What Does it Mean to Be Stoic?
yoga mind
What Does it Mean to Be Stoic?
Even though I tend to be a glass half full kind of person, I really detest the sentiment of pretence when it comes to positive thinking.
Particularly when it’s dressed up as spirituality.
Can I Get Stronger & More Flexible With Less Effort?
Twisting Dragon Fly Posture is an advanced pose that is more about trunk flexibility than strength.
Read MoreAsteya: Yoga in Daily Life
We all know that it is wrong to steal “stuff” – to take things that do not belong to us, to commit fraud or to plagiarise etc but there are other forms of stealing that are more relevant to the average person when it comes to observing the yamas and niyamas. When the class is relaxed, peaceful and quiet, it can be frustrating when someone’s phone rings or buzzes. It can affect the equanimity of the whole room if one person begins to shuffle around, sighing with boredom while everyone else is lying still in relaxation. Then there are those folk who seem to explode into a yoga room, often late and usually loudly, “stealing” others’ rights to some (often) rare quiet time.
Read MoreHow Does Yoga Help Your Mindset?
A few years ago, one of my older students – age and tenure! – told me that the reason she had initially decided to try Yoga was for her bad back. But, she said, not only did my back problem disappear, I was amazed at what it did for my mind.
Read MoreGet Off the Treadmill (& Say No to Calorie Counting)
It’s a fair observation that many people who do intense aerobic exercise just because they want to burn calories and lose weight often don’t really lose much weight – or if they do, it’s never for that long. Do you know anyone like this? Always exercising and on the “health” treadmill, but finding long-term physical…
Read MoreExercise Physiology, Posture & Breath: Being a Total Halfwit, what would I know?
If you don’t know my background, let me fill you in. More than 20 years ago now, after 15 or so years of dabbling in Yoga now and then, loving the idea, but not quite able to commit, I met my fabulous teacher in a local hall in Newtown (1998). I never looked back. Simon…
Read MoreHow to…..Get “Better” at Balancing!
Balances are amazing for your health, both physically and mentally and so I’ve been thinking a lot about the answer to this question since someone asked me the other day; What is the best way to get better at balancing?
Read MoreCore Strength? Butt Firing? Cardio? How do we Interpret Fitness Fashion Words?
In a healthy physiology, just before we go to do a thing, a reflex signal is sent via the NS to the brain. For example, if I see a heavy-looking bag and go to pick it up, ideally, the required protective muscles activate automatically and I don’t have to think too much about it. This happens when things are functioning as they should.
Read MoreLet’s Twist Again…
It’s all the minute, subtle activations and bandha that make the difference in most yoga poses. This is what turns a posture that may look “easy” or feel relatively simple into something reasonably dynamic and deliciously intense. It’s one incredibly good reason to create a deeper understanding of certain poses properly before moving too quickly…
Read MoreWhat Do You Prefer In a Group Class?
Over the past 20 or so years of actually teaching and continuing to learn, what I teach now, has been pared back considerably, but, yet, I know it’s actually way more useful for the most amount of people. Many of us are managing injuries and conditions and so what we do is also practical and therapeutic and still challenging enough for the majority.
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