A while ago I went to a lecture by Matthew Remski about climate change and the Bhagavad Gita. Remski likes to look at the central character of the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna, and relate to his hopelessness. Remski says that each and every one of us is standing in Arjuna’s place with regards to climate change.

I’m an improbable student at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, studying an ancient yogic text called the Haṭhapradīpikā. It’s the first text that mentions physical yoga practices. I’m wading through academic language which seems to waste words for no reason.

Well! I was driving along and look what popped up on the radio: The lost art of breathing, a podcast by James Nestor. I’ve written about him before, three times, and a couple of you reported that you bought that book. Here’s a short-cut to finding out about his terrific work.

I saw Hamlet yesterday and it strikes me that Hamlet doesn’t have mental health issues! Like Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita, he is faced with an impossible task and has a melt-down. Who wouldn’t if their recently murdered father’s ghost appeared and demanded revenge by the killing of their uncle, the mother’s husband? Arjuna is the same in the Bhagavad Gita - he has to kill an opposing army of uncles and cousins or be killed… and so has a melt-down. Of course he does!

October is my month! The best month! I celebrate my birthday all month long. The month used to conclude with Friends & Fun at the Yoga Show (postponed another year. Sigh!). I thought I might apply to teach there next year…

I came across this quote that reminded me of the retreat from Rod Stryker in his book The Four Desires. He says that there are three signs of the effectiveness of one’s practice: “More joy, less fear, and a shortening of the time between creating an intention and having it come to fruition”

Last Friday I listened to a Q&A with Sharath Jois. He was asked why Lotus Pose has to always start with the right leg. Good question! Sharath’s answer was that the right leg equals positive energy and the left leg neutralises negative energy!

I’m loving teaching office yoga at the moment. It’s off the mat, no Lulu Lemons, no fuss. Yes, maybe we should be on an island retreat. Maybe we should be cut off from the world. Maybe there should be statues and incense and sitar music. But when all of the conditions are not there, yoga still exists.

I wrote a little while ago about ‘Namaste’ and whether we should use it at the end of class with the gesture of hands together and a little bow. There must be so many words in so many languages that convey something beautiful in greeting and parting such as this; Namaste, Ayubowan, Aloha, for example.

I had to share this writing from a yoga teacher with you, (she’s in quarantine as she writes): ‘The future I had built as an image in my mind, and my present circumstances are at odds with one another. I realize so much of my past ability to be content with the present was predicated on the idea that in the future, I’d be somewhere else’.