Browsing Tag

Yoga

Philosophy

Stop and smell the roses…

Ever seen the movie ‘Groundhog Day?’ The one where Bill Murray keeps waking up in the same day over and over again? This week as my 5.20am alarm jolts me awake I trudge wearily to meditation with that very concept in my head. Different day, same struggle!

Nearly three weeks into my training, sitting still with just my barrage of thoughts for company is not getting any easier. Heck, the other day I even carried the pillow off my bed to add to my variety of ‘props.’ Short of making a sofa out of them all, I settled for stuffing it underneath my sitbones in the hope of avoiding the numb butt feeling after half an hour. Continue Reading

Philosophy

Stroking the Ego…

stockingegoWhen asked why she used to strive for the perfect drop back from standing to a backbend in her yoga practice, our philosophy teacher, Rose says very seriously: “Because it was exhilarating….Oh, and I used to take naked pictures of myself on the beach doing drop backs to send to my boyfriend…”

Well, at least she’s honest about it! But, putting Rose’s crazy hippie days in Goa aside, we all have a pose in our practice that we strive for and love to do. While there is nothing wrong with that, somewhere along our yoga path our ego can get too big for its boots, and that pose we so covet can land us with an injury. We forget that the physical practice (asana) is just one tool in the yoga box, and that it is in fact number three of the eight limbs of yoga. Out in front are the much overlooked ‘yamas and niyamas’ – yoga’s little moral and ethical codes. (I’ll delve into those another day!) Continue Reading

Travel

Bonjour Bali

It’s 5am. I’m bolt upright in my bed in Bali, squinting at the palm sized dark object that has just dropped in to say hello through the wooden carvings beside my door. With the alarm set to go off in 20 minutes anyway, I decide sleeping with an intruder on the prowl is not an option, so I leap up to switch on the light and inspect the damage….cockroach. A speedy bugger this one is too. As he zips about the floor, a loud expletive escapes my lips, breaking the silence I am supposed to be observing first thing every morning. Continue Reading