Introducing . . . (drum roll)….THE CHAKRAS First off, let’s get the pronunciation right. The word is CHakra – that is, a strong CH sound as in ‘child’ and ‘chart’. The first ‘a’ is long, like ‘ar’, so the word
Mooladhara – the base chakra
The lotus gardening show
I wonder if you’ve ever noticed – on many things to do with yoga or Buddhism, or even “New Age” – that there’s generally a picture or a symbol of a lotus flower? I don’t know if we have native
It’s time to start playing!
The famous Irish playwright, George Bernard Shaw said, “You don’t stop playing because you get old. You get old because you stop playing”. I take “playing” to mean not only having “fun and a sense of humour”, but also “moving
Bringing the yama & niyama into real life
The Dalai Lama maintains that everybody wants happiness and peace. I believe that whatever your version of peace and happiness is, yoga can help you get there. After all, yoga’s aim is to bring about peace of mind, and according
Ishvara Pranidhana – gratitude
I sit here shuffling bits of paper on which I’ve written notes about this, the fifth and final niyama. These notes are all words of wisdom written by people who – I presume – know more about this topic than
Tapasya – self-discipline
TAPASYA (sometimes written just as tapas) is the third of the niyamas (after saucha and santosha, and the five yamas: ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha). I have had a notice stuck on my fridge for eight or nine years,
Santosha – finding contentment
At first glance, SANTOSHA (contentment) sounds like a warm, fuzzy, 1970’s high-on-dope sort of virtue – like, yeah man, come sit and smoke with me and watch the world go by. However, if you’ve been with me from the beginning
Brahmacharya – controlling the senses
There are many interpretations of BRAHMACHARYA – the fourth yama. The most prominent one for our modern times is not being controlled by our senses. Brahmacharya offers us a way to freedom by honouring and respecting our bodies and its