This week in sangha, we started our new book: The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living by Eknath Easwaran. Each week, I will attempt to summarise the parts of the book we discuss. Please refer to https://www.sjholisticyoga.co.uk/post/what-is-the-bhagavad-gita if you need a grounding in what The Bhagavad Gita is.

February’s full moon arrives at a liminal moment. Winter is still very much here, and yet something has begun to shift. The days are lengthening, almost imperceptibly. The soil is no longer entirely dormant. Snowdrops push their way through cold ground, not because conditions are perfect, but because the time has come.

The edges of the day hold quiet power. In this post, I share why small, repeatable morning and evening rituals matter, and introduce two new videos offering gentle practices for beginning and ending the day with more presence and care.

A New Moon always asks us to pause. It is the dark of the lunar cycle, when nothing is visible yet, and everything is possible. A moment before momentum. A breath held in the body before movement begins. When the New Moon arrives in Capricorn, that pause becomes deeply earthy and deliberate. As January's theme is the earth element, I couldn't let this new moon go unmarked.

The Wolf Moon rises in January, when the earth is quiet and the year is still finding its footing. I always feel this moon as a threshold. Not a clean beginning, but a deep pause. A moment where the old year has not quite loosened its grip, and the new one has not yet asked anything of us.

This year, I read more than seventy books ,fiction and non-fiction, and each one left something behind. Some offered language. Some softened me. Some unsettled me in ways that later felt essential. What follows isn’t a comprehensive list, but a shortlist of books that will stay with me forever. These are the ones that didn’t just inform me, but worked on me - shaping how I think, how I teach, and how I hold space.

Each year, I take time to reflect on my work - not as an exercise in productivity or performance, but as a practice of honest listening. I look back at what worked well, what didn’t, and the growth I may not have fully recognised in the moment. This part of my reflection isn’t about failure. It’s about noticing friction - the moments where something felt slightly out of alignment, or where my body quietly asked for a boundary sooner.

Each year, I take time to reflect on my work - not as an exercise in productivity or performance, but as a practice of honest listening. I look back at what worked well, what didn’t, and the growth I may not have fully recognised in the moment. These reflections help me discern what wants to be carried forward, and what is ready to be released. They shape how I plan for the year ahead - not through rigid goals, but through intention, attention, and care. This year I truly beg

Theme: The Practice of Tapas: The Sacred Fire of Commitment This week in our Sangha, we introduced Tapas — one of the niyamas, and a teaching that speaks to inner fire, steady devotion, and the courage to stay present with what truly matters. Tapas is often translated as discipline or effort, but it’s not the harsh, punishing kind we might associate with pushing or forcing. As Deborah Adele writes in The Yamas and Niyamas, Tapas is the heat that refines — the steady warmth t

Santosha invites us to rest in the enoughness of this moment. We don’t need to wait for life to be perfect before we soften. Like a still lake, we can meet both ease and difficulty with steadiness and presence. Contentment isn’t something to chase — it’s something we return to, breath by breath.

What lies beneath the stories we tell ourselves? This week, we explore the art of being honest with ourselves — through yoga philosophy, core values, and the still lake of truth.

Theme: Worrying is a form of violence - discuss! I have been looking forward to discussing this part of the book, because it is a little...

This evening, our circle began by checking in with how we were each arriving. The unsettled weather — and the pull of the approaching September full moon — seemed to be stirring something in many of us.

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In our Pause The Week session this Wednesday, we delved into Dr. Dan Siegal's Window of Tolerance, a framework that helps us understand...

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In our Pause The Week session this Wednesday, we used Brene Brown's list of core values to help us get to know ourselves better....

Understanding and embracing our core values can bring profound clarity and direction to our lives. Why Core Values Matter Core values...

This Wednesday, in our Pause The Week session, we explored the science behind gratitude and how it can improve your well-being, reduce...

Gratitude practice is a powerful tool for enhancing well-being, improving mental health, and fostering stronger relationships. Here’s why...