Don't Get Bored, Get Even

Dear Yogis,

A yogi told me after a stretchy class that she gets bored in Downward Facing Dog. She always goes to classes that don’t include sun salutations! Quelle Horreur! And yet, secretly I know exactly what she means.... but isn’t that the point? We’re trying to conquer the chattering mind, not give in to every whim and reluctance.

I notice that with my first Sun Salutation I’m wondering what else I could be doing and maybe I’ll come back to this later. My body is so reluctant. Why didn’t I stay in bed? With the second and third I glance at the clock to see how long I’ve got left. Ages! Stamina, where are you? By the fifth I’m glad to be moving on to something else. I’m used to this now; the mind and I have this tussle often. I love the ballet of Sun Salutation B so the mind doesn’t torture me so much during those three sequences. It’s especially satisfying if you do one-leg chaturangas!

The beginning of the practice holds all the bothersomenss in the mind that will accompany you through the practice. From ‘I love this’ to I can’t bear this’; from ‘time is flying today’ to ‘how much longer?’; from a stiff mind to a still mind. Until postures start easing and the body starts cooperating with you, the mind is reluctant because of the reluctance in the body. When the body has the strength, stamina and flexibility, the mind can calm down.

Training

I was so pleased to get an email from my treasured teacher David Swenson saying that he will be teaching ‘a Led Advanced A sequence as I originally learned it!’ He has never taught this way before, apparently. I was thrilled… until you see that it will be held in the afternoon Texas time which is 10pm over here. Unless you’re used to body torture before bed, that’s not great but he has so many more classes on offer… take a look here.

Zoom Classes

When I walk up the stairs to the studio I get an overwhelming feeling of the quietness and a sense of the ghosts of past footsteps on the stairs and greetings and chatter and laughter and doorbell going and shoes off and entering the studio and the fun of welcoming you all here. I miss you! However, the online laughter and chatter is pretty lovely and there’s so much time to do other things when not travelling for various things. I hope you like it.

Book an evening class here: goodtimesyoga.co.uk/book-online. It’s PayPal but let me know if you would prefer my bank details. No problem. Classes are a fiver or £12 for the week or a donation of your choice or, if you fancy private classes, £30.

Yoga in the news

The Economic Times has: Yoga at Delhi's biggest Covid center. Great pictures! People suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) perform yoga inside a care centre for COVID-19 patients at an indoor sports complex in New Delhi.

The FT has: UK gyms reopen: will we go back? ”For Flex Chelsea, a sleek yoga studio on London’s Fulham Road, rent is also the number-one challenge. “Throughout the four-month enforced closure of gyms by the government, our rent, in one of the most expensive areas of the country, was kept at 100 per cent by our landlords, Sloane Stanley, despite our incomings being nil,” founder and owner Chatty Dobson wrote by email. “We have been required to pay more than £40,000 for a 5,000 sq ft space that we have been prohibited by government from using.””

Brighton & Hove Independent.co.uk has: Brighton Yoga Foundation to host first ever online festival. It’s this weekend! You can register for the festival here: www.brightonyogafoundation.org.  The weekend includes an Black Lives Matter discussion and yoga for children.