'Shift your attitude towards gratitude.' That's what my online yoga teacher, SaraBethYoga teaches in her fantastic online yoga videos. I highly recommend these to anyone who loves yoga or is interested in trying it out. She has videos for all levels and abilities in a variety of different styles. In current circumstances, I think it's... Continue Reading →
Drishti: A Poem about Focus
I. In order to maintain focus, choose your drishti:Hold your hands up to the skyIn mountainFocus on your thumbAnd balance: breatheThe stillnessFeel the calmnessBalance peace, release, serenity. II. Focus on your browboneLet your gaze sink backInto skull-socketsSee the colour at the edge of lightBehind your eyelids:Spiritual eyes openPhysical eyes closedTo glimpse the light which brings... Continue Reading →
The Quarantine Diaries 13: 9 Months Sober
If my sobriety were a baby, I should be giving birth today, to a Brand New Me. Or perhaps just to the Old Me, which would be the Young Me, before I started drinking. Unfortunately, I've been through a tough time over the last few days, and all the old behaviours are coming back: shouting... Continue Reading →
The Quarantine Diaries 9: The Yin and Yang of Lockdown
Though I've already written about finding balance in earlier entries, in today's post I'd like to dig a little deeper by exploring the concept of balance in nature, and in life. I will then look at how we can apply this concept to help us deal with the unique challenges posed by lockdown during the... Continue Reading →
The Quarantine Diaries 8: Avoiding the Guilt Trap
I was doing pretty well in quarantine. You might have seen my earlier entries: they were all about 'finding balance', staying calm and facing our fears. Then my body threw me a curve ball. It's the same curve ball it throws me every month, but right now I'm finding it particularly difficult to deal with.... Continue Reading →
6: Finding Balance
6 days in, I realise I'm a quarantine rookie. From the moment I wake up, everything is getting on my nerves. Try as I might, I can't seem to get a moment's peace, I can't get on with my work, I don't get my son through all his schoolwork, and I end up being mean... Continue Reading →
5: A Guided Meditation, Courtesy of Wordsworth
Poem of the Day: Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798 By William Wordsworth. I've chosen this poem because to me it describes most perfectly the experience of meditation, of switching off the mind and making contact with the Divine. The... Continue Reading →
The Quarantine Diaries 3: Staying Grounded
With the level of societal anxiety running high, today I'm taking a different approach and offering some tips for staying calm in quarantine. I'm no expert: I'm very much learning as I go along, but I find that some of the work I've done on mindfulness and mental grounding prior to being confined is helping... Continue Reading →