The past seven months have been a pretty difficult time in my life. As a family, we lost two friends to suicide, one of whom was 18 years old. My daughter became really unwell and we spent months trying to discover what was wrong and what we could do for her? The house was burgled, the dog had a major operation, the Vespa was stolen, the car blah, blah blah... Life stuff! Shit happens to everyone! Throughout this time, I consistently showed up on my yoga mat. I showed up and cried. I showed and did standing poses. I showed up and did what ever I could, but I showed up. For me, when I am in emotional pain, I feel it physically in my body so I had to sit with myself at times and allow those emotions to surface; something that is not always easy. I had to with draw from the debating society as my physical yoga practice felt like it was going backwards and I had to accept this. Binds I once had were no longer there, poses I once loved became my nemesis, I continued to place my mat on the f

Kukkutasana , originally uploaded by yogamama.co.uk . Kukkutasana

Non-violence is the summit of bravery. Mahatma Gandhi

I came to this pose for the first time a few days ago (assisted by Nancy Gilgoff). Took me by surprise I have to say BOOM I was in it. Yay.

Yoga Om 036 , originally uploaded by yogamama.co.uk . I generally practice the Virabhadrasana A ( warrior 1) position. where the back foot is on the floor. If I am feeling tightness in the poas (hip flexor) I will use this variation to ease the area at the top of the thigh/hip-dropping the back knee towards the floor.

Mark Shand with Tara I attend Tara the Elephant's 50th birthday party at "Quintessentially" smart London office this week. Tara is an Asian elephant who enchanted Mark Shand and inspired him to set up the charity, Elephant family. There were wonderful paintings and sculptures on display by Angela Conner, Richard Symonds and George Butler. Last year Mark was the driving force behind the display of 260 elephant sculptures, dotted around the streets of London. These elephants were all beautiful painted and many designers including Tommy Hilfiger and Matthew Williamson were involved in this project. These sculptures were auctioned and raised vast amounts of money for the Elephant Family charity. Elephant Family has calculated it needs to raise £50 million in the next 10 years if it is to secure a long term future for the species in India. www.elephantfamily.org My son Jake and daughter Cally with an Indian Elephant.

Niyama ; is the second limb of yoga and concentrates on self observances. Saucha : Cleanliness both internally and external Santosha : "Contentment" acceptance to life as it comes. Tapas :Austerity-disciplined practice Swadhaya : " self study" the study of spiritual text Ishwara pranaidhana : "surrender to a higher being"

This is an interesting talk by Kino on forward bending in Ashtanga yoga. If you have problems with your hamstrings,or back muscles in forward bends you may find this useful.

I often use mantras to clear a "head space" for myself. Here is one I came across that is said to help soothe the nerves, and aid relaxation. It is the bija mantra, or seed sound SOM ( pronounced "sohm") Repeat it to yourself until the body and mind, feels calm and relaxed.

Here is an ink image created by my art student daughter. She has been unwell for 7 months with glandular fever and a post viral condition. She had to defer her studies at Central Saint Martins in London, and take to her bed, not easy for a creative free spirit. This is one of five beautiful paintings she did recently ( she has been unable to do any art, during this period of ill health). It has been a very difficult time for her, but I think she is getting her Mojo back... HURRAY! CallyHearts blog @CallyHearts