Day 11 - Feeling Good

I'm having a good day today. One of those days when everything just falls into place. Most yogis of my acquaint admit these days don't happen as often as perhaps they ought to, but when they do happen they are a joy to behold.

We're still staying with my parents so my morning yoga practice was in their front room -- usually when I practice in a new space things don't always feel quite right, but this morning my practice and my breath flowed into one another and my time on my mat flew by!

After breakfast, we went to the morning showing of The Boat that Rocked. I love the morning showings as the cinema is always empty! We shared the screen with just two older women who were overheard afterwards talking about the memories the film brough back. It's about pirate radio in the 1960s and about standing up for what you believe in. It's also very very funny and has Rhys Darby in it, a current hero of mine :)

Now I'm curled up on the sofa with tea and books and my family around me and all is well with the world.

As I said, these days don't always happen -- but surely the key is to always remember that they *do* happen. And on those bad days, when we're panic-stricken or sad or bored, we can remember that sometimes everything does just click, and maybe by remembering and visualising those great days we can make them more frequent.

Namaste

Day 10 - Being in the Moment

After years of practice, it becomes relatively easy to be in the moment when you are on your mat. Each breath and each posture follow one another easily and on most days my mind stays on my practice, and the rhythms of my body.

However, when it comes to being off the mat our ability to stay in the moment depletes! How many times each day do you find yourself wishing you'd done something in your past (immediate or further back) differently? How many times do you find yourself planning for an imagined future - wishing away the now for some time when everything is bound to be better?

This was brought home to me particularly yesterday as I drove 100 miles north to Cambridge to see my parents for the Bank Holiday weekend. It being the day before the long weekend, the world and his wife were off in their cars and we had a 2 hour delay on the M25.

I spent most of this 2 hour delay either declaring how bored I was, wishing I had never left or wishing I was in Cambridge already. There probably wasn't a single point in the whole 2 hours when I allowed myself to be in the moment. Yes, the M25 isn't the nicest place on earth but I was alone with my beloved listening to some very good music. And really, that's not a bad place to be is it?

Sometimes it's important to look past the frustrations of the now and find the good parts within those frustrations. The past and future do not truly exist; all we have is right now and we need to make the most of it.

Namaste!

Day 9 - Easter Baking

This is going to be a bit of a fly-by post, and not really about yoga (unless you count eating cakes and chocolate with mindfulness a form of yoga off the mat!) as I'm off to Cambridge to see my parents in a few minutes, but I thought I'd leave you with some pictures.

Firstly, the herbs I planted yesterday:
We planted, rosemary, thyme, chives and basil (the first three need to be wrapped in plastic for the first two weeks).

Then we did a bit of Easter baking - we made chocolate cornflake nests and sheep cupcakes!

Hope everyone out there has a great Easter weekend!

Day 8 - Doing Nothing

Some days you plan a whole heap of stuff to do and then... well... for various reasons you just don't do it. And it turns out to be better than the stuff you planned.

Today was one of those days. We'd planned shopping, cinema and dinner out. We ended up having a lovely day at home enjoying the good weather and some time doing absolutely nothing.

I did my morning yoga practice, had a bike ride in the sun and baked some Easter goodies to take to my parents' house tomorrow (pictures to follow tomorrow when the icing has been done)!

I also planted some basil, thyme, rosemary and chives in the garden.

The day was slow enough for me to take in the little things; the warmth of the sunshine, the sound of birdsong. That sense of slow rarely happens off my yoga mat.

I learned today that sometimes a negative thing that puts all the day's plans out of kilter, can turn into a positive thing if you just keep living your yoga off your mat.

And to finish up today, a couple of photos of my insane cats in a bag!!

Namaste!!

Day 7 - Counting Blessings

I self practice every morning. I wake up, have a cup of hot water and lemon and get on my mat. I'm incredibly lucky in that I can do this at 7am every day. I am a morning practice person. I really need that time, first thing, to collect my thoughts, to awaken my body, to move my spirit, to prepare for the day.

It has not ever been thus. Before I gave up work I had to be on a train to work by 7.55am. I had two choices, get out of bed at ridiculous o'clock or miss my yoga (as I was teaching most evenings directly after finishing my day job, evening practice really wasn't an option). Five mornings out of ten I didn't get out of bed in time. Whilst I learned a lot about "yoga off the mat" during this time and came to relish those three or four self practices I got each week, nothing beats knowing that very little is going to come between me and my mat at 7am each day (unless you count two kitties twirling in and out of my downward dog!)

My morning practice makes the stresses of daily life that little bit more bearable -- and on days like today when I've had a rather unpleasant day, that means so much.

So today I remember how blessed I am that I am able to be on my mat rather than a commuter train each morning!