




How does yoga fit into all of this?






How Yoga can help you manage your emotions





Perfectionism on the yoga path


Experiencing here and now




Ancient wisdom applied to modern life – How yoga can help you transform your habits

As special as we all are as individuals, it never ceases to amaze me how similar we are. Not only with each other, but with our ancestors also. Yoga offers an ancient philosophy that is just as applicable and helpful in the modern world. Indeed many of the things we struggle with today were discussed in the yoga sutras, which were written prior to 400 CE.

samsara deeply ingrained habits written with smasher in sanskritHabits can be positive or negative. We all probably have some positive and some negative ones. In yoga these deeply ingrained habits are called samskaras. The word samskara is from an ancient language called Sanskrit. It comes from the root words sam (complete or joined together) and kara (action, cause or doing). You can think of these as neural pathways in your brain that help shape your behavior.

Samskaras are not all bad, much of our behavior is habitual and we all have a mixture of positive and negative habits, which shape our behavior.

How does yoga help?

When you practice yoga, you develop more awareness. In yoga philosophy the Sanskrit word for awareness or seeing clearly is vidya. As you develop this awareness you become more aware of the habits you have. You start to notice how your actions are affecting your outcomes. If you have noticed you have a problem that reoccurs in your life this may be an example of a negative samskara.

You may notice your samskaras on your yoga mat. So for example if you have a habit of pushing too hard you may notice you do this in your yoga practice. Alternatively you may give up too easily or whenever you can’t do something. Both these tendencies can have a negative impact on your life beyond the yoga mat.

Ancient wisdom and modern neuroscience

Modern neuroscientists have observed that we have neural pathways in our brains for these ingrained patterns of behavior. No wonder our habits can be hard to change. The good news is you can create new neural pathways.

Awareness is just the first step

Becoming aware of our negative samskaras is not enough to change them. Noticing and becoming aware though is a crucial step on the path to change. Sometimes you may become aware of a negative habit a few times before you decide to change it. Crucially here I think is your own belief in the possibility of self-change. Start with something small like changing your morning routine. Instead of trying to do too many at once, make one change at a time, repeat it for at least 2 weeks until it starts to feel like a habit. Over time you will develop the ability to notice and change your habits and slowly one habit at a time you can build the life you want to live.

Has yoga made you more aware of any negative habit? Have you made any changes to your life because of this?


How to stay present during your yoga practice and how this will help you in your life

There are many reasons to practice yoga. There are lots of reasons why I practice yoga but my main reason is to practice becoming more present. Mindfulness and being present is my most important value not just in my yoga practice but in my life. That is because if I am not present I am not fully able to engage in anything else. I can love more fully, I can enjoy life more, I notice more, the list is endless.

We were discussing this in my last workshop because sometimes yoga can seem like its always about advancing in the yoga poses. This is just another form of materialism and doesn’t really lead to any lasting peace. Of course there is joy from achieving something you have worked hard to achieve. There is also a fantastic shift that happens when you realize that with practice you can transform your body or indeed other aspects of your life. These are some of the other wonderful benefits of the practice.

I think some people imagine that people who are more present are in some kind of state of bliss. They maybe feel that it is easy for them, the way we can look at others practicing advanced yoga poses and not see the decades of daily practice but just the flexible body and think how lucky they are.

Being present isn’t always easy. I have been practicing it for many years now, through my yoga practice, meditation and my life and I still find it challenging. The practice has made me better at it but not perfect. Being present isn’t just something that happens on the mat but the time on my mat gives me a focused part of my day in which to tune in and to train my mind. Sometimes my mind is busy, sometimes my mind is calm. Good things and bad things happen to everyone all the time. It’s easier to sit with bliss than with pain but if we run from pain then we could feed it with our thoughts.

When I practice on my yoga mat it isn’t always easy. Sometimes my mind doesn’t want to be in the present but after many years of practicing I have learnt some techniques which have helped me.


When your mind gets busy, use your breath as an anchor to keep you in the present.

  • Don’t judge yourself. Judging your mind for being noisy or yourself for being emotional is feeding the pattern. It is neither good nor bad it just is. Acknowledge that the mind is noisy but don’t dwell on it.
  • Take each breath as it comes, the breath is a very real and present experience, become aware of it. This is true all the time but if you are struggling it can really help you to just focus on each breath one at a time as you practice.
  • If you start thinking about something and get lost in it. As soon as you notice bring your awareness back to the breath.
  • If you are going through a difficult experience focus on what is actually happening rather than what could happen in future. Often this is less overwhelming even in a crisis. If there is pain allow yourself to feel it. Being present isn’t about suppression or perfection it’s about being here.

How do you practice being more present? Do You find it challenging? What has helped you?

Bringing lessons from your yoga mat into your life…




How yoga has helped me interact with other people better




How yoga has helped me in my life


















Much of this can be simplified in the following Buddhist quote

“If something can be remedied
Why be unhappy about it?
And if there is no remedy for it,
There is still no point in being unhappy.”








Yoga is not a Competition – How to Embrace it





I can tell you that

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Habits – how to build great habits of your own choosing








Ten Tips for Staying Present and Calm

I think one of the greatest benefits of yoga is that it brings you into the present moment. It allows you to connect with here and now.

Even when practicing yoga it is possible to be elsewhere. I have certainly had days where my mind just won’t shut up. These are the days where yoga is a real challenge and yet these are the days where we need yoga the most. Don’t run from your mat, stay be with yourself. Don’t judge your mind, accept everything as it is and go back to your breath. Notice subtleties in your movement, gradually bring yourself back, here.

 Why is being here and now so important?

Blossom falling off a tree with a quote from Eckart Tolle about being here and now

So glad I found a moment to capture this beautiful tree on my daily bike commute

The mind is an incredible thing.  It just doesn’t seem to stay still. Sometimes life is great and sometimes it is challenging.  It doesn’t matter how much yoga you do, challenging things will happen and great, wonderful things too! Everything is changing all the time and yet the mind can cling to some fixed ideas about reality. Sometimes our minds repeat the same thoughts again and again, strengthening them, feeding them. These thoughts may have nothing to do with what is actually happening to you. Often they are about some possible future or some past experience.

I have observed that when something is happening, the mind often is not fully present with the experience. Instead it can think about what will happen because of this, even though it doesn’t yet know the future.  Sometimes we also filter things through our past – neither of these filters are real. If you are present then you have no choice but to surrender to what is happening. As you experience this more and more life becomes more beautiful and less stressful. You get to experience life in it’s many colours and embrace it each and every moment.

Believing and feeding a negative future in your mind can’t be helpful.  If you must have a vision of the future in your mind make it one that inspires you and makes you smile.

 How to stay present in your day to day life

  1. Practice it preferably daily, through yoga, meditation or just when going about a daily task like washing up.
  2. Be compassionate with your mind, if you notice it’s not being present, be with it.  Learn to laugh at it and tell it to shut up if it’s not being helpful.
  3. If you feel panicked notice what is actually happening, is it as bad as your mind thinks it is?
  4. Use your breath to make you aware of here and now.  Notice your breathing as it is or take a few deep breaths.
  5. Feel what it’s like to be in your body.  Feel the contact with the floor or the chair.
  6. Notice the sounds that are around you.
  7. Listen to what others are saying.  The mind can get so busy planning it’s next move. Take the time to really listen to what other people are saying instead of planning what you are going to say next.
  8. Focus on the every day things that are actually happening. Where are you right now and what are you doing?
  9. If you catch your mind creating stories, notice it without getting involved, like a cloud passing in the sky.
  10. If you feel you’ve got stuck living in the past or the future, that’s okay.  Now is the only moment you have, be here now and don’t worry about the past.

Do you find your mind likes to create unnecessary drama?  What helps you to stay present?