Spending time in France last month, I got to thinking about the Niyama of Tapas. There’s nowhere quite like France to force you to draw on your deepest reserves of Tapas to get you through the day. Everywhere you look, an opportunity arises to indulge in some of the country’s fabulousness: the restaurants, the wine, […]
Anyone who was mesmerised by the recent, stunning Netflix documentary “My Octopus Teacher” might remember Craig Foster, the free diver who wrote and directed the film, explaining how he got to know the behavioural patterns of the octopus who so entranced him. People seemed puzzled, he said, by his habit of diving to exactly the […]
There was a time when a bee hovering in the garden caused panic (and often a tragic end for the bee). Now, they get the red carpet treatment. We plan our gardens to their taste and practically jump for joy when we see one, willing the little creature to stay and hoping they’ll bring all […]
On a recent podcast*, Blindboy discussed the creative process with his guest, singer/songwriter Sinéad O’Connor as he interviewed her about her new memoir.** Asked about how she writes her songs, Sinéad responded that her subconscious really does the job for her. She sometimes wakes to a snippet of a song in her head and realises […]
It’s said that to be happy, we need someone to love, something to do, and something to look forward to. Since March 2020, many of us might struggle to easily tick all three boxes, whatever our circumstances were before. When it comes to loved ones, working from home and lockdown means that while we’re forcibly […]
As a confirmed Ashtangi, I never thought the day would come when I’d be extolling the virtues of a yoga style involving floor-based poses, held for several long, slow (sometimes very slow) minutes. But here I am, the one who ran screaming from non-dynamic forms of yoga, ready to tell you why I now embrace […]
At last! An accessible read for anyone interested in yoga philosophy. As those who’ve explored it know, the subject is vast, sprawling and complicated, full of concepts that can be challenging for the western mind to grasp – never mind convey to others. And while every Yoga Teacher Training student will have the Bhagavad Gita […]
A quick scroll through Instagram yoga hashtags could have you thinking that the ability to audition for Cirque du Soleil is a prerequisite for practising yoga. While some of the poses on display are wonderful to look at, others are downright scary (or even dangerous), and have little, if anything, to do with yoga. It’s […]
Another post, another new book to write about. It’s not like I planned to follow up a book review with yet another book review, but what to do, when not just one but two fantastic (and badly needed) yoga books rock up on the doorstep in the space of a fortnight? Last week, it was […]
In the 20+ years that I’ve been practising, I’ve accumulated a fairly hefty library of all kinds of books on yoga theory, practice, anatomy and philosophy. But none is of such sentimental value to me as this one. This is my beloved copy of David Swenson’s “Ashtanga Yoga, The Practice Manual”. As you can see, […]