Smile!
I read in a book by Steve Maxwell (a pretty well-known exercise and fitness hard-arse) a simple hack to counter workout intensity – smiling. Next time you see someone grunting or contorting their face (you know the type – jogging or riding a bicycle and looking like they are literally on the brink of death) …
Splitting stories from posts
We’ve moved prose and poems to its own section, you can find it at Writing
Xingming
A local tai-chi teacher** has a wonderful statement on their website that is illustrative of embodied practice. XingMing(性命) Xing ( mind ) is psychology and Ming ( body ) is physiology. Taoism’s way of nurturing life called ” Xing Ming Shuang Xiu ” means look after both ( mind & body ). In cultivating Xing …
Breath: a life’s work
When Nadal, Sharipova or Azarenka make those grunts and wails on the tennis court they are doing something that is evolutionarily correct. Believe it or not! Two things are happening: Most people who lift weights and probably most people in physical trades know that you exert the most power on the out breath. So these …
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Ashtanga inside
I recently heard someone say that yoga wasn’t effective as a spiritual work – instantly I knew that person had not got inside yoga and was speaking purely from outside opinion. This morning’s ashtanga1 class is started by the teacher gently bringing people back to the top of the mat and reminding us that the …
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Take Care
Often when we wish someone good-bye – we say “take care”. Like most language habits it’s trotted out unconsciously, just part of the sleep state we spend most of our time in. But is it worth pondering what “take care” might mean in your day? What would it be like to approach things with care? …
Living a good life
We all drift… sometimes an hour is lost scrolling (more on that another time). Sometimes for weeks or years. Pam recently read Julia Baird’s book Phosphorescence*. One of the key themes that resonated with Pam was “Living deliberately” – it seems a sure antidote to “drift”. Julia Baird is a political journalist and presenter in …
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Then the man (or woman) ain’t bright
One of my teachers was a man called Henryk who had worked in building, carpentry and eventually used to run gangs of council workers in the 70’s and 80’s. In those days it was an open secret that some council jobs were a haven of bludging, side projects, day disappearances – the kind of low …
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An antidote for earworms
Self-talk Most of us would be embarrassed if others could hear the contents of our internal soundtrack. Our self-talk that usually focuses on self-criticism, comparison and commentary on what we see in the avalanche of images coming at us via Instagram. Internet cat videos, TV and even reading a good book give us a holiday …
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Marie Kondo for the creative spirit
The sensation that is Marie Kondo has the magic of old truths that ring true being repackaged in a new and exciting antidote to a very common malaise – clutter. Thankfully the last decade has grown a number of movements attacking the very Western (primarily North American) conspicuous consumption and excess. These movements like: Minimalism, …