What do Yoga & Skepticism Have in Common?

What do Yoga & Skepticism Have in Common?

I don’t know the answer to that question, so I’ll leave it on the table for now. Hoping for some contribution from out there, or maybe a flash of insight while I’m typing.
I will say, though, that I felt a little uncomfortable at the Skeptics Conference on the weekend that I might be exposed as a person who says they have experienced nadis, chakras, marmas, siddhis, and other sorts of yogic intangibles, even though I haven’t. […]

The Amazing Meeting

The Amazing Meeting

I’ve spent 2.5 days in the company of 600 or so skeptics. They came from all around the world and gathered together at the Masonic Centre in Sydney to hear inspiring and interesting presenters speak on topics ranging from “Evidence Based Medicine” to “The Spread of Creationist Teaching in Schools”.
Skeptics are fighting the good fight in Australia. One of them pictured below, in her retirement, decided to take on some of the woo-woo practitioners that she ran across when she was battling cancer in 2003. […]

Dr. Karl et al

Well, I have to admit that The Amazing Meeting did live up to its name in yesterday’s afternoon session. The grand daddy of all the skeptics, James Randi, was there. (Where’s there? The Grand Lodge of the Freemasons – The Masonic Centre in Castlereagh St., Sydney, of all places.)
Randi’s age is up there in the mid-80’s or so, and he’s got a story or two or twenty to tell about busting the woo-woo out of any unscientific or new age thinking/inventions going around. […]

Skeptics Unite

I don’t know why but I used to have “skeptical” as a pejorative expression, ie. think … dirty word.
I then met Daniel i  1991, and we eventually married. He is a self-proclaimed skeptic. I went to my first Skeptics Dinner way back then (an event for Association members and guests) and discovered another meaning for the word: critical thinking. […]

The Art of Adjustment

The Art of Adjustment

A couple of years ago now, I wrote a book which I was very proud of called “The Art of Adjustment”. I wrote it in collaboration with Monica Redondo who was mainly the designer and photographer. Jane Thomas is the beautiful model (pictured) in the images.
It would seem that the book has sadly been languishing on the web site where it is for sale – liveyogalife.com
I don’t know why this is. I guess I’m more a writer than a sales promoter. […]

Incineration

Last night I went to a celebration. A friend had just successfully completed a property settlement on the house she and her daughter live in, all part of the process of her husband becoming her “ex”.
She was staging a bonfire-lighting and had recommended to her guests that they bring along something that they would like to get rid of in the fire. Our neighbours just across Scotts Creek hauled over some old bamboo blinds that went up in flames pretty spectacularly. […]

What do Yoga & Skepticism Have in Common?

Sequencing

I’ve spent part of this beautifully sunny (at last!) day writing out yoga sequences for a project* that will consume me for some time.
There’s an find art to designing a yoga sequence:
•First of all, a sequence needs to have a beginning, middle and end. […]

Spring Clean

Spring Clean

With only two weeks to go before the end of spring, there’s still time to do your spring cleaning, that is, if you’re so inclined.
I was raised by a very squeaky-clean type of mother. My sister and I did a lot of the grunt work – basically taking our house apart – scouring, scrubbing, and sluicing it down, until there was a sheen and a shine on everything.
If you know me a little, then you could imagine that this sort of upbringing would make spring cleaning anathema to me. I’ve rebelled against it for years. Until now. […]

There goes the Sun!

There goes the Sun!

Suddenly, in one morning, The Yoga Shed has become an even more virtuous place be.
Eight solar panels and one inverter were installed today, ironically between rain squalls. […]

Where Does the Time Go?

Where Does the Time Go?

I fear at times the answer to the sped-up-time question is “from not paying attention”, and after nearly 40 years of practising yoga, I certainly hope I can do better than that.
I bought a book for my husband a few years ago called, Why Does Time Speed Up With Age? I’m pretty sure he didn’t read it. Maybe he didn’t have time?
Still, it’s a question I ask myself regularly, as do others of my friends, who like me, are of a certain age. […]