Yoga for Life

Last week everyone has been talking about #MentalHealth, and this week it is #menopause. It’s time to talk about it and really #makemenopausematter! I decided to start talking about my experience with #menopause and as it’s impossible to tell all four years in one page, this will happen over few weeks and more than one #blog. Part 1 I am 45 years old and have been suffering with menopause symptoms for the past 3-4 years; possibly longer, now I think about it. Although it is thought that daughters should generally follow their mothers’ menstrual cycle and inherit the same patterns, I entered perimenopausal stage of my life 10 years earlier than my mum entered hers. Possibly, as I suffer from epilepsy and my medication may have affected the hormonal balance. Possibly because of different way of life. Either way, I have been suffering for few years and have been trying to deal with it in many ways; not yet trying #HRT. Menopause is a natural condition and should be embraced and acc...

Coinciding with #Navaratri, today is the #WorldMentalHealthDay, an #international day when everyone talks about #mental #health. Should we not talk do (something) about it? Enough talking! But having one day devoted to the #mental #health at least will turn everyone's attention to it and maybe the #governments will #issue their stance on it. But that isn't enough! In England, #therapies such as #yoga and #meditation, are still considered as "alternative" and not suitable for national health or part-funded cost. However, the effects of #yoga, #meditation and #mindfulness on #mental #health #illnesses are far much better than those of some #medication. Don't get me wrong! I don't advocate stopping medication, I am merely in favour of some 'alternative' solutions to solving the problems, since the #mentalhealth problems can be very deep and very complicated. One size never fits all - therefore why doesn't the government explore these #alternativ...

I’ve been practicing #yoga for years but it wasn’t until I did my #teacher #training that I finally embraced yoga. And not just as a way of #strengthening my #body through the #physical #training and all the asanas (physical poses) but also as my #lifestyle. For years I have been suffering with #migraines and #lower #back #pain. Two years ago, my lower back pain disabled me for the whole month – I got diagnosed with a #degenerative #spinal #canal #stenosis (lumbar). This happened just before I was due to start my #200 YTT course. Over the years, my regular daily asana practice has improved my flexibility. And, although I still find forward bends easier to do (common with people suffering from lower back pain), I am now able to launch into back bends like #Chakrasana/Wheel pose, something that I couldn’t do before my training. Yoga is now generally #prescribed amongst the medical practitioners as a treatment for lower back pain sufferers - although still considered as an alternativ...

I wrote this last year, but being a full-time mum, with no time for internet and leaving the whole blogging community to my children, I never fully published it.... Leo, my beautiful, black 19-year-old cat died in February this year. We buried him in the garden and planted a rose on his grave, which is now known as Leo's rose. He was part of the family – he was the family. He was my first baby – I had no children when my sister and I adopted him and his brother Tiger at only three weeks old. I still miss him. My youngest keeps asking "Where's Leo?" "Has he got food?" It's difficult to explain to a two-year old the concept of death - she wouldn't understand even if I tried. At the same time, I'm not sure I can explain it to myself either! Yoga prepares us for death – after all, Savasana is a "corpse” pose! Yet I'm still learning to cope with the loss of a loved one - a grandparent, a friend, a pet or death in general! Meditating on He...

Often, when we go to Yoga classes the teachers talk about yoga philosophy, some will mention Patanjali (The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali), some won’t (and you may leave the class wondering what on earth they were talking about or may be curious and study further; like me. So what is yoga? And how do we control our minds? The direct translation of the second sutra – Yoga citta Vrtti Nirodhah is, according to TKV Desikachar: "Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without any distractions". So, by controlling the mind, one manages to achieve peace and quiet. Or, perhaps the complete opposite – by not being able to control the mind we become more disturbed! Which one is it? Only you will know! By controlling one's mind and achieving the peace with oneself, it is possible to control the world and our surrounding – or at least have the perception of controlling it. I recently received an angry email from a fitnes...