Book: God is Not a Christian – Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu will need little introduction – the first black Archbishop of a Cape Town, when South Africa was undergoing a period of lengthy trouble, change and adjustment around apartheid. This book is a collection of extracts from sermons, interviews, letters...Advent thoughts
The year draws to a close; yoga classes wind down; our hearts draw back to home and family.Earlier this week Facebook reminded me of posts from the same day in previous years; it seems that its not unusual for me to be running behind on wrapping presents and generally...Book: Behavioural Economics Saved My Dog – Dan Ariely
So I admit I knew very little about the author or the book when I started reading; I saw it on Waterloo Station and through it worth a go, maybe as slightly lighter holiday reading. The author is a columnist on the Wall Street Journal writing a column about life...Books: Light on Yoga and Light on Pranayama – BKS Iyengar
Two masterpiece works by Iyengar, some would say the Grandfather of modern Hatha Yoga. I’ve dipped into these books before, but never studied them in depth, and so for my recent holiday I took them with me for some quality reading time. At 450 and 300...Book: Heirs to Forgotten Kingdoms: Journeys into the Disappearing Religions of the Middle East – Charles Russell
Living in the rural outskirts of England, it’s easy to become distanced from the world around us, it’s trial and tribulations, viewing it as images in the media, rather than the stories of real men, women and children. No where more prominent is this...Books: Full Catastrophe Living and Wherever You are There You Go – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Mindfulness is a buzz word these days, which is not to decry it in anyway, but sometime you have to ask, has it become over used and diluted? The author of these books, Jon Kabit-Zinn is, arguably, one of the leading exponents of modern mindfulness: “(I tried...Book: The Poetry of Kabir
Anyone looking back over the books I’ve reviewed will notice a bias towards the technical and practical aspects of Yoga.However the spiritual aspect of Yoga doesn’t pass me by; far, far from it. Indeed it was the spiritual re-awakening and re-connection...Book: How to do Restorative Yoga – Michael Hetherington
Any book which includes a cup of herbal tea nearby in its recommended list of props, doesn’t have to work that hard to be a winner for me! Theres always a cuppa beside me during morning practice and, quelle horreur, sometimes a glass of wine in the evening....Yoga and IBS
A couple of times recently, I’ve come across people mentioning IBS during Yoga classes. Its something I’ve struggled with, and I know in my case a good part of it stems from stress. Here are some thoughts I put down on paper for someone: I have much...Talk about Yoga. Dear reader, I just did.
A few weeks ago I was asked if I would like to be a guest on Vectis Radio, a local internet station. I must confess it wasn’t a station I knew much about, or indeed had listened to, but, well, a chance to talk about something I love so much? Of course, I said...Book: Energy Medicine – The Scientific Basis – James Oschman
I’m currently partway through a one year course entitled, “Structural, Functional and Experiential Anatomy for Yoga Teachers”, and the reading list is somewhat long – I dread to think about the combined number of pages! This book is around...Book: Yoga For Emotional Balance – Bo Forbes
One of the attractions of Yoga for me has been its capacity to help with emotional and physical balance – the Yin and Yang of life I suppose. Our modern lives are busy, we tend to get blown all ways and over stimulated by the onslaught of email, text,...Is Yoga Exercise? I’m not clear?
This is a big question, as a simple answer, it depends partly how you define exercise, and secondly on the class style. If your definition of exercise involves raised heart rate, exertion and sweat then by and large yoga won’t meet that definition, and certainly...Book: Yoga Girl – Rachel Brathen
The author of this book came to fame – if thats the correct word – on Instagram with her inspiring pictures and the hash tag #yogaeverydamnday. Not being an Instagram type of person myself, I approached this book with some uncertainty. But, we...Book: Yamas & Niyamas: Exploring Yoga’s Ethical Practice – Deborah Adele
In the ancient writings of the Yoga Sutras we come across the eight fold path of yoga, sometimes called Ashtanga Yoga (but not to be confused with the energetic physical practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa). The first two of these limbs are the Yamas and Niyamas, yogas...Book: The Spark in the Machine – Daniel Keown
Towards the end of last year I was struggling more than a little with stress related symptoms in life. Yoga was helping. Therapy was helping. Fresh air, exercise and self care was helping. But I needed a little more, and felt it time to explore acupuncture. I knew a...Action and reaction – taking control of our future
Que Sera, Sera Whatever will be, will be The futures not ours to see Que Sera, Sera What will be, will beThe lyrics are well known, written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, sung by many, most popularly Doris Day. I’m no scholar of the romantic languages, but...Book: Autobiography of a Yogi – Paramahansa Yogananda
One of the staple texts of classic yoga, this book has been my bath time kindle reading over last month. Born in 1893 to an Indian family the book charts Yogananda’s path of spiritual discovery through Yoga as a boy, teen and young man, and then how it obeyed...Yoga and Christianity
I’ll start by laying my cards on the table, and say that I am no theologian or Indologist; however in the distant past my first career choice was to be a Minister of Religion, and although it’s not often I grace the doors of a church these days, my Christianity burns...Socials and Feeds
