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This award-winning movie has been out for a year, though there are still a lot of us out there who haven’t seen it! I’ve been lucky enough to see it twice in the past month. First, during a residential teacher training week and again last night at a special screening at The Prince Charles Cinema…

“It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and forget what really matters to you…. Two of the most valuable things we have are time and our relationships with other people.” – Candy Chang If you haven’t already seen it, (or maybe even if you already have!) check out this life-affirming video of artist…

I had interesting chat at a yoga centre. A student who had just come out of a class was sent to talk to me by the teacher, who was rushing to cover the next class. I don’t teach at this place but I think the student was sent my way knowing that I do teach.…

“ Live with awareness for the sake of ourselves and others.” – Sarah Powers So far it’s been a yin yang summer. This summer marks a year of leaving the ‘security’ of my old job and beginning the journey of yoga teaching. I’d known long before that I wanted to take this leap and share…

You can tell the food is good when the dinner table falls silent. The meal is asparagus and pea risotto expertly whipped up by chef, Lucie. The dinner table is in the dining room at the beautifully cosy and charming Marsh Farm House near Arundel, West Sussex. It’s not my usual Friday evening. I am…

Repetition is important. My restorative yoga training at the beginning of March had a big impact on me, partly because it came at a point when I was giving myself a really hard time. One of the things I remember Judith talking about is how repetition is important when teaching. I am paraphrasing Judith here,…

“Life is a series of leaps” – Suzy Greaves* I had genuinely forgotten it was a leap year until I heard a conversation about it on the radio. Usually, when a leap year comes around I’m thinking I can’t believe how time has flown by. For the first time in a long while I feel…

It’s been a bit of a whirlwind start to 2012 so far. In some ways I can’t quite believe we’re only just past halfway through January.  I feel as though I’ve easily crammed at least a month’s worth of work into the last 17 days! One of my new writing experiences for 2012 is being…

  December has been quite a contemplative month.  Despite it being a very yin time, it’s felt very eventful internally.  Mixed emotions. Darkness and light.  Among a number of things, during December: –   I got my official teaching certificates, registered with Yoga Alliance and got insured –   I got confirmation of my spondy and scoliosis…

While talking about food (usually one of my favourite subjects) at work the other day it became apparent just how far my eating habits had slipped when my colleague suggested I might want to have something other than cereal for dinner. And just the day before it was only when one of my teachers mentioned…

Yoga is relationship Relationship is based on faith Faith dispels our fear Fear is the root of our obstacles Obstacles hinder our growth Growth occurs when there is clarity Clarity comes from our practice of yoga Yoga is relationship – TKV Desikachar

I was messing about tap dancing around at my brother’s place the other day (trying and miserably failing to emulate The Nicholas Brothers) when he said something to me: “You’re becoming just like how you used to be when you were little”. I stopped mid-time step (triple time-step with a triple break, in fact), brow…

This time last week I was in Clapham with lots of other South London locals who had shown up with brooms and dustpans and binliners, surveying the aftermath of the events of Monday night.  Burnt out flats, trashed shops… I spoke to someone who saw their flat on fire and another person whose home had…

I’m sitting in a calming country house courtyard, reading and enjoying the warmth of the glorious Sussex sunshine on my face when Miko the cat appears and decides my lap is the perfect resting place for the afternoon.  It’s not how I usually spend my Saturdays but I could get used to this… It’s the…

“Be present in all things and thankful in all things”      – Maya Angelou   It’s interesting how what you focus on can show up, not just once, but again and again.  In class the other day our teacher talked about the ability to see our challenges as gifts. Earlier that same day I’d been reading…

Do you sometimes forget the things you know you know?  At the end of Flow class one day my teacher pointed out to me that in Savasana I was scrunching my up forehead. “Really?!” I looked at him, perplexed, “I had no idea”.  Whatever was on my mind was etched across my forehead.  “Why don’t you…

I have been feeling a lot more anxious than usual lately.  It’s a combination of ‘stuff’, but I’m pretty certain this is mostly down to one specific thing: In less than a week I leave the place I have worked for almost ten years.  Yep. Hello Freelancing and Goodbye Regular Salary.  I know this is…

I was recently chatting to someone I don’t know very well.  Through our conversation they found out I practise yoga.  Their response: “Really?  But you don’t have a ‘yoga body’.  I mean, people who are into yoga are usually kind of… thin.” Woah. Some people really don’t think about the impact their words can have.  …

I feel like – scratch that – I know I talk about yoga a LOT.  I will happily talk about it with anyone who will listen (or not, as the glazed-over expressions of some friends and colleagues indicate…).   I even had a conversation about yoga with a stranger at a bus stop the other day. …

I’ve done weights before, but not like this! Yesterday evening I tried Pulse Yoga for the first time at my yoga home. As someone with several lapsed gym memberships to my name it’s fair to say that though I’ve done weights before, I have never loved the gym.  Yoga, I love.  Yet, I understand the…

‘Leela’ means ‘play’ in Sanskrit. I learned this at my yoga home because that’s the name of the style of Hot Yoga which is taught there.  ‘Leela’ is something that Stewart Gilchrist also touched on during his  workshop with us last month. At the weekend, we had some spontaneous ‘Leela Time’ when one of my…