Garden March 2019
It is late March but the garden is growing quick due to relatively warm spring.
Snake’s Head Fritillary – they like damp soil – may need watering! (more…)
It is late March but the garden is growing quick due to relatively warm spring.
Snake’s Head Fritillary – they like damp soil – may need watering! (more…)
Before becoming president, Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer. Often he used humour to get the attention of a judge whom he needed a favour. On one particular occasion, Lincoln was…
No Deal Brexit – No Problem! Let’s dig our way out of this Brexit hole!
Who needs foreign imports when you can survive on home grown British turnips?
So in the spirit of make do and mend, I have been digging up my back garden and will be planting crops which will see me through to at least 2030. (more…)
Recently, I have been learning how to do Sirshasana yoga (headstand).
It is known as the ‘King of asanas’ A yoga expert I.K.S Iyengar says if you only have time for one or two yoga postures – do this and other ‘inversions’ – where you put yourself upside down.
On Sri Chinmoy’s path, hatha yoga is not an important component – I did no yoga for the first 18 years on the path, but without being to cycle I have been seeking other ways to keep the body moving. This yoga also is a challenge, so you get a feeling of progress – self-transcendence.
As far as I know, the headstand is one of the posture Sri Chinmoy has specifically recommended.
“It is very good to do headstands or two or three minutes of asanas, Hatha Yoga exercises; only don’t do them for two or three hours. A few minutes will be enough.” Sri Chinmoy – The hour of meditation
It was quite difficult to do it at first.
It is best to build up slowly, not trying to get a full headstand but build up strength and control by slowly raising legs. For the first few weeks, I can only get up 70-90% of the way – I have long legs so maybe harder to balance!
It feels quite rewarding when you gain control and can hold the headstand. It is important to be able to come down with control.
I do it near a wall, but I don’t use the wall for control.
If I start growing back hair, you will know that headstands have a great benefit!
The other inversion yoga posture highly recommended is Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) I found this relatively easier to do. (more…)
Sri Chinmoy has written a book “My Tea and Coffee Experiences” However, a good friend who used to work as an attendant for Sri Chinmoy told an amusing story, which was not published in that book. He said Sri Chinmoy once felt the need to give up drinking coffee. So with a childlike enthusiasm, one evening he said to this attendant. “I have given up coffee.”
Sri Chinmoy paused and then added.
“Now I just need to give up cappuccino!”
Sometimes spiritual Masters like to show they have a sense of humour.
We have a new statue of Ganapati. Ganapati or Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, the patron of arts and sciences and the deva of intellect and wisdom.…
These days I rarely watch films. Unless I'm a captive audience on trans-atlantic flights, I tend to get bored half-way through or annoyed at some predictable storyline. To sound like…