Freedom through control

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 5th April 2013

Inside Yoga 73 (5/4/13) How can freedom and control work together? It seems to be a contradiction, but if we are to free ourselves of negative mind states through meditation and yoga we need to exercise a level of control in what we do. For example, our breath is so important in so many ways. Primarily, it keeps us alive […]

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Meditation helps reduce exam stress

Category : General advice, Philosophy 25th March 2013

Inside Yoga 72 (25/3/13) Most of will remember the stress of doing school exams, but how many of us were aware that mindfulness meditation would help us cope and even do better? Even today not many school pupils are aware of how meditation can help them, and for that matter, most teachers are not aware of how meditation can help […]

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How stress affects women more than men

Category : General advice, Philosophy 15th March 2013

Inside Yoga 71 (15/3/13) An article in the Guardian newspaper this week reported that several recent studies have come to the same conclusion: at work, and in general, women are feeling the pressures of stress more than their male peers. One of the studies cited in the report is a 2008 study led by Yale’s Dr Tara Chaplin, whose research […]

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Never, ever give up!

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice 8th March 2013

Inside Yoga 70 (8/3/13) Here is an inspiring story: it is about Arthur, a veteran US paratrooper who fought in the Gulf War. He says that he sustained a series of injuries as a result of numerous air jumps as a paratrooper. Doctors told him that he would never walk again without the assistance of crutches and braces – so he […]

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NHS recognition for mindfulness meditation

Category : General advice 28th February 2013

Inside Yoga 69 (28/2/13) Here’s a headline I cannot ignore!  “NHS recognises that mindfulness meditation is good for depression”. The newspaper article, which was in Tuesday’s edition of The Guardian, explained that: “Mindfulness meditation has been shown to give patients control over their own depression and anxiety levels and levels of chronic pain, according to a paper published earlier this month […]

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Actors in our own play

Category : General advice, Philosophy 22nd February 2013

Inside Yoga 68 (22/2/13) “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts.” These words, from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, were as relevant when it was first performed and as they are today… both in the way Shakespeare […]

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Saving endangered silence

Category : General advice, Philosophy 1st February 2013

Inside Yoga 67 (1/2/2013) As our modern way of living races ahead with its busy agenda, there is something that is being squeezed out – namely, silence. It is golden as the phrase goes, and to highlight its importance a church in Sussex released a CD of silence at the end of last year and its sales have rocketed. The […]

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Exercising our brains

Category : General advice, Philosophy 22nd January 2013

Inside Yoga 66 (22/1/13) Now that the dust has settled from my computer crash, it is perhaps safe to share an aspect of the experience. There I was just after the New Year ready to go – I had a New Year resolution to have everything in place and to get my business of teaching rolling again. Famous last words: […]

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Festive Fatigue

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 14th January 2013

Inside Yoga 65 (14/1/2013) Well, I have to be honest and say that the festive season’s burn out, fatigue and ensuing laziness has got the better of me! Hence the absence of a new chapter of Inside Yoga for weeks, more than that, since late-November! My apologies. My new year’s resolution was to start with a new blogs, and so […]

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Is thinking is the enemy?

Category : Asanas (Postures), General advice, Philosophy 26th November 2012

Inside Yoga 64 (26/11/12) Last week I was reading a Sunday newspaper magazine article about amazing humans (“Meet the Superhumans”, Observer magazine 18/11/12) and I was fascinated by the story of 25-year-old free diver, Tom Sietas, from Hamburg, who can hold his breath for 22 minutes and 22 seconds – he is the current world record holder. What struck me […]

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