“As within, so without. As without, so within.” “What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind.” Dhammapada (“The Path of Dharma”), Buddha I am eight days in to a fortnight-long Panchakarma in Kerala, not only God’s Own …
I have recently started to see life and the many encounters, relationships and even challenges we go through, not as single events that happen just to us, but threads, stitches and sometimes beautiful everlasting knots, that are all part of the tapestry of life we weave. And I see us as all part of the …
Not so long ago, the actress Emma Watson wrote about being ‘self-partnered’, a term she used during an interview, when asked about her marital status. When I read this, I knew that self-partnered didn’t resonate for me – it’s too long-winded for a start. And perhaps it’s the self that I don’t like – a …
I have just read a friend’s article here and been inspired to write. I think I’m in my cocoon. Not quite home, but recognising that a feeling of home is one day possible for me, something I was beginning to think I’d never want to have. I’ve watched friends settle down, start families and decorate homes and …
“One does not go by oneself in India,You are led softly by the hand,By whom you don’t know,No words to ask.” (Tears of Bliss: A Guru-Disciple Mystery, Narvada Puri, 2009) I found that in the book written by the German woman who left her homeland in search of a bearded Indian Guru she had seen in …
Where to start. Moments earlier I had been dancing off the water from my bare feet, hopping between an entirely wet bathroom and dry bedroom, wondering what neatly pressed item from my suitcase could best be sacrificed for use as a bathmat, when everything suddenly went black. A power cut. The ceiling fans, so necessary …
It’s not always easy to squeeze in a daily yoga session while travelling, let alone find a discreet patch for the mat. The ideal of course is the privacy of your own room, apparently, even when you are sharing with your five-year-old nephew. A parent & grandparent (in need of a break) has treated our …
Yesterday evening I went to a yoga class that I tend to go to very regularly and then not at all. It’s usually 60 minutes of Hatha yoga, ending with a short 10 – 15 minute meditation. When I first started going, I used to dread the meditation and more recently, I have noticed, I …
My sister generously offered up her two sons – George and Thomas, five and seven years old, as guinea pigs for their aunt – a newly qualified children’s yoga and mindfulness teacher. A pre-arranged playdate one rainy Saturday afternoon would be the event, my sister’s front room, the venue. I was excited at the prospect …
I assisted at a Family yoga class on the weekend in London’s Notting Hill. Yes, I’m a qualified yoga teacher for adults and children; for mindfulness too, but since qualifying I don’t feel I’ve been very mindful about my practice or my teaching. So, right now I have a small opportunity to be the observer, …
