Yoga in One Syllable

Yoga is usually considered an individual practice that each of us can use to develop a better understanding of who we are: a vehicle for our inner journey of self-discovery. Sometimes, though, we can get so focused on ourselves that we forget that our relationships with others, as well as our environment, are often the best place to put our calm yogic minds to the test. [Read more →]

Almost four decades ago a book called “The Limits to Growth” was released. Funded by the Club of Rome it modeled the possible consequences of a rapidly growing population and the finite resources our environment can supply: it outlined limits. Yet the idea that growth may be limited is not generally popular policy: twenty years later a review of the report called “Beyond the Limits” was published.

But there’s no denying that limits exist: each time your try to touch your toes there’s always a point at which your body simple says “no more”. A yoga class is all about exploring your physical limits. [Read more →]

Our mind is a great analytical machine, more sophisticated than any computer. But like the promises of “less stress” and “more free time” with which the computer age has lured us in, our mind, rather than streamlining our decisions, can often be caught making life a whole lot more complicated.

Granted, our ability to analyse and assess what is occuring around us is essential to our survival. When we want to cross a road, we don’t just walk out into oncoming traffic: we fairly quickly learn to stop, look and listen. In other words, we use the power of the mind to analyse and assess the risks of the situation – then proceed if we think it safe.

However, this same process of analysis and assessment coupled with our gift of imagination can equally provide us with an endless stream of gloomy possibilities and outcomes of things that may never occur. These “what ifs” can keep us bound in fear and unable to make a decision, to relax, or to be happy with what life is in the here and now.

In yoga, one of the ways we are encouraged to achieve this elusive happiness is to simplify our thoughts. To weed them down until their white noise virtually ceases to exist. How do we do this? We can begin by simplifying our external environment. Because of the intrinsic link between mind and body, if we can reduce the complications in our physical surroundings, the natural result of which will be a less cluttered mental and emotional environment.

Or try this: begin to take each new moment of the day exactly as it is – a new moment full of possibilities. After all do you really need the baggage of “what-ifs”?

I’ve been watching my patterns of work and life for quite some time and there’s an interesting cycle appearing. Every six weeks or so my ‘things to do list’ drops to basically nothing, leaving me with plenty of time to reflect on what I’ve managed to accomplish, how well I’ve managed to do it and to then plan the next steps of where I want to go.

Sounds great doesn’t it – to have downtime to reflect and re-evaluate. But there’s been a nagging little voice from within telling me that I’m letting time slip away. Shouldn’t I be achieving something, rather than sitting here reflecting and planning?
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The repetition of the syllable “Om” or “Aum” has long been practised by people throughout India to help calm the mind and to maintain a relaxed state.

The sound Aum is considered an audible symbol of the energy that sustains our lives, energy that has been there since time immemorial, continues today, and will be there until the end. It is made using three letters from Sanskrit  ‘a’, ‘u’ and ‘m’ and, quite neatly, they correspond to the beginning, the middle and the end of the Sanskrit alphabet.   [Read more →]

Our mind is constantly bombarded by thoughts, impressions and messages. To help get us through the day our mind retrieves hundreds of memories and combines this with real-time data from our senses. In a previous article I questioned the truth of memory, but how often do we question what our senses tell us has happened is true?
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Watching a documentary last week about the brain and how it functions I was struck by how important perseverance and enthusiasm are to achieving our goals in life. Yet it seems these two psychological states are all too often the first things to go out the window when learning something new. [Read more →]

Have you ever noticed that often when you arrive somewhere your mind is trailing 20 minutes behind? Either that, or it’s raced 20 minutes ahead. You may have got to work, sat down on your chair and turned your computer on, but you’re still thinking about the morning’s traffic jam. Or, as you eat your breakfast, in your head you’re already running for the train.

Becoming fully present – with the body and the mind – is an enormous challenge. [Read more →]

A little while back my family and I sat down to a game of Monopoly. As the money was divided, the trinkets chosen and the dice rolled, everyone’s alter egos began to appear. Strategic thinkers and planners morphed into seat-of-the-pants speculators, spendthrifts threw caution to the wind and bet the lot on risky properties, and habitual prevaricators made decisive choices in seconds.

Why? Partly because no one had any great attachment to the outcome of the game. But partly because it was a game to which we all knew the rules – rules that were laid out in black on white on a neatly folded piece of paper.

When we’re given clear rules to follow, it’s easy for us to decide exactly how to behave. But have you ever been handed “The Rule Book of Life”? [Read more →]

Yoga places a heavy importance on abdominal strength and the suppleness of the spine. Maintaining strength and suppleness in these areas ensures a consistent supply of fresh oxygenated blood to the internal organs and so helps to keep them at their optimum performance. Part of this is achieved through the subtle consistent movements of the abdomen as you inhale and exhale – your organs are getting a gentle 24 hour massage.

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