Please indulge me. Today would be my Mum’s one hundredth birthday, if she were still alive. I couldn’t think how I could ‘celebrate’ her birthday, but I am acknowledging it in various ways. Among my Mum’s many talents was the
My Mum – the yogi
How to keep your resolve
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
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
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
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
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
Asteya – living without stealing
Continuing with our little investigation into Patanjali’s “Yamas” and “Niyamas”, we come now to ASTEYA, non-stealing and non-cheating. This third yama follows on from the theme of “truthfulness” in the previous yama, Satya. “Stealing” means to take something from somebody