This Friday we’re going to start with some sun salutations. You can do whatever sun salutations you like but if you are a beginner or have shoulder or back problems you can watch this little video to see my modified sun salute.
(I really need to think about remaking that video, it’s so old and I look so young!)
* Begin with 2 rounds of the sun salutation of your choice (if you are following my video 2 rounds means 2 to each side or repeating the video twice).
* Warrior 2 (5 breaths), exhale into side angle pose (5 breaths), inhale straightening the leg to Triangle pose (5 breaths)
* 2 more rounds of sun salutations.
* Repeat the Warrior 2/Side Angle/Triangle to the other side
* Finish in wall hang – Stand with the feet about 12 inches away from the wall and lean your buttocks against the wall. Fold forward over the legs and hold onto opposite elbows allowing the head and neck to relax. Hold for as long as you need before slowly inhaling back up and carrying on with your day.
1. In the story of my life the actor who would play me would be Winona Ryder back in her younger pre-stealing days. Have you seen the film Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael? Well a cross between her in that and Jo in Little Women. Brother Yogini always says I look like her but he might just be being kind….
2. If I could change one thing about the world it would be to stop blaming everything on the existence (or indeed non-existence) of a god and to admit that wars are in fact about power, land, money and oil. Oh and for everyone to stop using so much oil. Buy bikes!!!
3. Yesterday was not a great day health wise. Today is much better thank goodness!
4. My favourite comfort food is mashed potato with baked beans. Or soup.
5. My new favourite blog find is Tulips and Tea – it’s lovely!
6. If I could meet any blog friend (who I haven’t met yet) in real life, I’d choose to meet …Oh goodness I don’t know! There are so many. I’d love to meet Sas, or Catherine. Or the entire Australian contingent (who hopefully I will meet in April!), but if I had to choose one I would say Lisa because she left me my first comment all those years ago!
7. My favourite breakfast food is blueberry pancakes, or blueberry muffins, or blueberries in porridge. Yeah blueberries for breakfast in any form really. The first time I had blueberries for breakfast (or indeed ever) was in a diner in Boston, MA in 1980. I was six. The concept of going out for breakfast had not hit the UK at that point. Neither had blueberries. Team that with pancakes (one of my all time favourite foods) and I was nearly sick with the excitement!
When I was a little girl I believed in magical rings. I mean really believed in them. It wasn’t just a game I played and really, deep down, I knew there was no such thing. I genuinely believed that somewhere out there were magical rings that could make you invisible and make your every wish come true. At the time my greatest wish in the world was to have long straight hair as opposed to a frizzy mess but there it is, the wishes of five-year-olds are always simple. Praise the gods for hair straighteners.
Now I’m a big girl and I still believe in magical rings. I spent half my life looking for one and then one found me.
About five years ago I came across the ring in the photograph**. I was bored at work and randomly searching on line. I wish I could remember how I came across this particular jewellery site, but I can’t. This morning I did manage to find the website itself. Take a look. I can’t imagine what brought me there – a Jewish jeweller who makes symbolic and mystical jewellery. Whatever your preconceptions, that really isn’t very me, you know? Despite the whole believing in magical rings thing.
Anyway, not knowing anything about Jewish mysticism or Kaballah I found myself ordering this ring. It is the symbol of abundance, and symbolises the power of good will in your life. I remember it arrived the day after Boxing Day. It was beautifully wrapped with a note written in Hebrew and English. I put it on my finger and it’s been there ever since.
The thing about abundance and magic in general is that amazing things happen – amazing things that we need to happen but not the things we think we want to happen. There’s an important life lesson there, I don’t need to spell it out to you.
Within a month of getting that ring I had met Himself and taught my first yoga class for actual money (not much but that’s yoga for you). In the five years that I have worn this ring life has had i’s usual ups and downs but when it comes to the things that matter – love, yoga, friends, the life I want to live – they have come, in abundance and in the most unexpected of ways. You could say this is coincidence. I say that it proves once and for all that there is such a thing as magical rings.
Now if only it could bring me an abundance of good health….
Do you have a piece of jewellery that is magical to you? Or any object that has such significance?
** This ring is the Shefa symbol. The Shefa symbol was received in direct transmission from Archangel Metatron by Dvora Pearlman. It was received as a teacher and a tool to learn, to use and to connect with the great divine.
Shefa is a word in Hebrew that literally means Abundance. This word, in its highest and most profound meaning, means a tool for creating abundance. It holds powerful kinetic energy, the kind of energy that when coupled with one’s intent for the highest goodness and aligned with the Divine will, can move mountains or feed the world.
punk rock yogini, teacher, writer, massage therapist , general sprinkler of fairy dust with a love for all things glitter, cupcakes, kittens, pugs and Dave Grohl
I am a BWY registered yoga teacher, but only you truly know your body. If you try out any of the yoga sequences in this blog and they don't feel right for you please stop! Please do consult a doctor before starting any new exercise regimes, especially if you have pre-existing injuries or illnesses.
