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Lucyogini

Yoga classes, workshops and inspiration for every body

Yoga doesn’t care

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I have news for you.

Yoga doesn’t care if you’ve haven’t rolled out the mat all summer,
Or missed a few classes,
Or were meaning to get to class sometime back in April and…it just never happened.

Yoga doesn’t care if you have the latest Sweaty Betty Lululemon ultra-stretchy glitter leggings
…or your comfy old jogging pants with the hole in the crotch;
Or if you can touch your toes and stand on your head –
Or if you haven’t seen your toes in a while and your head feels like a troop of monkeys have taken up residence in there…

Yoga doesn’t care if you had chocolate for breakfast.
Or about your hair or make up
Or the air brushed covers of magazines showing ‘perfect’ bodies in ‘perfect’ poses.

Yoga just cares about now.
Community.
Good intentions, open minds and kind hearts.
The life in this breath and the goodness in our actions.

Yoga cares if you show up.
To practice; to today; to this very moment.

Yoga cares about living your practice, body, heart and mind;
Being the change you wish to see.
This is yoga for life.

Not just for the hour of class.
Not just for the current trend.

Making use of every day and night to realise our potential for love. 

And guess what –
It’s never too late, you’re never too old, it hasn’t been too long (true facts).
Classes start back NEXT WEEK – join us and begin again, start afresh, continue the journey – yoga doesn’t mind which it is for you (and neither do I)!

Check out our new timetable for September – including a NEW Monday evening class!

See you soon yogi friends!

 

The Point of Pointlessness

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About five years ago, during a particularly unsettled time in my life, I was gifted with a little garden to take care of for a year. 

It wasn’t an intentional gift, but as no one else did, I took it on.  One day, as Spring was just unfurling, I wandered out, filled a pot with soil and planted beans.  And to my genuine surprise – they grew!

The grass was ragged and uneven; I’d set out to simply neaten it up…a few hours later I found I had mowed, raked, edged, reseeded.  Over the Spring I planted and the Summer brought vegetables I had tended and flowers bloomed.  In the midst of uncertainty, hands full of dirt and soil grounded me; simplicity, fresh air and focus soothed an anxious mind.

The work, of course, was never complete.

Always weeding to be done; seedlings to plant out; watering, feeding, mowing, picking, composting…

The work was never done.  And it wasn’t even mine to keep. I could’ve let it go to seed, no one expected it to be cared for.  At the end of the year, the owners would return and I would give it all back.

But it didn’t matter.  What mattered was that season. That day. The opportunity to play and watch it grow. That was the joy.

Joy of tending.  Joy in being a part of the cycle, the turn of the seasons and forces so much bigger than myself.  Realising that I could never be in control of this, I didn’t try. I was happy just to partake.  Enjoying not really knowing what I was doing and quietly finding the confidence to have a go.

I got the bug, and now with my own garden to play with, I can lose hours messing about with fingernails full of dirt, still not really knowing what I’m doing.  Committing to work that will never be done. Isn’t it all a bit….pointless?

Yes, there are times it is overwhelming.

And times where there is no time at all.

But I know it is there, and continuing with or without me.  Things will unfold, the garden will grow (not caring how neat it’s lawn edge is), unsettled times will pass. I will get stuck back in.

And so it is with our yoga – oh yoga, you perfect, beautiful analogy! – work without end.

No final destination; no medals on offer.  We can return to it time and time again; it is never done.

At each return there is potential for deeper understanding. Quietly finding confidence to have a go. And yes, joy in the work.

And so we return to the mat, to our practice, just as I return to my garden; learning the point of pointlessness.  Embracing the work to be done….and trusting in the process.  Nature does not hurry, and yet everything gets done.  Doing the work simply because it brings us joy. 

Do your work and then step back

The only path to serenity

– Lao Tzu

Wishing you joyfully pointless times this Summer, tending what you love and loving what you tend xx

Practice Love

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Love is such a grand word. A multi-facetted emotionally charged word. For me, it is an invitation for discovery of the depths of feeling. But exploring these depths isn’t reserved for grand gestures and world changing actions; it is a matter of each of us asking simply:

How can I be a better person?

How can I practice love today?

By making just a tiny bit more effort to reach out…to send a text message to a friend; send a postcard; leave a note in your partner’s lunch saying ‘hello I love you’. To reach out and connect.

Love and loving is a choice, not something that is bestowed magically upon us. Choose to be open. Choose not to shut down (and sometimes it feels so irresistibly easy to shut down). Choose to not hold grudges; choose to release anger.

There are times, of course, when it’s hard to crack open that shell, to peel back the bomber-jacket of a sulk; the hooded cloak of a dark mood.

This is the practice. To find that we have a choice in how we feel.

An almost physical cracking of that protective shell (I imagine it around the solar plexus…) leaving me unguarded. In vulnerability we also find space for  possibility – of joy, of reconciliation, of growth.

How can we open in small ways, every day?

As an example, politeness. There is no rush too stressful, no black mood so dark enough to ever warrant impoliteness! And while we’re at it, recycle! Don’t litter! Pick up litter! Show love to our environment, think wider than yourself.

To find that half-ounce of extra love and show it. To choose to open instead of closing down. To forgive instead of building an iron fence around our hearts. This is the most important message. To choose to grow. To offer a hug; to take his hand; to give your loose change. That half-ounce will come back in spades and bucket loads. And in it comes, in more energy, purpose and worth.

This is not to say to give yourself so freely that you are left depleted. Respect your boundaries and listen to your instincts. Protect your heart from those who are reckless.

Practice compassion.

Everyone has their stuff, things we can’t ever know. Each of us deserves kindness. Be kind to yourself.

When it comes down to it, we’re all looking for the same thing: to be loved and to love in return.

When we approach everyone we meet (and meet ourselves) with this understanding, the heart jumps out, the universe expands and love pours in.

Practice love. It is a muscle which needs to be used and exercised to grow strong. Don’t wait for a special occasion.

And this is where yoga comes in (because of course, it does): Every time we come to the mat is an opportunity to learn something new and listen to our hearts without judgement or censor.

As we practice, our bodies become strong and focussed; learning to listen to the whispers of our desires, the calls of our fears, our needs, our limitations. In listening we learn to understand. In understanding, we offer compassion. Our bodies strong enough, our minds flexible enough, to withhold emotion and endure change.

Kindness has become a bland word in our world of hyperbole, but it is kindness offered inside and without which will lead us to love, time and time again.

Find small ways to practice love, they are all around us. Begin now. xx