I have not been blogging much recently, partly because of this... I am currently working a really modified ashtanga yoga asana practice, which allows a bit more room for seated pranayama. I will be off to Mysore next week and my experience with Sharath while injured has only ever been positive. Learning to work with a body that is more than half a century old (that is female and hormonally changing), is certainly bringing up stuff, but I am more accepting of this than I have ever been. Yoga is teaching me that!

So here we go... 2014 has now begun! After a wonderful family holiday in the sunshine I feel refreshed and ready for what 2014 may bring. Here are a few photos of how I did a bit of spiritual banking without a single Christmas meal in site. My pregnancy yoga teacher training starts on Friday the 3rd of January and ends on the 19th. I leave for Mysore on the 22nd, so an action packed start to the New Year. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2014! Saint Maarten  & Anguilla 

One of the most difficult things is not to change society, but to change yourself. Nelson Mandela

The stillness of ashtanga yoga against this amazing London backdrop. I love this short video clip in my home town-Thank you to Stillpoint Yoga London for sharing

Meet some of the Yoga Alliance UK Teachers from Yoga Alliance UK on Vimeo . Join some of the Yoga Alliance UK Teachers as they tell us about how they started their yoga journey and what is important to them. Recorded at the Om Yoga Show in 2013. For your information a rather tired me appears at 05:21 ;o)

Good vegetarian restaurants are hard to find in the UK, but Tierra in Lyme Regis is "The best". The menu is fantastic and so original. The staff were friendly and efficient and the cost was very reasonable. I would highly recommend a visit to this restaurant if you are ever in Lyme Regis, Dorset. I would even go as far as to say take a visit to this beautiful part of England just to eat here. Hopefully the chef, Mark Evans, will produce a book with his wonderful creations.

I am out of action at the moment. I have a hip impingement which has been going on for a quite a while. I've seen all the great and good in the London hip scene (pardon the pun) and have continued my yoga practice the best I can whilst working around the injury site and not taking myself into a point of pain. A recent stint which had me sat at a computer for more hours than I care to count has aggravated the impingement and the steroid injection I had in August has started to wear off. One of the problems I now have is pain and inflammation causes muscle inhibition. As I currently have pain,  I have been advised to rest to see if the pain subsides. Continuing to work through the pain inhibits the muscles around the injury site and stops them from working efficiently; therefore doing more damage than good. Once I  am relatively pain free, I will work the muscles (in this case the glutes and other core stabilisers) in isolation to try and gain back the strength that has been  

This is a pose I struggle with ( although I do have hip impingement on one side, which doesn't help). I'm going to try these tips to see if things change :-)

Great clip of Sharath in the shala in Mysore-amazing how he is able to stay really focused whilst his son plays around a few feet away from him. I also thought it interesting how high he stays on his toes when he jumps back & rolls forward-thoughts on that anyone? Thank you to  Madeleine Warwick  for sharing