Yoga: Approach and Philosophy

‘Work’ is an everyday concept with symbolic and real life significance. It means focus, precision, and accomplishment in the intellectual world. We’re taught to ‘get to work’ and ‘get ahead’, to be serious, show ambition, produce, improve. In the practical, objective realm, work is necessary for ‘making ends meet’ and ‘keeping body and soul together’:

What activity comes to mind when you think about continuous movement over time? Cycling? Running? Walking? Dancing? Chances are, not yoga. During yoga practice, our medium is the earth, and naturally, we seek stability, security, and steadiness. But athletes use other dimensions: basketball players leap straight upwards, and seem to pause a moment, suspended; footballers

At first thought, going to the beach suggests heat, sand, sun, napping, reading magazines and splashing about – all wonderfully distracting, fun activities, important in themselves, but beaches are alive in the mind in many, many more ways. They imply surprising beginnings and complicated endings, difficult landings and sad departures, magical entries and dangerous exits.

Now that the summer’s here, we may struggle to remain inert.* That’s because doing nothing is questioned, judged, and generally frowned upon. In our hyperactive society, resting is non-productive. But it’s essential to take a break, and summer is the perfect time, weather-wise. Heat helps slow us down. The world goes on, from one distressing

Much in the Hatha yoga world is static – it’s about emphasizing postures, and we’re often instructed to ‘hold’ them, ‘keep doing’, and ‘stay’ fixed and statue-like. It’s impossible to do everything right, to keep anything perfect, and the attempt creates tension and discouragement. Instead, let’s practise stillness, changing position, and movement, all with the

City people, nowadays, seem more than ever dedicated to their gardens, allotments, outdoor spaces and public plantings. Gardening is fruitful, productive work. One must be watchfully calibrating the effect on the earth and the flora of sun, moisture, animals, other plants, blooming and dying. Harvest is a joyous and surprising time. And held within the

Spring is celebrated with eggs all over the place, hidden in ponds, and burrows, and nests, and in human homes, boiled and coloured and painted, made of candy and chocolate, or dipped in salt. The egg is the most perfect structure and has almost infinite qualities seemingly in opposition, but ultimately, expressing integrity. Hardness and

A guest is an easily recognized symbol of spiritual presence in Eastern mystical story, koan, and poetry and being a good host is considered a sacred duty. Welcoming, showing kindness, and demonstrating hospitality to strangers is paramount in many cultures. Actually, how one treats a guest – ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (guest is God) – is

The Nandi statue outside the Sri Chamundeshwari Devi Temple on Chamundi Hill in Mysore, India, is a marvellous creature. He’s massive, he’s meticulously bathed and cared for, he’s awesome to look at and soothing to touch. Nandi is associated with Shiva, and that combination of Bull and Shiva speaks of the power of nature in

The dancer’s work is vibrant, athletic, and precise, yet to the viewer, it’s free and though powerful, speaks of masterful ease. It’s quite difficult to entertain the thought that the purpose of life is contained within dance, but in many cultures, dance is the ultimate expression of union with the divine. Ecstatic dance is the

Welcome Chinese New Year, the year of the horse. This year, this world will present increasingly more difficult tasks to perform and endure, our ‘horsepower’, more than ever, required to sustain us and our communities. Horses represent a ‘call to action’, and this is a ‘fire’ horse year, the horse that embodies intense energy and rapid

Heads are universally revered in part because they enclose and shield the brain – and we, as a society, are very brain oriented! Similarly, we protect our heads with toques, scarves and shawls, from the cold, from injury, from prying eyes. We also adorn ourselves with headdresses, hair pieces, fascinators, and crowns. The intellect resides