Waking up last Tuesday to the sad news of Sharath’s very sudden passing was a shock to everyone in the Ashtanga community and more so to those of us who have spent months in Mysore practicing under his guidance who knew him a little. 53 is no age. His passing gave me a massive sense ..read more

Since that day it’s been a journey to say the least, more tests, Bloods, ECG, but after all that it is scarring from the pneumonia and not anything more worrying. A massive dose of antibiotics has mostly cleared up the cough but killed my stomach, thankfully the brilliant Janie fixed it. After the diagnosis Janie ..read more

Not that anyone who has actually died , would be able to give me an answer to that question, obviously ! So yoga has been coming back since the pre Christmas hiatus, finally doing Kapo again and getting some control of the dropbacks. I saw the hospital doctor 10 days ago to discuss the CT scan and lung function test, again said not cancer, but there is something going on and put me down for more bloods and a bronchoscopy, which would be scheduled in the next few months, I actually received a follow up appointment for July, so figured I could forget about it for a while. Suddenly last Wednesda ..read more

After getting over the eye surgeries and surviving the 8 weeks of rehab inactivity I finally got back on my mat in early December. I can’t lie , it’s been a slog, it’s felt so much harder to get going again after surgery. A lack of energy, a real fall off in my general fitness and touching my toes was difficult. Eventually mid January I started to get some feeling of improvement, L said to take it easy, one Sunday she actually stopped me after Primary, she’s never done that before, I was laying prone on my mat considering my options. L said it’s always harder to get going again in the winter w ..read more

I am now in the time of post operative “NO”, which after having the two eye operations on consecutive Mondays means doing nothing that raises blood pressure or pressure in the eyes. No lifting, no bending down, no shopping, no garden stuff, and obviously no meaningful Ashtanga, oh and no flying, so I can’t even rest somewhere sunny and warmer than here, where it’s turned bloody cold and wet. The surgeries went ok, I’m just left with a right eye that feels gritty and a left eye that feels sticky and needs coaxing open every morning with careful use of warm water, then it’s just the 4 times a da ..read more

Thanks to diligently doing the Physiotherapists exercises and not doing things that piss the wrist off for the last 6 weeks or so, it’s definitely getting there. However the older I get the more life seems to be one step forward and two steps back. The (relatively) new job requires me to read lists on paper and use a computer with an ancient excel type program, reading both has been a struggle. I went to the optician expecting new glasses , I came away with referrals for a laser surgery on the left eye and a cataract operation on the right, so now I’m in Rishi’s backlog of 7 million and strugg ..read more

6 weeks or so ago I did the Saturday led class at the Shala, Louise led is nice and steady. Steadily I went until I got to Utita Hasta balance at the end of standing, as I put my leg outwards on the second side, suddenly a gun shot sound emanated from my left wrist and a pain that went right through my arm. Ive left it a while in the hope that it would just get better on its own, but UHP is impossible, as is lifting the kettle, which is obviously even more serious! My pinky finger and the one next to it aren’t working either, so C at the local Shala advised me to see “someone”. Luckily our lo ..read more

Practice has been a struggle, the thing in my lower back/pelvis is driving me nuts. Most days I’ve only managed primary and a dodgy Salabhasana, what follows became impossible even with Rumalaya and Alex the massage therapists magic fingers and thumbs. It’s deeply frustrating especially with the warm humid mornings that have finally arrived which usually makes my body looser and bendier, Louise said once Easter to October is when practice expands and can be worked on, as opposed to the cold winter months, when it’s about maintaining what you have. I’m missing being able to do the part of my pr ..read more

I’m not sure if H came to Conference with a theme or plan of what he would talk about. He started off by talking about what the word yoga means to him, “Connection” and “Community”, he said yoga can also mean yolk, but he said that’s for eggs! How the practice isn’t just the near two sweaty hours on our mats, but how it relates to our lives off the mat, how we treat other people, how we treat ourselves, if we forgive those who we see as wronging us, or as he put it, putting the loo roll on the wrong way round! H said one of his latest favourite saying was the Japanese term Ika Gai, the meanin ..read more

Well some things do, Kapotasana is where it is, but it’s fun trying, not expecting change in this lifetime, but I can dream about catching sight of my feet. It is easier at the shala where it’s much warmer and my body is more open. My dropbacks have become a bit hit and Miss, though I usually manage it and after assisted drops L was squashing me when there was a huge crack from my lower back, to which she said “that’s an £80 crack at the Osteopaths!” What has changed is I finally did what I needed to with the part time job, it shows what happens when you make a decision and start trying to do ..read more