An elder speaks

Today I came across a piece of writing that came through me a while back, and seemed to come from an ancient voice within, an inner elder. I believe we are multi-dimensional beings and, the more we clear our energetic blockages by releasing old trauma held in the body and re-programming our minds to let

Chamomile Smile

I wrote the poem below one day, in the rawness of shock and grief of the loss of my little baby boy, in the second trimester of my first and, so far, only pregnancy. One of the many things I learnt through this life-changing experience is quite how common loss of a baby is, whether

Yoga for Healing

I am passionate about using yoga as a tool for healing. Unlike our minds, our bodies are incapable of lying. We can suppress the truth for so long but, eventually, it leaks out in our bodies, through injury, tension, disease, chronic poor health and pain etc. So, if we choose to, we can work consciously

Flower Power

Today is the summer solstice, the day when the solar power is at its peak. I think of the sun, burning fiercely, and muse that, yes, this is an undeniable symbol of power. Nothing could withstand the intense heat of the sun; it would burn all who came close. But then I look at a

Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga

A very long time ago (think thousands of years), a mysterious, wise and ridiculously brainy being called Patanjali wrote an inordinate amount of detailed material relating to yoga and other contemporary disciplines including ayuverda, the sister science of yoga, and Sanskrit grammar. No one knows much about him, or indeed if it was one person (likely

Mula Bandha Magic

As I prepare to run my first ‘Introduction to the Bandhas’ course online, I thought I’d share a little memorable moment from my own journey with the bandhas. Bandha means ‘energy lock’ in sanskrit, and developing bandha awareness is a sure way to come into intimate relationship with our innermost being. My own journey with

Yoga nidra – ‘the sleep of the yogis’

I have recently started offering monthly yoga nidra classes, timed with the new moon. So I thought it was timely to write a piece about what exactly this practice entails and what its benefits are. It strikes me that ‘magical’ healing and transformative practices like yoga nidra are much needed in the world at the

Exploring the Five Koshas (body sheaths)

In yoga philosophy, we are definitely more than our physical body. In fact, our being is broken down into five separate ‘koshas’ or sheaths, nested within each other like Russian dolls. Right at the centre, at the heart of our five koshas, rests Atman, our true nature or our soul, sometimes described as pure consciousness

Giving the heart space

I’m almost at the end of rather a hermit-like year, living and working at the wonderful Anam Cara retreat centre. It has felt like an incubation period, where I’ve been somehow laying down the ground-work for my next chapter, like a caterpillar turning to mush in its chrysalis. I still feel like I’ve been working

I don’t understand – but I trust

So, once again I am on the brink of leaving my ‘regular’ life behind to leap into the abyss and explore some more of what this crazy, beautiful planet has to offer. It has been such a journey getting to this point, and it still feels strange. I am a bundle of emotions – sadness