attention to tension

At some point in your practice, when you begin to go deeper you will start to tune in to areas of felt tension in the body. This tension manifests in a variety of different ways, a variety of "flavours": pins and needles perhaps, or pain, or localised tightness, a sense of internal swelling, or electricity, tension in its various guises. In the chi kung style of practice that I have learned  this tension is referred to as 'bin chi' (almost literally: 'rubbish energy') and we have outlets for this tension to leave the body, we press out through points in the fingers. In chinese medicine these points are referred to as 'departure points', and they are also around the toes: the extreme extremities of the body. 

From my massage practice I am familiar with the "flicking out" of tension that has been carefully prised out of stiff joints and tense tendons through gentle manipulation and tenderising. You can almost visualise it is a sticky substance that needs to come unstuck. 

When I asked my great yoga teacher Tias Little how one would help this tension escape the body in ones' yoga practice his answer included the direction of contacting our "inner pharmacy". In other words connecting with our deeper biological rhythms that govern us so wisely ,that possess degrees of intelligence we cannot fathom through intellectual persistence.

I think this is also a practice of trust, that the body is infinitely wise and capable. We cannot force tension out but we can recognise it's existence. And through softness, gentleness and kindness begin to watch the great unfolding.

Daring to let grace in. Daring to let go. 

embodying heart

Bringing the attention to the heart is not a thought process. Thought can be conducive or otherwise but bringing attention to the heart is action.

The heart is responsible for the body's largest energy field, the heart beat is the loudest, the strongest and that which has the furthest reach of all pulsatory rhythms that our amazing bodies contain.

If we can connect with this field in our practice, not through thought but through our very actions, we can embody heart for a new experience to arise.

One of my teachers, the wise woman Leila Sadeghee has a beautiful way of instructing us to expand from the lung-heart centre when we do a simple action such as lifting the arm. Its as if the various, seemingly disparate parts of the body came into agreement and there is no longer any sense of compromise when we act in this way; embodying heart. 

The lungs and heart form this ravishing relationship, nestling into one another, supporting and promoting this continuum of life

And the lungs, expansive by their very nature are also extremely sensitive, the very material they are made of absorbs the finer particles of prana from the air we breathe. They absorb and filter not just on the level of matter but also emotionally. In Chinese medicine, the lungs are the seat of grief and depression in the body, they store emotional residue which through our practice we can begin to let go of. Through our breathing practices, through our conscious action.

Can we be conscious of the deeper effects of embodying heart? 

Try this; practice your sun salutations with this new awareness, allow the energy field of the heart to spread through your whole system like warm oil trickling into every nook and cranny. And once you've finished your rounds, be still and...let go

time to access the next level

Dear Ones, 

   I feel so honoured each time I teach, truly. At the beginning of a class, when we gather and take a moment to settle, when the plan has not yet expanded there is a welling up in my chest that feels like a small explosion. I now believe that what I'm feeling is love. I have interpreted this feeling as a gnawing anxiety; am I fit to teach? yet I know that my alignment is precise, my methodology carefully handed on to me by my previous gurus, I know that I am fit to teach. 

Then I thought perhaps it was fear, that I am not following my true calling, that perhaps introspection will take me where I need to be, but I have followed this emotion and no that's not it either.

And then I remembered the words of Shantideva, author of 'The Way of the Boddhisattva' where he emphasises the important role of fear in our path toward liberation: 'this human life indeed is no time for complacency', and I realise that this is what I'm feeling: that each class is an opportunity, an opportunity to be fully present, to communicate with intensity what I know to be true. 

I would be delighted for serious students to join me on my next retreat. I shall be leading a course at Emerson College from mid April and would LOVE for you to be there, please keep your eye on my schedule and contact me to book

If you're keen to start sooner, I shall be running a retreat at Trasierra with the Secret Yoga Club from the 16th-19th of March.... a wonderful opportunity to go deeper

on being lost at sea

This human life leads us on all sorts of twists and curves. We never know what's coming, even though we try to predict. Even if the weather man lets us know its going to snow, we cannot experience how cold that snow will make us feel until the time has come. 

The path of yoga is equally full of twists and turns. You feel sure of your progress and then years down the line you may ask yourself : "Have I been doing it wrong all along?" and of course there is no clear answer, because of course, there is no right or wrong way. Nevertheless a good teacher will help to guide you through uncertainties when it comes to practice. 

Because of the very nature of our being: inquisitive but easily confused, a great teacher is as clear as the sky. Except that even the sky has clouds sometimes. And oh! it just started to rain!

The greatest teacher of all is the body , it is here to lend us clarity and I can tell you why:

Anatomically we stack, we arrange and we align. Due to this alignment there is a stability in the physical body. We are not shrinking in certain areas, we are not collapsing internally. The channels that distribute not just energy, but also fluids: blood, lymph, etc. are not compressed. There is literally a greater flow. When the energy is free to flow emotions arise.

Emotions are literally energy in motion and they allow us to feel. Through our continuing practice, engaging the breath more consciously we are able to process rather than repress the emotions that arise. We go through them rather than jumping over them.

And when we process our own emotions, we allow them to surface and express themselves, we eventually allow them to drift on and then we begin to see more clearly. This is a clarity of mind that cuts through our previous confusions. 

If we could but remember these stages then a greater wisdom could develop. A true wisdom, one that learns from the past rather than returning to it

So where to go with your confusion? when you are lost at sea? go to the anatomy, stack, arrange, practice your asana and swim through whatever arises. 

look out for upcoming courses that will set you on a stable path of progress

anantãsana

A word on one of my favourite poses. Anantãsana, side lying leg raised, perfectly stable, perfectly relaxed. This posture encompasses the principles of "sthirasukham" that we look to achieve in each of our asanas; Steadiness and ease.

Perhaps in lay words we could talk of it as the balance between strength and flexibility in a pose. People come to yoga who are too stiff or too bendy. People are hard and people are soft. We tend to overstretch or to under stretch, but to find that balance? this is to be truly present, no less.

Ananta was the name of the serpent king who, coiled up, provided a resting place for the lord Vishnu, Ananta needed to provide a bed that was both soft and steady enough to support the reclining god. It is also the word for 'endless' or 'infinite'.

When you adopt anantãsana, your centre engaged for stability, your heel reaching out to infinity, your under side body pressing into the floor without stiffening, your eyes so soft as your gaze turns within: you are present in infinity, because as soon as you're not: it all comes crashing down.

Can we practice this full presence in all the other asanas as well? May swift grace be with you

kama, true pleasure

I'm not one to dip into the depths of yoga philosophy and extract simple nuggets of wisdom to satisfy our superficial tastes but this time I'll gladly make an exception. The Ishayas' commentary on the Yoga Sutras ('Enlightenment') is a beautifully effortless discussion, so easy to read as it is shared with us by an awakened being.  On discussing the 4 purposes of this human life it is made clear that these are naturally conducive to our final liberation, liberation itself ('moksha') being one of the purposes.

'Kama' is also one of the purposes our our human lives. 'Kama' sometimes translated as pleasure (yes, as in kama-sutra) is not to be confused with the pleasures to be sold, pleasures associated to guilt and to greed but pleasure that is of itself conducive to liberation. Many practitioners are at this level in their yoga. They practice for the pure pleasure of practice. There is no ulterior motive to practice, an asana once performed does not crystallise, it dissolves as soon as it has expressed itself.

I believe most creative pursuits when practiced in this spirit are pure 'kama' and more than worth living for. And when the fruits of our 'kama' are shared they serve to uplift others. If we are distracted in our practice however, if we feel there is somewhere to reach in this physical realm, this world of illusion, then our very purpose falls short. Follow your 'kama' in all you do and see how you get on. 

my theory of relativity & the lack of inherent existence

Over a year ago in what I perceived to be an act of bravery I volunteered to give the speech at my family's annual reunion dinner. If Mark Zuckenberg, I figured, who is the same age as me,  can raise squillions through public speaking, through this lens, talking to a dozen inebriated Scotts would be a doddle.

Of course my body would tell me otherwise, public speaking being one of the horrors that strike fear into many a mortal (minus the Zuckenberg species) on a very physical level: terrifying. The thing is the brain is constantly reappraising situations: constructing often beautifully intricate narratives to support our sense of self. The problem is that none of it is true!

For example, I may feel jubilant and triumphant about having built a glistening new website when the thought drifts into my mind that at my same age, Alexander the Great had conquered half the world. I swiftly put myself back into my small little box where victories are put into perspective just to ensure no swelling of the head.

But of course, everything is relative and when we compare instead of sharing human achievements we will continue to be part of the lowest common denominator.

On the yoga mat it is the same story: last week we felt heroic at sustaining garudãsana without a wobble and today we are crestfallen at the fact that we can only hold it for a minute. We want our bodies to be stronger, more limber and more perfect than they already are because of course time is passing and god forbid us from staying still. Except that perhaps we're completely and utterly wrong; perhaps the point is not this; the point is ever shifting like time itself.

Perhaps if we were to still, really still, even for a moment; become one-pointed, we could come to realise that it's not all about yesterday, today and tomorrow, it's not about age or about time; it's about depth.

Being in the now is an expression that is currently mocked; of course it is! if we were to be in the now within our current framework, we would be observing a continuous reel of nonsense that our mind creates to keep us in distraction. By being so caught up in it we wouldn't even be able to observe, we're fully identifying with this faulty perception.

Being in the DEPTH of the now is something different; it's taking the plunge to seeing beyond the nonsense, which is a scary place where there's nothing to hold onto: stuff keeps being taken away, but it's also a hilarious place, and sad, and exhilarating, and desperate and everything all at once. So go, explore! Let this exploration be your yoga.

Sit holding in your mind a situation (i.e: a future speech) and observe the emotions (i.e: terror) that arise and then shift to being just with the feeling, let it act out. If this practice brings up reactions that are too strong to handle, definitely seek out a trusted teacher. Transformation is around the corner.

My family dinner has been postponed so my speech making will have to wait: phew. I will keep you posted on that one! I'll probably be as old as Bob Marley when he gave his One Love Peace Concert. 

authentic yoga

One of the books I often find in my hands and one of the few I have ever deemed worthy of laminating by hand for containing the following words, I highly recommend it:

"At the core of Yoga is the realization of the trascendental Reality itself, however it may be conceived. This aspect of the yogic work is not at all obvious when we watch someone perform complicated postures with great flexibility and elegance. To be sure, many Western (and Eastern) practitioners are themselves not particularly aware of the spiritual dimensions of Yoga. Without it, however, Yoga remains on the level of a pastime. The traditional purpose of Yoga, however, has always been to bring about a profound transformation in the person through the transcendence of the ego (my bold). It is therefore good to remind ourselves of the purpose of authentic Yoga."

Buy it to read on

march with SYC (Secret Yoga Club) at Trasierra

Last year I was drooling over images on social media posted by @secretyogaclub, apart from organising events with two of my favourites (Leila Sadeghee & Rachel Johnston) it seemed such a wonderful concept and such a treat! as befits the mysterious plans of the universe it turns out the beautiful founder Gabrielle and I met many moons ago in India with my guru Ruth White so not only had we made that initial contact in auspicious circumstances but she too had her eye on Trasierra and Hill Yoga retreats.

So without further ado I present to you the next dates for Hill Yoga in collaboration with Secret Yoga Club: 16th-19th March

The programme :

730  meditation - fruit & herbal teas

8-930 morning yoga followed by delightful breakfast

morning hill walk

2 nourishing and delicious lunch

430 tea & yoga related talk

630-8 evening yoga 

830 dinner

Gabrielle teaches a graceful flow yoga and I shall be there with core and alignment cues that will empower you to grow in your practice. 

Do contact me for further information or contact SYC directly

flights to Seville with Ryanair, Easyjet & British Airways are approximately 2hr 20mins from London airports

Abundance for the New Year

It's that time of year again. When we turn within and set noble intentions for the year to come. I've always been a fan of new year's resolutions. I think they are immensely powerful, even if you crack straight away,  the imprint of your will is deep and will resurface with renewed power next time round.

We also tune back into our resolutions from a different perspective. This resolve in yoga is called 'sankalpa' and we would do well to set a clear intention at the beginning of our practice sessions.

A few years back now I set the intention to not say a bad word about another and it served me very well. It caused me to reflect on what it was that I despised in others and to see these things as a reflection of my inner state of agitation. Surely I slipped , but the choice to be mindful is paramount here. Surely enough I now find it easier to see the good in people and I am a happier person as a result.

I would like to share a few tips that have helped me when it comes to setting these important resolutions

We live in an age of conspicuous consumption and though we could all agree that we would do well to waste less, we could also admit that its as if we've been programmed to consume ; so add 'more' to your list!  Our minds are mechanisms that consume insatiably, we consume information at a reckless speed and though short, sweet aphorisms are potent beyond measure we need to fill the spaces in our lives ; so add life enhancing activities, people and places, in my book this means: yoga, yoga and more yoga!

This year when you write your resolutions notice whether its the word 'more' or the word 'less' that is more prominent

Make your intentions stand out, make them different from last years, if your resolution is to give up smoking why not instead: take up pranayama (yogic breathing exercises), if your resolution is to eat less junk, why not instead: drink a delicious green smoothie first thing in the morning. Swear less? say I love you MORE. Stress less? stretch MORE. Wake up earlier? go to bed earlier. Use the computer less? make MORE eye contact with people.

In Spain we eat 12 grapes with the 12 bells that herald the new year, this symbolises abundance. 

its very more-ish

Happy 2017