We find ourselves in a time when, in the West, women make up the majority of any yoga class, and yet as in most fields of study, yet again, the patriarchal systems have ignored or hidden the practices, influences and valuable role of women in Yoga’s past. I am...
Articles To Inspire Your Yoga
Philosophy
There’s an age-old dualism in many cultures between psyche and soma, but especially in the West. This separation has also affected science, medicine and religion and, as the art critic, feminist philosopher and essayist Siri Hustvedt repeatedly points out, we continue...
Whenever I feel lost or stuck in my practice and there isn’t a peer or a teacher around to talk with I return back to the ancient handbook on yoga practice; Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. It is a non-dogmatic text and doesn’t say that we must practice particular poses and...
What does it feel and look like to be in a state of Wellbeing? The recent retreat that I facilitated with my colleague Karla Brodie was based around this inquiry. One of my favourite ‘Wellbeing’ models is the one offered by the psychologist Daniel Siegel,...
I will admit that I thoroughly enjoyed the Wonder Woman movie featuring Gal Gadot. I loved watching a super-goddess with powers of courage, strength and age defying perfection on the big screen. It makes a change from the usual hollywood male dominated super heroes...
Listening is definitely an art, one in reflecting and mirroring, and hopefully one that I am improving through practicing and teaching yoga. Recently I have had a number of experiences where I just don’t feel heard. Do you ever get that feeling when you’re...
What would it take for you to feel calm, secure and at ease in this very moment? In other words the feeling of just being yourself, just as you are. Perhaps these qualities are already present right now? If that is the case notice the sensations and feelings in...
Familiarising ourselves with all of our beautiful Koshic layers we can move beyond our conditioning. We can view the comings and goings of the positive and negative emotions, thoughts and beliefs by also connecting with the realm of unconditional joy and bliss that...
This post continues on the journey of the Koshas as I explore Vijnanamaya. This sheath takes us further into the subtleties of the mind. Manomaya, the previous sheath, is the gross and tangible mind that is fed through the senses. Vijnanamaya is even more intangible....
As we continue into the more subtle realms of the Yoga Journey, feelings and emotions will arise. This is a great opportunity to meet and greet ourselves just as we are and give these parts of ourselves some time to be seen so that anything that isn’t...
Once we have connected with and nourished the physical body, the Annamaya, which I wrote about last week we can begin to access the more subtle realm of the Energy Body known in Yoga as Pranamaya. When we feel into the Pranamaya sheath we can connect with the...
The outer and most easily accessible layer of our being is the Physical body which is why the majority of Yoga practiced in the West focusses on physical postures or ‘Asana’. The Physical body is known in Yoga as Anamaya and is the outer most...