I like to set myself small challenges. I wanted to improve my fluidity in counting in Sanskrit. So every time I practice kapalabhati – a pranayama technique in which you force the exhale with the strength of your abdominal muscles in quick succession – I silently...
Remember a situation when something which you read, or was said by someone, evoked an immediate response within you; an idea or concept about which you knew for certain was true and correct? You felt a deep knowing that you were hearing a truth? At this moment you may...
When practicing pranayama – the control & release of the breath – we are accessing our ‘pranic’ sheath (Pranamaya Kosha). This is the energy field within and around us; it is the energy we ‘feel’ another person is emanating; it is what we pick up or what...
I don’t know about you, but I consistently have at least one A4 sheet in my bag, written on it a big list of things to do. One day I was complaining to my sister about it, and she dropped a very simple, but very effective – even yogic – line, “you can only do one...
An extraordinary story of recovery from a nearly fatal accident Gareth joined one of my beginner courses some years ago, made good progress, and soon became a regular in our Mysore morning program. He then stopped attending, which I put down to him maybe having moved...
Urdhva Dhanurasana – Wheel The full backbend – upward bow posture – or commonly called ‘the wheel’, is a classic Yoga posture and quite complex. To practice it well requires a lot of ‘opening’ as well as strength in several parts of the body. Although for most a...
