Isn’t it strange that the only constant we can rely on in life is change, yet change is something that we seem to resist? If you watch animals, they seem to take change in their stride pretty naturally; they live in the moment and accept what ‘is’ rather than expending energy on thinking about howContinueContinue reading “Growing pains”
Category Archives: Yoga
Bringing the niyamas to life – Ishvara Pranidhana
As a quick reminder, the niyamas are five personal qualities mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that we’re encouraged to cultivate within ourselves, to help us on our yoga path. In this article we’re looking at the fifth and final niyama: ‘Ishvara Pranidhana’, which means ‘devotion to God/ the divine/ the cosmos/ the universe/ the biggerContinueContinue reading “Bringing the niyamas to life – Ishvara Pranidhana”
Bringing the niyamas to life – Svadhyaya
As a quick reminder, the niyamas are five personal qualities mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that we’re encouraged to cultivate within ourselves, to help us on our yoga path. In this article we’re looking at the fourth niyama: ‘Svadhyaya’, which means ‘self-study’. I warn you now, I may go off on one a bit inContinueContinue reading “Bringing the niyamas to life – Svadhyaya”
Bringing the Niyamas to Life – Tapas
At the last workshop we looked at the third niyama, ‘tapas’, which is often translated along the lines of ‘fiery discipline’. This is the quality that helps us to keep going when things become difficult. We all reach a stage in our practice after the initial love affair fades when our relationship with yoga isContinueContinue reading “Bringing the Niyamas to Life – Tapas”
Bringing the Niyamas to Life – Santosha
As a quick reminder, the niyamas are five personal qualities mentioned in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that we’re encouraged to cultivate within ourselves, to help us on our yoga path. Building on August’s article on ‘saucha’ (cleanliness or purity), we now move onto looking at the second niyama: ‘santosha’, which means contentment. Aah, the elusive contentment… IContinueContinue reading “Bringing the Niyamas to Life – Santosha”
Detoxifying the mind
NB This article appeared in a newsletter to my yoga students earlier this year but at the time I didn’t dare to unleash it on the internet. But, today, I realised quite how pertinent it is to the topic of saucha, which I have just blogged about, and so again I man up and speakContinueContinue reading “Detoxifying the mind”
Bringing the niyamas to life – Saucha
The niyamas are the second limb of yoga, as outlined in Patanjali’s yoga sutras. Along with the first limb, the yamas, these two limbs together form the ethical code of conduct that creates the foundation bedrock of the yoga path. If you use the analogy of the tree of yoga, the five yamas and fiveContinueContinue reading “Bringing the niyamas to life – Saucha”
Flowing with the universe
As this year’s five month travel stint draws to a close I reflect back on what I have learnt. Wow – so much! Every time I go away for an extended period of time, I truly do feel like I enter the ‘university of life’, receiving so many lessons and opportunities for growth. Of course IContinueContinue reading “Flowing with the universe”
Unveiling the heart
For the last month, my partner and I have been happily living on the side of a beautiful mountain in a remote part of northern Portugal. The reason for this change of address has been to try out community living for the first time, with a relatively new community venture called Merkaba Community. I’ve beenContinueContinue reading “Unveiling the heart”
Saluting the Sun with a Surya Namaskara based Home Practice
June 21st saw this year’s summer solstice, which was made even more auspicious this year by falling on a full moon for the first time in around fifty years! There’s something very magical about this – a once or twice in a lifetime opportunity to see the ultimate yang symbol, the sun, share the skyContinueContinue reading “Saluting the Sun with a Surya Namaskara based Home Practice”
frond yoga with Rebecca May 