Summer solstice.
Today is the summer solstice, when the sun sits apparently still, at its zenith for a few days, and we have the maximum exposure to its presence. Venerated along with the moon in older cultures, who correctly perceived just how integral to our lives and all life on earth in fact, the existence of these […]
Final day of the Yoga immersion
Today was the final day of the 100 hour Yoga immersion and like all points of completion it was tinged with both joy and a little sadness. Over the years I have felt exceptionally grateful for those I have studied with and the periods of consistent interaction with them. From the outset of immersion […]
First journal entry and website update for a long time!
Writing this I’m aware that the last journal entry on the website was early 2020, pre Covid, and a lot has happened since then! Although I have been writing frequent blogs on the Facebook page, I have neglected the website, so its great to return to it. After a rapid adaption to online teaching […]
January and the new year.
As we all sit at the start of January, in the lull after the festive season, its easy to reflect upon the new year and the essence of this time of the year. January is named after the Roman God, Janus, depicted with two faces one looking to the past one to the future. Janus […]
Brahma, Vishnu, Rudra.
The yoga practitioner is usually associated with having a serenity and equanimity, these qualities are often described in various texts as the hallmarks of the yogi/yogini. Much of this arises from not just their practice, but also from their vision and understanding of the nature of life. The philosophical and theoretical content of Yoga recognises the […]
Yoga Immersion 2019/2020
I’m very much looking forward to delivering the first session of the 100 hour Yoga immersion that begins this weekend in the Old Cookhouse community space Donaghcloney. An immersion is a fantastic way to allow Yoga, it’s practice and theory, to sink into oneself. Its a step beyond classes and workshops, yet it also allows […]
Bliss
In the Tantric texts on Spanda, the divine creative pulsation, it states that if we lose the essential delight which is our true nature, then we will experience a state of depression or melancholy. This is oft mentioned in Yogic texts that this feeling of separation is what leads us to Yoga. These writings therefore suggest that mental and emotional […]
Spontaneous meditation.
In the Shiva Swarodaya, an ancient Tantric text on the breath, prana and its flow, it is noted that the meditative state occurs naturally at the time of sunrise and sunset. Perhaps this is not surprising when you think of how we relate to those times of the day, when we marvel at life’s […]
Trying not to constrict life's flow.
As modern human beings we generally try to control everything, this includes every aspect of ourselves. Though an investigation into Yoga quickly shows that all of life is the movement of it’s intelligence and energy. Life works better when it can flow without impediment, but like constricting a hose pipe, our attempt to over control this, blocks its flow. The […]
Turning our response around.
In Tantra, the practitioner often finds a way to take what the general public avoids or recoils from and turns them around in such a way that it is used to liberate them, so that the divine may be found in it, that the most sought of state is discovered within it. In some texts and […]