Friday Newsletter - Finding Your True Self

Dear Yogis

Last weekend I trained with John Scott in a weekend designed to help us “be Empowered by SELF”. Senior teachers like to talk about liberating the self and have various stories and metaphors to indicate a way to identify the self. John Scott is a New Zealander by birth and so gave a Māori saying: “If you face the sun, all your shadows fall behind you”.

Often we spend too long staring into the shadows. Sometimes we do the opposite of spending too much time looking into the future. This is how we might find ourselves in self doubt, lack of confidence, and self induced fear where the shadows are big. The saying: ‘the past is gone, the future is unknown, now is the knowing’ is about reducing those shadows and that self-induced worry about what is either passed or yet to come.

This is language I understand – but don’t worry if it doesn’t speak to you. I used to be highly empowered by the ego and identity: I was a radio producer and felt it to my bones; then a radio presenter, and deeply believed in what I did; then an author, and poured myself into that identity; then a government press officer, with my hearty politics degree; then a press officer in a political think tank. I identified with all of these masks absolutely utterly. When ego and identity and props fall away, that’s where we start to work!

Did that help? Was it just waffle? Both are valid.

Second Greek Yoga Retreat

My website is taking shape as is my second yoga retreat. It’s different to the first but in the same idyllic seaside village with the unique magic of Kapsali, endless friendliness of our Kythiran friends and a chance to stretch and unwind, relax and recuperate. With half the amount of yoga as the first week, you will get a chance to explore the island, be pampered, and take the world off your shoulders.

The dates are Sunday 18th to Saturday 24th of September. Perfect for people in highly stressful corporate jobs, especially if the idea of a full-on yoga retreat scares you slightly!  See what the body feels like without the suit and the strain

Get in touch for more information. Secure a place with a £50 deposit. Treat yourself!

Corporate Yoga

If you've been thinking about introducing yoga into your workplace and been brave enough to suggest it to your colleagues, you might have found yourself in a hailstorm of; "I'm not flexible enough", from baritone to soprano. Tell them that I'm still waiting for the magic of flexibility! Till then, yoga will help move the joints, massage the muscles, strengthen the bones and, most of all, give the lungs a good clean! (Did you know that in normal life we only use around a 1/3rd of the capacity of out lungs.) Also tell them that I've taught my 84-year-old mother, I teach people with injuries and conditions, I am qualified to teach pregnancy yoga, I have a qualification in Yoga Sports Science, and I'm sure I can cope with the odd tight hamstring.