Look at these words! They might apply to any of us when we have moments of doubt and I thought they would give a bit of steel to the backbone:

“I was a whole person the moment I was born. I was a whole person, yes, even in my teen years. I am a whole person now. Even near death, even in death I am a full and whole person… I now evolve, change, morph in ways neither of us can predict or understand – I am still me!

“Never will I be three-fourths of a person, half of a person, nor 1/73 of a person. There has not, nor will there ever be a moment in my life when I am not a complete Human Being. Please get this”.

This week, with over 100,000 UK deaths from Coronavirus, it felt right to finish classes with compassion and thoughts of others. Savasana, lying down at the end of the class, can be a number of things: it can be meditation practice, it can be semi-sleep to soak in the benefits of the physical practice; and, in overwhelming times, savasana can be used to send loving and kind thoughts into the world to the people who might need your wishes.

Having written last week about finding your sankalpa, Joe Biden demonstrated the sankalpa of a nation when he said: “As we look ahead in our uniquely American way, restless, bold, optimistic, (we) set our sights on a nation we know we can be and must be”. It’s “The past we step into and how we repair it”, said beautiful Amanda Gorman, 22, in her poem The Hill We Climb.

I came across a quote in the news this week that couldn’t be more yogic. It’s from an unlikely source. Here it is:

"You need to have broad shoulders and nerves of steel. You need to stay calm and not get caught up in emotion or tension. You need to rationalise every emotion because the goal is important and fundamental." Nicola Gratteri

I thought, for a new year treat, we could take a class outing! The British Museum has an online exhibition of Tantra. Enlightenment to Revolution.

Are teachers on Zoom skipping Savasana? Christmas this year has the crazy addition of home-alone-for-all and so Savasana has added importance. It’s especially important to take this time for yourself at the end of class and even, during the day, to take your own break-up-the-day Savasana. Experience nothingness: no shopping, cooking, working, travelling or any obligations… perhaps no celebrating even!

I’ve been asked to teach Desk Yoga for a corporate class. It’s a smart request. Not everybody has a yoga mat but everyone has a chair and some kind of desk that can be pressed into service! There’s a saying: as many living beings are there, that many asanas are there. When I finally put together a teacher training course, Chair Yoga (which is what Desk Yoga boils down to) will definitely be part of it.

It’s the time of year for sinuses! Y'know... the point of sinuses is to produce mucus which forms a barrier against pollutants, dust, and micro-organisms. My nose is on another journey entirely, reaching its peak in spring by inviting in various pollens! And, y’know, yoga, the clever-clogs, has an answer!

It’s been a year since the very first cases of coronavirus. Our lives were about to change and we were blissfully unaware – like the poem says: ‘Time held me green and dying, Though I sang in my chains like the sea’. Last year was ‘green’! Evening classes were snippets of a party and everything was fun positive.

Dear Yogis,

As usual I’ve been thinking about back ache. The Standard said recently: ‘If you didn’t emerge from lockdown with a sore back, a cricked neck, a gammy leg, an aching hip, a stiff shoulder… then truly, you are one of God’s chosen children.’