IN PURSUIT OF SPACE & EMPTINESS! Nobody has ever measured how much the heart can hold but with a particular worry gone for us this year it feels like there …
NEVER TOO LATE TO START FROM SCRATCH!
25 YEARS AGO THIS MONTH WALKED INTO MY FIRST BIKRAM YOGA CLASS. Before Bikram Yoga’ nothing (aside from Darren 😉 ) grabbed my attention the way it did and I …
SLOW DOWN YOGIS!
THE PROCESS of shifting attention from the large and/or final movement, the outward shape of the asana to the micro moves, deeper muscles, mindfulness and the quality of the breath …
A HAPPY LIFE LASTS 90 MINUTES
The Bliss path to Self Realisation becomes obscured ‘over time’; relatively speaking, time can be an enemy as well as a friend; your ‘Bliss suffers with the mere passage of …
GIVE WHAT YOU WANT!
If you want Love, you give Love. Yes we offer you our appreciation and Love; and they don’t cost a thing! We know as we give we will receive. In …
LOOK.AT.YOU.
“LOOK INTO YOUR OWN EYES. LOOK AT YOUR THIRD EYE. LOOK AT YOUR ANATOMICAL END POINTS. LOOK AT YOU” ~ Trisha These are our ‘broad’ 🙂 focused gaze choices at …
IT IS NOT IN OUR NATURE TO BE STILL YET ‘STILLNESS’ IS OUR ESSENTIAL NATURE
Are you suffering from a lack of Stillness in your practice? In the consistency of our Bikram Yoga sequence there is SO MUCH FREEDOM to explore Stillness ‘in’ and ‘not …
YOGA MATTERS IS A ‘NO TOUCH STUDENT’ YOGA SCHOOL.
Just to be clear. YOGA MATTERS IS A ‘NO TOUCH STUDENT’ YOGA SCHOOL. Someone recently asked me to physically move them into a position for which I declined. Not just …
Yoga Gives for Ukrainian Peoples
~YOGA GIVES~ 10 CLASSES FOR UKRAINE ~ Watching all unfold on a screen can make one seem helpless; we want to help but pitch around for how. We lost enthusiasm …
What does Kahlil Say?
Book Posing ~ Bookasana ~ Had a few conversations with people this week about favourite books! Too hard to pick fave; makes my head spin as only a book lovers …
“In knowing nothing, life is most delightful”
“In knowing nothing, life is most delightful” {Publilius Syrus} or to put another way IGNORANCE IS BLISS! Let us not get distracted here by ‘proofs’ of knowledge’. We are not …
Christmas 2021
Is it ‘flickering’ or is it ‘TWINKLING’? ~TWINKLE unapologetically! THE WORLD NEEDS YOU. CELEBRATE EVERYTHING that you possibly can.~ Thinking of ways to say THANK YOU always gives us lovely …
IF YOU LET SOMEONE STEAL YOUR ‘STILLNESS’ YOU ARE THE LOSER
If we were a ‘book’ 🙂 ‘Yoga Matters’ would be the ‘title’ and ‘In Pursuit of Stillness’ would be our ‘subtitle’. Our title conveys who we are but our subtitle …
10 YEARS OF YM
~YM@10~ 19th July 2021 will be 3650 days, aprox 5000 (FIVE THOUSAND) classes and lots of ‘stuff’ has happened since YM opened its doors. WHAT DOES 10YRS RUNNING YOUR OWN …
!Purple Alert!
!WARNING! said Jenny Joseph “When I am old… I shall wear Purple, with a Red hat that doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me!” !PIFFLE! I say “I shall wear Purple …
You Are Not Alone
You exist You are real You are valuable You are not alone Please. Don’t get this blog intent wrong… in no way shape or form would I wish to diminish …
WHAT DOES ‘FINDING YOURSELF’ MEAN?
Using western ‘logic’ ‘fact/literal meaning’ it is too easy to dismiss this little phrase as a bit of ‘new agey’ ‘nonsense’. To the person who hasn’t explored the idea these …
Daydream Believer
When I’m practicing Yogasana my mind is 100% ‘IN THE MOMENT’. This state did not come easily; it took a while at outset of practice to develop this strong body-mind …
Insta Yogi Vs. Yoga
With all the insta glam superimposed over Yogasana it would be easy perhaps for some to get confused about what one is seeking when they take up the practice. Some …
Social Distancing
‘Social Distancing’. Was there ever a more repulsive and alienating phrase? I had thought I read something last year that ‘authorities’ had discussed and decided to use ‘physical’ distancing instead …
The Way of the Peaceful Warrior
Aah dusting: an excellent way to re-acquaint yourself with classics; THIS ONE has had its 3 readings 🙂 first early 90s and it truly DID bring big CHANGE to my …
TIME TO DUST
“So Lyra and her daemon turned away from the world they were born in and looked toward the sun and walked into the sky” ~ Philip Pullman If you know ‘His …
The Doors of Perception
Just done some Yoga and feeling a bit trippy! ~ I remember reading The Doors of Perception {Huxley} thinking gad he goes on a bit about ‘that chair’! but I …
Light On… Credits 2020
Dear YM Bikram Yogis, Ever so grateful to practitioners for welcoming YM back on 12th June. Happy to be with you all every day. ‘Pure generosity’ invested in credits whilst …
Speaking of ‘Adages’ and ‘Edges’…
“IF YOU CAN YOU MUST” ~V.~ “JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN DO SOMETHING DOESN’T MEAN YOU SHOULD” ~ Sometimes I feel like… I am speaking in adages in class and taken …
CONTAGION ‘MITIGATION’ PLAN
****scroll down to see 26/8/21 ‘Stage 7’ update**** We are so happy and excited to be able to WELCOME YOU BACK to our little Yoga school. To help you feel …
EVERYone smiles in the same language!
‘National Smile Month’ 18May-18June primarily has an oral hygiene focus thus ‘improving the quality of your smile’. It has reminded me of a story I’d like to share ~ A …
KARMA COLA
“READING GIVES US SOMEPLACE TO GO WHEN WE HAVE TO STAY WHERE WE ARE” I have often been asked for a ‘recommended reading list’ re Yoga; I have steered clear …
LOVE YourSelf
It seems these days there is a lot of intelligence in the service of madness! There is a lot of pain on display. Don’t stare at it 24/7. Open up …
LOVE JERSEY GIRL
Jersey does have a few lovely sculptures but when ‘JERSEY GIRL’ was first revealed it immediately became MY FAVOURITE of them all! One of the best things about this sculpture …
Little Ego Sneaks into Yoga Class
Once upon a time… Little Ego snuck into a Yoga class with its Driver. Driver had never tried Yogasana before. Everything about it was new and hard AND there was …
HOW NOW 2020?
WHAT.a.year. It has been MASSIVE in terms of our Yoga community locally AND globally. The world in its changing feels freefall and less predictable at the moment; where will we …
Know Your Unconscious Mind (‘UM’)
My UM has been ‘triggered’ 🙂 and I am researching as I am writing folks and some if this is new to me but very interesting. I share it with …
“INSTRUCTIONS FOR LIVING A LIFE: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ~ Mary Oliver
This piece is not written for longer term practitioners who have learned to ‘grace’ through ‘stuff’… this is written for the younger person/Yogi whose life is just ramping up and …
WHY I ‘WRITE’
Dear Yogi, I’ve been writing my Yoga essays since about 2 months after we started working with You lovely Yogis! When we were planning to open it never dawned on …
The Battling Yogi
The most interesting paradigm shift that has occurred in me this last year and possibly the one I am most GRATEFUL for is the removal of resistance to DEALING with …
No Devices in Yoga School
Sometimes we have to home in on the ‘etiquettes’ what they are and why we have them so people can work on the same page as us if they wish… …
STILL IN LOVE…
…WITH BIKRAM YOGA AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS. YOU CANNOT MAGIC UP 20 YEARS LIFE EXPERIENCE; YOU HAVE TO DO THE TIME ! THIS MONTH I’VE BEEN HAVING MY OWN …
Seriously!!!
1 in every 10 people in Jersey is a Yoga Instructor. OK. I am clearly jesting; but it does feel like that the last couple of years as Darren and …
Yoga Ethics ~ Part III ~ Niyamas (Observances)
Remember from Part I & Part II we are focusing in on how you can apply Yoga ethics when you are at Yoga school and on your mat. The Niyamas …
Yoga Ethics ~ Part II ~ Yamas (Restraints)
Remember from Part I that we are focussing in on how you can apply Yoga ethics when you are at Yoga school and on your mat. The ‘Yamas’ are universal …
Raja Yoga ~ Part I – Ethics
THE TREE OF YOGA represents one of the 4 main Paths of Yoga ~ ‘RAJA’ or Royal Yoga. The Tree has EIGHT LIMBS or ‘branches’ (referencing Patanjali’s Sutras and ‘Ashtanga’ or ‘Eightfold’ …
That’s not MY yoga alliance…
This is a slight meandering from my blog ‘Choosing a Yoga Instructor’; read this one in conjunction with that one 🙂 … {updated 2020} YOU HAVE GOT TO get past …
choosing a Yoga instructor
“so there it is work it out for yourself, BE SELECTIVE, be OBJECTIVE… be an asset to the collective, as you know you gotta get a life” ~ Jazzy B You …
Christmas mullings… 2017
Its 12.25, just had breakfast 🙂 still in jammies, HAVE NOT looked in the mirror 🙂 Saoirse’s just had lunch, Darren’s putting the food shop away, house is mess and I’m just mulling over …
Have a little local Yoga Break in a nice room…
‘Having a Yoga Break’ (coming to class A LOT) Versus ‘Taking a Break from Yoga’ (skipping a class) Sometimes a rest from your Yoga can work magic (quality not quantity); …
Math – All the Cool Kids Are Doing It
As usual I have a number of books ‘on the go’: ‘Harry Potter’ (again! keeping my daughter company on her first reading), ‘Of Human Bondage’, ‘The Chair’, ‘The Casual Vacancy’, …
BIKRAM CHOUDHURY AT YOGA MATTERS?
For many people their Bikram Yoga time is ideally a respite from the ‘troubles’ of the world outside the room. Other practitioners use the time to reconcile problems of the …
THE THREE GUNAS
Some very depressing things have happened in the Yoga world over the years including abuse of power and abuse of students; devastating blows to the sanctity of the teacher/student relationship; …
~ WE ARE GLAD & GRATEFUL~
THANK YOU to ALL who have kept us company this year. Our longer term practitioners hold glad space in our hearts but more have joined that space this year than …
BELLY UP PART III ~ RESPECT YOUR BELLY ~
It is hard to know where to start on this point. Harder still to know where the stop!! AGNI The fire of digestion resides in the belly area. It is …
~ MIRROR MIRROR ~
Do you obey what your eyes show you or do you feel your Yoga? Some might say feeling your Yoga is King but as a beginner the reality can be …
Responsibility; the Road Less Travelled
BIKRAM YOGA IS, amongst many other things, about strength, flexibility, balance and stamina which contribute HUGEly to one’s overall health and fitness. This is a challenging beginning Yoga class and …
WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY TRIKONASANA ISN’T 5,000 YEARS OLD???
PREAMBLE Oh Good Lord! there’s a ‘preamble’! this one is going to be a long one! 🙂 There is so much to write about in Yoga, I often don’t know …
As Glück Would Have It !
I first read ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ not long after I took up Yoga. It was pretty mindblowing stuff at the time for me and I was a bit skeptical …
A Purple Violet Magenta Rain
We Love Our New Logo. We’ve had it a while and we just couldn’t sit on it anymore. It’s the week leading up to St Valentine’s day and we just …
Yoga For Drivers – Ahimsa
It’s no secret that the hardest ‘Yoga’ to practice is all that is NOT on your mat – don’t forget you don’t practice for the glory of the pose; you …
One Quick Fix Coming Right Up…
‘How little time do I have to spend in order to get maximum benefits’ seems to be the burning question these days. Guidelines from government health organisations seem to lower …
Its not singing. Its CHANTing :) ~
So ye’ve all recovered from my solo Kirtan demo on Sunday. I have anyway :). You weren’t expecting THAT in your Bikram Yoga class now were you (don’t tell Bik …
A Bikram Yoga journey can go something like this…
First class… Pranayama. OMG I feel so silly! What is that funny SOUND they are all making? Their all so serious! I want to laugh. 10 minutes in: my ARMS …
Yoga Matters Manifesto
As you LOOK into the eyes of your reflection and KNOW these are the eyes of your teacher, you REALISE there is nowhere to hide. Your smartphone can’t help you …
“Set Your Life on Fire ~ Seek Those Who Fan Your Flames.” Rumi
We’ll provide the heat. Be it fahrenheit or centigrade from where we’re standing the temperature will be just fine. All YOU have to do is show up. Again and again. …
Change One Thing. Change Everything.
Change Nothing? Nothing Will Change. {May 2015} Yesterday I was unexpectedly presented with a person that I associate with being the cause of extreme stress for myself personally (Yes I …
My Bunny. Again.
THOUGHTS FROM A VINTAGE YOGI ABOUT HER RABBIT (again) ~ YOGA GETS BETTER AS YOU GET OLDER!!!. I spent much time in the past working on some postures that tend …
It Doesn’t Interest Me What You Do For a Living
“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living” said Oriah Mountain Dreamer MAY I JUST EXPAND ON THIS? At YM we are not tribal and we don’t mind …
A Rose by any other Name is still a Rose ~ WHERE DOES BIKRAM FIT IN YOGA
Numbers abound in Yoga, it can all get very confusing to the beginner: 4 Paths, 8 Limbs, 6 Sub Paths, 7 (main) Chakras, 5 Points, 3 Bodies, 4 Locks (Bandhas), …
The Power of Words
WORDS HAVE A VIBRATION All speech creates energy that radiates out to the world helping to create the atmosphere we live in. I do believe that our body and mind …
Choosing the ‘Right’
The word ‘right’ is not right! The word ‘perfect’ is not perfect! Words are so powerful; what would we do without Shakespeare’s 800 ! I fancy I have invented a …
ARISTOTLE SAID ~ “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
It is YM’s duty to propagate Yoga and its benefits and anything that helps generate interest in this discipline, or helps people persevere when they find it hard makes us …
We Print Money !
GOTCHA! On a more serious note 🙂 ~ About Oct last {2014} I was listening to BBC Radio Jersey one evening just after 8 and the presenter said some guy …
CALL ME TRISHA… :)
I have just finished reading ‘MOBY DICK and what a great read; Poor old Ahab, he built a prison for himself out of anger and revenge. Ultimately it was his …
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary…
Watched ‘Simpsons’ last night (yeah this is what I do when I get a night off :)) and Homer’s version of Poe’s ‘The Raven’ and of course it got me …
Stop Trying So Hard and Get Back In Your Box! said no Yoga Teacher ever.
True: the hardest part of my job is trying to get people to cease ‘over’ posturing and exhausting themselves in the process but that aside… What is more important? Showing …
OM ~ The Original Mantra
In Yogic thinking the first word was OM, the first vibration and sound from which all others emerged. There is no literal translation of OM; its three letters A, U …
Bone Matters
We work on the 26/2 diligently, a group of people in our unique bodies. We regulars know it is clearly not one size fits all. In this post I am …
Bikram Yoga works on you Outside & In
Which is more important? So what if you can’t get into the perceived “ideal” form of an asana? Many who receive benefits from Bikram aren’t necessarily those for whom something …
Thumbs Up!
Whist I was tightening up all my bits preparing for Part I Utkatasana today I suddenly became excessively aware of my THUMBS! I feel them, any movement, they feel strong, …
I Am Awesome Yogi
So folks, I’m psyched! After an amazing weekend in Brighton (I even got a glimpse of their naked bike ride!! Woohooo (ok more than a glimpse 😉 possibly more than …
Wax On. Wax Off.
I’m a lazy kinda person you know. Or at least I have the potential to be lazy; I kinda fantasize a lot about putting my feet up and veggin’ on …
Cut Your Toenails BEFORE you Come to Yoga Class !
YOGA TIP OF THE DAY: TO AVOID INJURY IN YOGA CUT YOUR TOENAILS BEFORE YOU COME TO CLASS ! If you have been practicing Yoga a while you might be …
Come Back to Your Yoga Practice
~ ! We’ve missed you shiny happy people! ~ It is always hard to find the right words for something that is essentially experiential. Words are limiting; my explanations seem …
A Bikram Yoga class is not Cirque de Soleil
The educator must believe in the potential power of his pupil, and he must employ all his art in seeking to bring his pupil to experience this power.” ~ Alfred …
How To Get The Monkeys Out Of Your Temple
Your Body is a Temple 🙂 . It’s where you live, love, learn, dream. Sadly, you may also be sharing it with a few squatters. Yup. The monkeys. A little …
“Let go or be dragged” Zen proverb (I think)
I DO like to employ a bit of Zen 🙂 ; as much as you can square anything off with Yoga you can round things off nicely with a little …
“There are many possibilities but the expert has few.” ~ Suzuki
QUESTION TIME: You all know my thoughts on keeping an open mind to receiving teachings from new/different teachers, yes? But WHAT ABOUT THE WISDOM YOUR OWN BODY HAS TO OFFER? …
Yoga Homework
Put some “Yoga” in your journey to YM… Om Shanti 🙂
Life is Difficult
Hello. I love ‘journey’s; and constantly re-checking that I am on the right journey and not at the wrong destination! I am going to blatantly paraphrase the first paragraph of …
Bikram Lineage – a little nugget of info (more to come later date)
A few people have asked recently questions drawing out the lineage of Bikram method and also the conflict between Yoga championships and the purpose of Yoga. Subsequently I share here …
Where to Find Peace?
Attendance at YM classes can be high and with a lot of bodies comes a lot of energy and activity. YM does value and appreciate serenity, calm, quiet and peace …