It's been a little while since I last wrote a blog post, mainly because I have been busy packing, moving and unpacking. Readers of this blog who came to my yoga classes will know that I've now left Wales and moved to Scotland, land of my birth. After nearly 20 years in Aberystwyth, 18 of … Continue reading Farewell Wales, hello Scotland!
The Ceredigion/West Wales group of yoga teachers, Yoga i Bawb (Yoga for All in English), has recently started a yoga blog on its website. The blog will mainly feature tips and ideas for people to try at home, and is available in Welsh and English. Check it out on the Yoga i Bawb website in … Continue reading New blog for yoga tips from Yoga i Bawb
It seems the world of yoga is not immune to hoax emails, scams, or dodgy dealings. In December I received an email asking if I offered yoga lessons online, either through Skype or Google Hangouts. I don't even know what the latter one is, and have not used Skype in that way. Something about the … Continue reading Suspiciously seeking yoga teachers online?
Apologies for the very late notice, but the heating has broken in Canolfan Padarn and so I need to cancel the yoga classes tonight (29th November 2016). Next classes 6th and 13th December.
Yoga was recently in the mainstream media (BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the Guardian, the Daily Mail and iNews) over a plan for national occupational standards for yoga teacher training in the UK. The media would not usually report something which sounds rather dry unless there was a controversy, but before I get onto all … Continue reading Standards for yoga teaching or empire building?
International Day of Yoga (IDY) is on 21 June 2016, the second time the world has celebrated this UN day. And having such a day is a good opportunity to either practise yoga on Tuesday 21st, or maybe reflect on what yoga means to you. If you can't get to a yoga class on Tuesday, … Continue reading International Day of Yoga 2016
Familiarity and comfort are very nice: we know what to expect, we like it, and it's often easy or simple to stick with what we know. But, as all the best self-help articles and books will tell you, sometimes we need to get out of our comfort zone, take stock, and review what we're doing … Continue reading Review and refresh
It can take years, decades even, for ideas to become accepted widely in society, and it seems that meditation in the Western world has taken about 40 years to go from relative obscurity ('hippy') to mainstream, and even to McMindfulness and a backlash. The evidence for this acceptance is the recently published Mindful Nation UK report produced by … Continue reading The Mindful Nation UK report
Following on from my previous post about yoga and ayurveda in India's government, I came across the 'Wellbeing in four policy areas’ report in the UK which has been produced by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics. (Yup, I didn't know about that group either!) In the report there are eight recommendations for government, … Continue reading Wellbeing in policy in the UK
Two recent news stories caught my eye, not only because they're about yoga but because they are examples of positive news and of potential positive changes in society. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has created a new position of minister responsible for "Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy". Shripad Naik, the new … Continue reading A minister for yoga and an international yoga day
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