A yogi told me after a stretchy class that she gets bored in Downward Facing Dog. She always goes to classes that don’t include sun salutations! Quelle Horreur! And yet, secretly I know exactly what she means.... but isn’t that the point? We’re trying to conquer the chattering mind, not give in to every whim and reluctance.

Did you know that you’re not supposed to drink water during Ashtanga practice? It made me laugh this week that a yogi who never drinks in class, or pauses in any way before Savasana, drank copiously. Well! If you’ve just tumbled out of your Peloton class, that’s understandable. However, it recalled a yogi who stopped every three-to-five minutes for a drink. It made me wonder why the prop was needed; what in the mind was so strong that practice had to stop so often.

I’ve been wondering how I can support your practice at home. It’s hard to get onto the mat if you think in terms of an hour’s practice or doing a memorised routine. The important thing, as my teacher David Swenson always says, is to get onto the mat. That’s the first victory. OK, then what?

Did you know that BKS Iyengar was born in the middle of the Spanish Flu pandemic? Iyengar's mother had the virus during pregnancy and Iyengar was born in December 1918, six months after the ship carrying troops back from the war in Europe docked in Bombay with its unwanted viral cargo. Before long the Ganga and all rivers across India were clogged up with corpses. India lost six percent of its population.