empty the cup

how amazing, that from birth they fight for their lives and find their own way- one step at a time

So if you have been working all year on your sankalpa or resolution, this is a great time to start "taking stock". Start reflecting on your journey from the time you made your sankalpa . It is a good time to look at what has worked, what has not and what has stopped you from getting there yet. Even if you have not reached your "deadline". 

And if you have achieved your goals, it is equally important to investigate the things you did to make it happen, including, circumstances, attitude, motivation because you should not mistake your success as chance and recognise the effort you had put forward.

And if you have not achieved your sankalpa, try again! Our practice tells us that if we keep practicing, it will come. Repetition helps us learn. In each repetition, we gain more experience and do more things right. Eventually we all get there. If you try once and give up, you loose a great opportunity to succeed the next time. The second, third, fourth..... times are always better. And if it is important enough, then it should not matter how many repetitions we have to make.

Dump the unnecessary stories your mind creates to stop you trying again (because, after all, giving up is much easier than trying) These stories are 'maya' - illusions. And these illusions mask the true potential within us. I love this quote i found on artist Nick Gentry's blog
"Each day holds 1440 minutes. The possibilities are endless" 

rant

Some guy parked his van behind my car in my drive whilst I stood watching. I approached him and said he could not park there as I was about to go out. He wound up the window and in a non chalant way told me that he will not be long... 

???!!!

I came to the conclusion that for most of us, our parents (grandparents, aunts & uncles included actually) did such a great job raising us; paved the way for us to have the best opportunities in life, gave us whatever we wanted within their means and even beyond their means some times! We seem to now believe that everything is our God given right! 

By the way... I was so mad- but thank goodness I was shocked into speechlessness that he walked away before some shameful words could escape from my being! I stormed up to my flat- flustered and pissed off, sat on my desk and realised... the ***** guy.. was cool as a cucumber and really, by being angry, I was only really harming myself, my peace... why?!

So i sat and watched another of Meghan Currie's time lapse video and within minutes, was happy once more. Really.... it does not take much to change the vibration in our bodies. I was just watching the video! Imagine if i had gotten on my mat and did some yoga! That is all it takes - time out of something that makes us mad, into something that makes us happy <3

Something to share: these boys make me smile all the time! 

comfortable or complacent?

Wow.... some of the yoga practices out there are just.... mind blowing beautiful. I try to imagine what it feels like to be able to have all that strength, flexibility and fluidity. I question; is it still fun when you can just about do everything? I can only conclude- YES! it must be super fun! And that inspires me to go that extra 10,000 hours to get there - because, really, you will get there if you put in the hours. 

To be completely honest, I am not putting that kind of hours in. I am on my mat every day- but I can honestly say, the practice is not 100% committed towards doing the "hard" stuff- ie: the stuff I struggle with, the stuff I fear. It is fun to just flow through a practice without struggling (which is why I am certain that when you can do just about everything, it is even more fun) So mostly, I am happy to do what I can. I throw in a couple of things I struggle with at the end of the practice- mostly fear stuff- like forearm stand and handstand. I have no idea why I fear them. The fear does not come from a place of experience- because i have not had a bad fall from them. As a matter of fact, all the falls have been alright, so it is baseless, senseless fear. 

But this is what part of the yoga is about;  awakening to our habits! Especially those that cause us to be contracted and complacent; in our minds, our bodies and our spirit. And where better to start than on the mat- because really, here, the work is easiest. We learn to push our boundaries safely. We learn to be comfortable and open to trying something new. When faced with challenging postures, we learn to watch our thoughts. And the beauty of it all is that no matter how much of it you do- the lessons never stop serving us! 

Click here, enjoy! xxx

Yoga Gives Back

Oopsi 
Completely forgot to update news about the lovely Yoga Gives Back global event that took place at the studio on the 29th September! It was sooo much fun!! It was a cosy group but lovely mix! I love it when practitioners from different classes get together! The total pledged to the event was US$500. As promised, I had pledged a percentage of class funds towards the event and am grateful to everyone who made it to class that week to make this possible! I am looking forward to news about the total global effort! 

What I love about these events is that so little is asked of us. It is not difficult to do - hold a class, attend a class, spare some lunch money? And then sit back and watch the magic that some special beings do, when they work to change life's! Small effort - big results! 

Thank you all for being a part of it! Without the small effort, the big things struggle to happen! 

Norwich Thank You Mother India Event

Proud to represent Yoga Gives Back