So What Does All This Lifestyle Stuff Have To Do With Yoga?

The postures (Asanas) that we do in our classes are just one part of our yoga practice - an eighth to be exact. The other seven parts (or limbs, as they are known) are: 

Yama (guidelines for moral and ethical behaviour), 
Niyama (personal observances for health and wellbeing), 
Pranayama (breathing techniques), 
Pratyahara (withdrawing the senses away from external stimuli), 
Dharana (developing concentration), 
Dhyana (meditation) and 
Samadhi (enlightenment). 

A yoga class might touch on some of these aspects but here in the Western world there is more emphasis placed on the physical postures than any of the other limbs.  

These recommendations for living life well can seem complicated at first, but it is a well laid-out, tried and tested path which, if we choose to follow it, will bring freedom, joy and contentment. Over the coming weeks I will explain each one of the 8 limbs in a little more detail.

The ancient yogis also taught us about Bhava - an inner feeling, mood, or attitude to life and Rasa - the essence or juice in our lives. An imbalance of these two states can leave us feeling flat, unmotivated and stuck. Our yoga practice helps us cultivate Bhava and Rasa by teaching us to become more aware of what's going on in the body, clearing away sluggishness and focusing the mind.  By mindfully choosing what we eat, how we move, what we read etc, we can activate our Bhava, and we can juice up our lives by learning new things, visiting new places and spending time with people who uplift us.

So, in answer to the question above, the "lifestyle stuff" within this blog is interconnected with yoga - the more you practice yoga, the more awareness you will have about the way your life is flowing, and then you can take the steps you need to take to have a satisfying and fulfilling life.

This week I am making... a mess! And then tidying it up again!

Inspired by www.flylady.net, a US website dedicated to helping you get all your household chores organised, I decided to adopt their Monthly Habit http://www.flylady.net/d/habits-of-the-month/february/ for February to declutter for 15 minutes a day. My cooking/baking cupboard has been a complete jumble for some time now, stuffed to overflowing with folded-over packets of seeds, flour and dried fruit. As you can see, it had started to spill out onto the worktop below.

before...

So, I set the timer for 15 minutes and got to work. Out came all the packets of flour and sugar to be kept or discarded (the oldest packet of flour had a best before date of October 2011!). The half-used packets of seeds were sorted and decanted into plastic tubs and the shelves were wiped clean. There was a moment when the cupboard was empty and it's entire contents were scattered all over the worktops and it all looked worse than before I had started but, bit by bit, everything was put back on it's shelf. It all looks so much better now - there's lots of space and I can see what I need at a glance. It took me about 20 minutes but it was a good investment of my time. To clear out the whole kitchen would be an overwhelming task but doing it this way is much more manageable and surprisingly rewarding!

...and after

This week I am visiting... The Lightbox in Woking, Surrey

This fabulous, modern building is a work of art in itself, but inside it has 3 galleries which host a range of different art exhibitions. Currently on view is Animals in Art - a collection of modern British works, an exhibition of Renoir works, a collection of works by students at the University of Creative Arts Farnham and a permanent display about the history of Woking. The Lightbox also hosts regular workshops for adults and children alike. There is a bright cafe for snacks and hot drinks, a gift shop, parking next door at the newly-built Brewery Road car park and entrance to the galleries is free.

The Lightbox isn't huge, but it is a very interesting place to visit and, when combined with a visit to the brand new World Wildlife Fund Living Planet Centre http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/the_living_planet_centre/ next door, makes for a very enjoyable afternoon out.

WWF Living Planet Centre

This week I am growing... Sweet Peas

Sweet Peas are one of the best value summer flowers you can grow. They are cheap and easy to grow from seed and are tough and hardy so don't need mollycoddling. They have a long flowering season - if you keep picking them they'll flower continuously all summer - and they flower prolifically so you will always have beautiful scented flowers for your house.

This packet of seeds cost £2.05 and there were 30 seeds in the packet. This will be enough to smother a wigwam of beanpoles for a glorious display later in the year.

You can sow the seeds in autumn or do it now - it couldn't be simpler:

1. Sweet peas like to send their roots down deep so a little shallow flower pot won't do. Fill a 5inch/12cm pot with multi-purpose compost.

2. Place 5 evenly spaced out seeds on top of the compost and push them down with your finger to a depth of about 1 centimetre. Gently smooth compost back over the hole you have made.

3. Water the compost well, label them (or you'll forget what they are!) and put the pots in a cold frame, greenhouse, cool conservatory or cool windowsill. They won't like being somewhere warm like your living room - the plants will just become weedy and leggy - so treat 'em mean.

4. The seedlings will appear within about 2 weeks - keep them moist.

5. When the seedlings have two pairs of leaves, pinch off the topmost pair with your fingernail. It sounds harsh but it will encourage the plant to put out more sideshoots and become bushier and stronger.

6. In March or April, depending on the weather conditions, you can plant the seedlings out into the garden. I like to make a wigwam of beanpoles and then plant a potful of seedlings at the base of each beanpole. Tying the stems to the beanpoles with garden twine as they grow helps to keep the plants growing upwards rather than flopping down. I'll show you how to do this when the time comes.