Category: Live Consciously Connected

Kiss My Asana – Week 4

Kiss My Asana

It’s the final week of my Yogathon. It’s been such a wonderful month. I’ve deepened my practice whilst raising awareness and funds for a very special organisation, Mind Body Solutions. Hopefully, I’ve inspired a few yogis along the way too.  The main thing I’ve taken away for myself is a fantastic reminder of how empowering flexibility can be.  I don’t mean the flexibility of being able to bend into an advanced asana, though of course that can feel fantastic, but the flexibility of approach.  Keeping an open mind, exploring what’s possible and being creative in making that happen is the key to so many doors. Read More

Kiss My Asana – Week 2

Kiss My Asana

I’m halfway through my Yogathon; raising awareness and funding for Mind Body Solutions, an organisation that helps people experiencing loss, trauma and disability, through yoga.  Week two has been interesting and varied.  My daily adaptive poses are gradually becoming more inventive and challenging, but I’m still reminded that sometimes the simplest of poses can have the most powerful effect on my mind and body. Read More

Kiss My Asana – Week 1

Kiss My Asana

It’s the end of the first week of my Kiss My Asana challenge. It’s a Yogathon I’m taking part in to raise awareness and funding for Mind Body Solutions, an organisation that helps people experiencing loss, trauma and disability, through yoga. My challenge is to practice a different adaptive pose each day. I’ve really enjoyed it so far. Not only has it reminded me that however my body feels, there’s yoga I can do, but also how refreshing it is to take yoga away from formal practice on the mat.Read More

Hidden Gifts

TIVENDALE building

A seat belt digs into my shoulder.  The wheels of my chair are clamped to the ambulance floor.  I rub my eyes against the glaring blue light.  I yawn.  Even the kitties had sleepy faces this morning.  My tummy rumbles.  My breakfast is in my rucksack, out of reach.  We left two hours ago.  Where are we?  I’m going to be late.  I need to get to my appointment.  Where have the hospital drivers gone?  Are they lost again?  I try to peer out of the window.  It’s grey.  It’s gloomy.  We’re in the middle of a housing estate, goodness knows where.  And then I see it.  TIVENDALE.  It’s the block of flats named after my Great-Grandfather, Thomas Tivendale, Mayor of Hornsey 1951-2.  I’m home.  I’m present.  I’m where I’m supposed to be.  I’ve uncovered a little gift and I cannot help but smile.Read More

Yoga for Every Body

Laura in Crow

“Oh, are you here to do yoga?” asked a lady at the yoga show, looking at me and seeing my wheelchair.  “Yes, and I can do Crow,” came my surprisingly quick-witted response.  She was a yoga teacher.  Her expression soon shifted from confusion to admiration, with more than a hint of embarrassment. Read More

A Time for Change

‘The Book of Life’ by David Kracov

I love the sense of a fresh start and feeling of a new beginning that January brings, but I’m not sure about New Year’s resolutions.  Don’t get me wrong, I think setting yourself a challenge and changing an aspect of your life for the better is fantastic.  I do wonder though how many people set an unrealistic resolution in January, only to have given up and forgotten about it by February, perhaps trundling through the rest of the year feeling slightly disillusioned, until repeating the cycle when feeling the excess of Christmas and the wake-up call of January 1st?  Probably quite a few.  A gradual, consistent approach to making changes can be more lasting.  It’s also a wonderful way of staying in touch with your lifestyle, your values and your dreams. Read More

A New Year Begins

Self-reflection - journaling and yoga practice

New Year’s Eve.  Party night.  I used to feel so much pressure to go out and have fun.  There was expectation, though it was rarely met.  Going out was busy and expensive.  Tensions ran high and I often found myself the sober mediator between friends and their boyfriends in drunken rows.  I’d feel myself flagging, wondering how much longer until the clock struck midnight.  Of course, pushing myself in this way meant I’d start the New Year feeling exhausted and needing to rest before I could embrace the new start. Read More