Well, what on earth has New Year Resolutions to do with yoga? It turns out – quite a bit! On a broad level of understanding of yoga, we have its very foundations, the practice of which is designed to strengthen
How to keep your resolve
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
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
Swadhyaya – studying the self
As with most of the yamas and niyamas, this week’s niyama has multiple layers of meaning. SWADHYAYA (often written as svadhyaya or svadyaya) is simply translated as self-study. It does NOT mean self-study in the egotistical sense of congratulating yourself
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
Saucha – keeping it clean
Today we start on the NIYAMAS, the second of Patanjali’s eight stages or limbs, of yoga. While the yamas are about harmonising our relationships with others, the niyamas are about harmonising our relationship with ourselves. The first niyama is SAUCHA
Aparigraha – letting go
The most common meaning for APARIGRAHA is “non-possessiveness”. Other popular interpretations are “non-grasping” and “non-greediness”, or “greedlessness”. These definitions are generally thought of in relation to material things; however, aparigraha is much deeper than that. Aparigraha – the fifth and