Dana, the practice of giving
Dana, the practice of Dana is common to both yoga and Buddhism. And in our contemporary world
in may be what we need to change our economic system of the better..
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The five hindrances to practice
In Buddhism, the five hindrances are temporary mental states that impede practice.
They can be regarded as obstacles to mindfulness in daily life as well, clouding our judgement and hindering our ability to respond appropriately to situations.
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Kriya yoga
Tapah svadhyaya ishvara-pranidhana kriya-yogah
Enthusiasm, inquiry and surrender are necessary to thread the path of yoga.
(The yoga sutras of Patanjali, II-1)
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Swara yoga
A quick introduction to Swara yoga, the art of balancing the Ida and Pingala nadis... Read more....
Still counting?
I owe to my years of training in ashtanga vinyasa the habit to count my breath in asana practice. Viniyasa in, five breaths, vinyasa out, next posture... This habit has one great benefit: it focuses the mind on the breath. Read more....
The four qualities of the heart
Undisturbed calmness and clarity is attained by cultivating openness, compassion, delight and equanimity in all circumstances. (The yoga sutras of Patanjali, 1-33) Read more....
A balancing act
Hatha yoga cannot succeed without Raja yoga, nor Raja without hatha. Therefore, practice the two to perfection (Hatha Yoga Pradipika, 2-76) Read more....
A Taoist approach to mindful breathing
Book review, The Tao of Natural Breathing by Denis Lewis The great Taoist philosopher Tchang Zu tells us that True man breathes with his heels, while the mass of men breathe with their throats. Never mind the heels, you’re probably doing OK if you manage to take breath awareness as far down as your perineum, but breathing mostly with your chest, and with very little awareness of what’s really happening, is not a recipe for health and happiness. Read more....
Respiratory feedback in the generation of emotions
I recently came across a study (well two actually) by a team of scientists from the University of Louvain in Belgium, who had been investigating the relationship between emotional feelings and respiration, a subject which, as a keen pranayama practitioner, I find particularly interesting. Read more....
Yoga and horsemanship, two practices that support one another
As I am teaching on a yoga and horsemanship course in the Netherland with expert horse trainer Karine Vandenborre, the two of us have been discussing at length the many parallels and connections between the two disciplines. . Read more....
Did you have a nice practice?
As anyone who practice regularly knows, in yoga practice, just as in life, there are good days and bad days. There are days when we flow from posture to posture with ease and grace, in love with our body and with life, enjoying the sweet fruit of dedicated practice, and the days when we drag ourselves along, wondering why on Earth we got out of bed so early to stand on that stupid mat. And there’s everything in between. Read more....
Are you stuck in your yoga practice?
You may be doing the wrong practice, or doing the practice wrong…. Read more....
Using ayurveda to devise a balanced yoga practice
In my many years of practising yoga at home on a daily basis, I’ve always endeavoured to have a “balanced practice”, but over the years my ideas about what constitutes a “balanced practice” have evolved considerably. In fact, rather than talking about a balanced practice, it now think it is more appropriate to speak about a “balancing practice”. Read more....
What’s so hot about Bikram?
Passing through Dublin last weekend, I was left with enough spare time to book myself for my first Bikram yoga class, something that I had meant to do for a while as I was keen to find out what’s all the fuss is about. Read more....
