What is meant by “Sympathetic Dominance”?
Life
What is meant by “Sympathetic Dominance”?
When a person tends towards anxiety or fear, they are essentially living their life in a state of fight or flight. This, you could argue is “Sympathetic Dominance”.
Read MoreWhat is the difference between Mindfulness, Meditation and Yoga?
Above image taken by Oonagh Treble. I’m posing for a photo while in Pigeon Pose on a SUP at Shoal Bay . It was a beautiful morning; we laughed lots and had loads of fun, but at that moment, I was just posing on a paddleboard. Let’s not call it Yoga…! Somebody asked me a question the other…
Read MoreHow can what we practise on our mat, prepare us for what may happen in our life?
Here’s one of my favourite poses, Parvrtta Janu Sirsasana (Twisting Head to Knee Pose), an easier version of which we are doing in our sequence this term. It’s a beautiful side stretch which, among other things, tones and nourishes the kidneys. The way we come into it in class means there is the option of…
Read MoreTo Squeeze and Tense, or Not to Squeeze and Tense?
That is the question…🤔! I am talking about muscles of course, and this is my perspective, based on my own yoga practise, years of exercise, study and experience. I grew up in this modern world – a world where women (especially, but now it’s men too), have been informed they need to have a flat,…
Read MoreWhat Does “Waking Up” Mean?
What does “waking up” mean? What does being “deluded” mean? I think that for some spiritual seekers in the West there is some kind of idea that “waking up” or “self-realisation” is like a kind of volcanic eruption – one minute we are this and the next minute, here we are, wise and sage and…
Read MoreOnce Upon a Time I Met a Monk…
Unsurprisingly (or even surprisingly perhaps in the Insta world we live in), even though I look pretty peaceful in this image, believe it or not, I am not meditating, Truly. I am just posing for a photo (and it is a nice photo, thanks Nev). It’s one of the most pleasing things to be able to do; sit…
Read MoreAn Important Secret of Success..
Last week, many primary schools held presentation days. This is a day when more-or-less the same students every year receive awards for academic excellence while the rest almost die with boredom as they sit and clap for three hours. Personally, these awards don’t sit well with me because, just like beauty or sporting prowess a lot of this stuff…
Read MoreIt’s all in the Hips (continued..) When Pathology is Pointless, Practise Detachment
A week or so ago, I posted a piece about modern human hips and some of the ingredients that have lead so many of us to tightness and tension in that area. It’s a subject deserving of an entire book or documentary series perhaps but I had a few questions about it, so here is a sort…
Read MoreAll Out! All Change!
I’ve scribbled notes about current life stuff on and off over the years, and journalling was a very important aspect of my year-long yoga teacher training all those years ago. What I think is funny now, when I look back at some of those entries, is that some of the people I mention, I have…
Read MoreHealthier Mind Habits
In yoga philosophy one of the main principles yogis are advised to work towards when it comes to the pursuit of happiness is non-attachment. But what does mean?
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