Life, yoga and other adventures

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Thursday 25 January 2018

Taking the register

January does strange things to class attendance. On the one hand, it's a New Year and the urge to take up exercise can be overwhelming. Some of my sessions over the last couple of weeks have been packed to the rafters. This morning, for instance, I had 18 in a session that normally attracts about a dozen. My evening session has been fully booked and with a waiting list. I'm pleased, of course, but I know that this will pass, once resolutions start to falter.

Conversely, other class numbers are down, due to coughs and colds, bad weather, and good stuff on the telly that is a much more attractive option than braving the elements. This too shall pass.

That's the joy of teaching. You never know who's going to turn up - and that also brings challenges at this time of year, when absolute beginners jostle for position with old hands. What can I teach that will not only please someone who can't reach their toes, but also satisfy a yogi who is comfortable in a headstand? I don't want to frighten anyone away, but nor do I want anyone to be bored.

Oh, I love a challenge.

Tuesday 16 January 2018

Arise, great warrior!

Warrior I
It might seem strange that there is such a thing as the Warrior posture in yoga, given that yogis are known for being peace-loving and non-violent. Actually, there are three Warriors (Virabhadrasana I, II and III), strong, standing poses that are the foundation of any practice. Despite the name, however, they are not aggressive.

They are really about tuning into your internal, spiritual warrior: that part of you that chooses right over wrong, good over evil. In the Bhagavad Gita, we read the conversation on a battlefield between Krishna and Arjuna, as two armies prepare to fight; but it is clear that the universal enemy is ignorance of the self.

'Kill therefore with the sword of wisdom the doubt born of ignorance that lies in thy heart. Be one in self-harmony, in yoga, and arise, great warrior, arise.'

That said, though, I maintain that if you practise a Warrior pose before a tricky conversation, you will have a better outcome!

Tuesday 9 January 2018

Add some colour to your day

I like Dawn French, but I have to take issue with her recent comment that adult colouring books can get lost.

I've seen enough TV cop shows to know that one way to make a youngster open up is to sit and do something creative with him in a non-threatening environment. Occasionally the child will come up trumps and draw a picture of Mummy hitting Daddy with a frying-pan; more often, it is simply an opportunity for him to open up about feelings and perhaps uncover a long-forgotten memory.

I've always enjoyed colouring. It was one of my go-to pastimes on rainy days when I was little and even as an adult I've kept my crayons handy since before it was trendy - and long before I was aware of mandalas. A mandala is a spiritual or ritual symbol: a geometric shape that represents the universe, traditionally consisting of a square with four gates containing a circle with a centre point. It is used for focusing attention, for establishing a sacred space and as an aid to meditation. The essence of a mandala is in the act of its creation.

When we covered creating mandalas on my teaching diploma course, I was surprised how emotional it made me. Actually, it made me quite teary and I had to stop. I can't say the same happens when I'm shading in a multicoloured fish, but I do find it calming and it frees up my mind to go off on all sorts of unexpected tangents. In the spirit of the mandala, I don't keep my pictures once they are finished. Sometimes it's tempting to pin them up on the fridge, but then I remember I'm not a toddler.

If you've never tried creating a mandala (or you can't remember the last time you spent some time with your Crayola set), might I suggest you give it a whirl?

Tuesday 2 January 2018

On the up

So the cold turned into something nasty and Christmas went on without me. Humbug! However, there's nothing like a couple of weeks of complete, albeit enforced, rest for making you realise what's important. It turns out that the world didn't come to a standstill just because I wasn't there to organise everything. Anyway, I'm fully recovered, just in time to go back to work. 

I've been thinking about sankalpa and this will be the theme in my lessons this week. I never make New Year resolutions, but it's good to set an intention, at least in vague terms. I've read on FaceAche this morning the phrase 'wear your life lightly', which is rather nice. That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to sweat the small stuff and I'm definitely not going to be all things to all people. No, not me.

You might like to remind me of this in a few weeks' time.