ARE YOU YIELDING?
Yielding is a word that now repeatedly comes to mind during my yoga, both during self-practice and when I teach. I am sort of checking if I am yielding! I learned about how it can be used in a yoga context at a Donna Farhi workshop about core stability and…
Read MoreFEELING FREE
Once during meditation, I suddenly “saw” all my difficult thoughts as clusters of cells held tightly together in different places in my head. I remember thinking: “Why do I choose to keep these cells clustered together? If I just release them and let there be space around them, allow…
Read MoreAN ENCOUNTER WITH A FLOWER
How in touch are you with the simple things? Isn’t it easy to get lost in thoughts and feelings, and not see and appreciate what is right in front of you? I did an eight-week mindfulness-based stress reduction course a few years ago, and the very first thing you do…
Read MorePSOAS WORK WORKS
In order to get to my holiday destination this summer, I drove 1,400 km over two days. That is quite a long drive for me. A few days ago I did the return trip. And what a positive difference on the body this return trip was! The difference was the…
Read MoreBEING VS DOING
You might already have heard that we are human beings and not human doings? And yet, we are experts at doing and not so good at simply being. Hm… Once, at a meditation retreat, somebody said: “I find it challenging balancing the Being and the Doing in my life, do…
Read MoreNAVEL RADIATION
Navel Radiation, or moving from the core, represents a new way of placing my attention as I practise yoga postures. For a long time I have enjoyed practising with movement and breath in mind, not focusing so much on where my strength originates from. Yoga teacher Donna Farhi mentioned navel…
Read MoreWHAT IS YOGA TO YOU?
I am feeling so inspired by a trailer I recently came across for a documentary called Yogawoman (released in 2011). Although the film is about female yoga teachers and how they are transforming the world of yoga to women, I believe the way yoga is presented in the film easily…
Read MoreRESPONDING VS REACTING
I am having plenty of opportunity to practice responding instead of reacting at the moment! On holiday with three children in their late teens and a dog, and I find myself with some irritation going on inside several times a day. It took me a few days to understand that…
Read MoreSTANDING IN PLUMBLINE
The first time I heard the word “plumbline” was at the beginning of my yoga teacher training at the Yoga Academy. It is about aligning yourself with gravity in a standing position, allowing the least possible stress on the body. It is achieved by stacking bone on bone, instead…
Read MoreTENNIS AND CONCENTRATION
You might have seen pictures on the internet of top tennis players practicing yoga, such as Novak Djokovic in downward facing dog or cobra, Andy Murray in an extended side angle and Maria Sharapova in warrior II. Or pictures of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sitting on court meditating between change of sides.…
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