Finding inner peace through quiet places
23 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Books, Making space, Pictures Tags: Amsterdam, inner, location, London, Paris, peace, photgrapher, photobook, quiet, quietness, Siobhan, Wall, yoga
Artist and photographer Siobhan Wall has created a series of ‘quiet’ city photo books using her images to lead the reader to tranquil places she has discovered throughout Amsterdam, London and shortly, Paris. These locations could be anywhere from a parks, lakes and woods to libraries, restaurants and health spas. This is what quietness means to Siobhan.
Flowers in Beatrix Park, Amsterdam.
For me, quietness is not just about finding somewhere beautiful to look at, although this really helps. It is also about listening to my body and being a bit more aware of how I’m feeling at that moment.
Living by universal laws
07 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Making space, Thoughts Tags: ecobeauty, ecochick, ecofriendly, ecofriendly lifestyle, organic, sustainable, Yoga Nieuw West
“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.” (Michelangelo)
Ecofriendly is the current buzz word. Green, ecofriendly, sustainable, biological are all ‘good’ words and living an authentic lifestyle is shifting from marginal to mainstream. Certainly, keeping your footprint softer on planet Earth is harder to fake than showing you have money. But where does an ecofriendly lifestyle begin and end?
Respect for life
First of all let’s look at yoga and how this is connected to ecofriendly living. As violinist Yehudi Menuhin wrote in his introduction to B. K. S. Iyengar’s book, Light on yoga, yoga is “by its very nature inextricably associated with universal laws: respect for life, truth, and patience are all indispensable factors in the drawing of a quiet breath, in calmness of mind and firmness of will.”
You won´t pick up yoga and meditation quicker through going harder and faster. Take it easy and slow and follow these three steps: Practice, practice, practice. Happily, you don´t need props to practice yoga and it´s free. Taking yoga classes with a qualified teacher helps you to learn safely and keep up the discipline of practice. If you think you don’t have any ‘free time’ in your busy schedule, read Making space when you don’t have time and When saying ‘no’ makes all the difference. Both blogs offer some tips on freeing up time.
Making change
The process of change can start with a thought, and progress into action as we engage in a different way of being and thinking. Being authentic to ourselves, listening to our ´inner voice´ is the first step. Eventually your change of mind will be visible to those around you in the way you look, the expression in your eyes, the way you behave, your approach to consumerism and the things you say.
This doesn´t mean turning into a saint overnight or losing your sense of humour or ‘flaws’, but it does mean developing awareness.
Rejuvenating stretch: Dog pose (Adho Mukha Shvanasana)
21 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Pictures, Yoga asanas explained Tags: Adho Mukha Shvanasana, asana, dog, pose, yoga, Yoga Nieuw West
Working with students at Yoga Nieuw West in the Dog pose (Adho Mukha Shvanasana).
Moving up the hips into 'dog tilt'.
This is a powerfully rejuvenating pose that strengthens the hands, arms and upper body, opens the chest and improves the breathing. It lengthens the spinal column and increases circulation to the brain. Making space again!
Do this when you need to boost your energy, so not at bedtime unless you do it slowly as a gentle pick-me-up.
Tip: Keep your elbows straight through squeezing your elbows imnward and towards each other. Press your upper back towards your legs. Lastly, tip your hips into dog tilt as if your tailbone was being pulled to the sky.
Working with a student on Dog pose at Yoga Nieuw West.
Keeping coughs and colds away
03 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
It’s that time of year when coughs and colds seem easy to catch, and linger on, unless we listen to our bodies and step back to rest.
Over November, I’m going to focus on yoga postures that help keep coughs and colds away as well as relieve symptoms.
Are you ready?
Don’t forget that regular practice of asanas helps keep you in good health, but keep it manageable and make your goals attainable.
Take it little by little…flirt with your boundaries, and remember, each small step is your choice to make.
Making space to change
04 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
in Making space, Thoughts Tags: making, space, time
At the moment I am making space to change.
Whatever anyone does has something to do with their own trip. If they do it well, anyone else who joins them will benefit from it too. Especially if they are trying to do the same thing, which is why they were attracted in the first place.
The more people who come together then, the more powerful the effect.
Repairing mind and body in Malta
14 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment
in Pictures Tags: beach, gomakasana, headstand, Malta, Maltese, Mistral, windy, yoga
Undoing the damage of haste
24 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in Making space, Thoughts Tags: making space, making time
“Art is the means we have of undoing the damage of haste. It’s what everything else isn’t.”
Theodore Roethke
Laughter in the yoga class is okay
20 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Thoughts Tags: aum, buddha, humour, laugh, laughter, Ohm, Om, serious, yoga, Yoga Nieuw West
Ohm, ohhhmmmmm, ohhhmmmmm. As the class sang out this ancient mantra, she found it hard not to think. And the teacher had just been telling her to look at the thought and then let it go. Hard to let that one go! You might ask, what on earth am I doing here chanting Aum (Om, Ohm) like I’m part of some religious cult.
Sure, you can think if you like, and laugh if you have to. Just because you’re looking inwards, it doesn’t mean that your humour will leave you. And anyhow, laughter is an emotional release. Laughter therapy is popular, and even if you find yourself laughing at how ridiculous the teacher looks, or your fellow participants, you’re still laughing—so it works! This is the way to go with Laughter Yoga (Hasyayoga), which harnesses self-triggered laughter on a physical plane and doesn’t necessarily rely on ‘humour’ to set it off.
Making space when you don’t have time
18 Jul 2011 1 Comment
in Making space, Thoughts Tags: busy, children, mother, relaxing, single, space, time
What do you do when you feel that there isn’t any space left for you to be yourself, to think, to get the rest you need?
Often women feel like this, especially women bringing up their children alone. The demands of modern life coupled with bringing up children more or less singlehandedly can make you feel as if you are losing yourself. When the day centres upon bringing children to and from childcare, a day at the office, shopping, cooking, cleaning and putting children to bed, you hardly have time to relax. It can be faster to use a fix; like alcohol, TV, music, social media [;)], or simply you wash and go to bed, worried you’ll feel too tired in the morning.
Okay, I may have painted an exaggerated picture, but for some women it can be like this pretty much all of the time. What helps?
