January Tells Lies, Yoga Wears Truth Goggles In yoga philosophy, the “grooves” or recurring patterns of thought, behaviour and emotional imprints in the mind are called samskaras. These can be good, bad, old or new. Helpful or not, they undeniably make that part of the brain stronger and that’s visible on scans. Think of them…
Vairagya (pronounced vai-RAHG-yah) is often translated as non-attachment but that can sound a bit cold or distant. In yoga it’s actually much more tender than that. Vairagya is the practice of letting go without hardening, of releasing your grip while keeping your heart open. It’s not about pushing feelings away or pretending you don’t care,…
Uncertainty is the technology of possibility. What a great sentence. Could doubt really be a place of discovery? The idea that NOT knowing is a super power to harness, not to fear or avoid. Uncertainty can show up as finances, the future or even simple daily events such as what we should eat or what…
The Farmer & The Field A simple yoga teaching from The Bhagavad Gītā. In the Bhagavad Gītā, the body is described as a field. The Sanskrit word is kṣetra (k-sheh-truh) , ‘the field’. Then equally as important, there is the one who knows the field, kṣetrajña (k-sheh-truh-gyah) , ‘the knower of the field’. To make…
Chidakāśa: The Kind of Space We All Need Yoga philosophy is full of beautiful concepts that sometimes feel like they belong more in a candle lit cave rather than everyday life. Chidakāśa is one of them. It translates roughly to “the space of consciousness,” but before you switch off stay with me because this idea…
When Everything Feels Like a Conflict Lately it can feel as though even the simplest interactions are heavier than they used to be. A quick email, a text, a conversation about something small can suddenly feel like a misunderstanding waiting to happen. It’s not just you. When the world feels uncertain economically, socially, emotionally, that…
Group Classes: The Meeting Point of Movement and Philosophy The online yoga space loves a dichotomy. Scroll long enough and you’ll notice the tension: on one end, group classes are dismissed as exclusionary or superficial, and on the other, there’s the idea that realyoga is found only in stillness, study or pure philosophy. I’ve seen…
Most of us have had that awful feeling where someone posts a photograph of us looking like a potato. You know the one, your face looks like a melted candle and now everyone’s seen it. Bit embarrassing. But imagine being Arjuna (main character of The Bhagavad Gita, yogas ancient philosophical guidance text) You’ve just had…
When ‘Trauma-Informed’ Becomes the New ‘Vino & Vinyasa’ IS trauma really a selling point for yoga? Interestingly, you don’t see this phrase in the Pilates space or in personal training, it seems to be very much the reserve of yoga teachers. Of course, there is a place for having awareness around trauma. In a one-to-one…
As yoga teachers, we’re often encouraged to find and articulate our why—why we teach, why we practice, why this path feels like a calling. And while that reflection can be meaningful, it can also quietly become a distraction. The truth is, the day-to-day reality of teaching yoga is often less about lofty purpose and more…