased and suddenly we were out on the streets again, I didn’t quite know where to situate myself. I had grown quite used to giving…
Yoadict – leg movements
In installment 2 of my Spanish-English Yoga dictionary, I am going to look at the legs. Check back to installment 1 for arm movements. Feet together = piés juntos Feet slightly apart = piés ligeramente separados Bend your knees = doblar ó flexionar las rodillas Lift your heels = levantar los talones Stand on your…
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…
Yoga and the Blues
It is an open secret in the yoga world that most of us arrive here after trauma or trouble of one sort or another. In fact, I have heard said since my earliest days in this strange world of integral healing “people arrive at yoga when they are tired of suffering.” I think it’s true.…
Fascia and slow yoga
On the Alteayoga facebook page, I re-posted a piece from Dr. Mercola’s web site in which fascia is thoughtfully discussed. I suggest that you pop over and read it, then come back here. Summing up: Fascia makes up about 20% of body weight and is like a battery pack for muscles. It also transports water in…
Mantra Dance Music
Some nice tunes on offer here:
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…