Samhain as an act of remembering…
Samhain (Summer’s end) is upon us. We can deny it no longer. The dark half of the year is finding ways to really settle in our bones and ways of being. People are putting up Halloween decorations. The leaves are flying and whirling in the orange gold of autumn. The nights are drawing in and the earth getting colder (though maybe much less cold than in previous years, as the whole world heats up).
Samhain provides another one of those remembering times of the year, a time for resetting and recalibration of rhythms, of being more fully with an earth coming to rest. Blinds and curtains are drawn earlier. Words like cosy and warm have a different appeal. Stews and soups call much more definitively than salads and lite-bites. Increasingly, there is a draw to remembering what our ancestors did at times like this, and a pull towards our dead and otherworlds.
Samatvam - the yoga of balance
The ancient science of Yoga recognises that we are all in a state of imbalance, whether from a cellular, physical, mental, emotional or spiritual perspective. This seems to be the natural order of things, and is reflected in our selves, and most markedly in our environment, the outer being of course a reflection of the inner condition of humankind.
In this deeply insightful article, Yogacharya Michael McCann explores the reasons behind samatvam and outlines practices that bring us back into balance
The Mystery of Lord Ganesha
Om Gam Ganapataye Namah!
Hindus and yogis begin all undertakings with an invocation to Lord Ganesha, the elephant-headed deity, because he is the ‘remover of obstacles’ or the ‘obstacle to obstacles.’
And so, that is how I will begin this little reflection, coming as it does just after the annual festival of ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’ in honour of this charming deity.
Gratitude and Yoga
In this wide-ranging article, Yogacharya Michael McCann reflects on the power of gratitude; the importance of giving thanks without end-gaining; and the beauty of cultivating the Brahma Viharas.
Muladhara - grounding in the power of four
We climb the ladder of the chakras, from muladhara towards sahasrara and enlightenment. In the same way that we would ensure a ladder is situated on level ground, in our life and in our practice we must ensure that our connection with the root chakra is stable, strong and fully anchored.
As the Yoga Fellowship approaches its 50th anniversary, Suzanne Greenwood examines the grounding power of four in muladhara and how we can apply this to continue to strengthen our Sangha in preparation for the years to come.
Lughnasadh and the Harvest of Belonging
Every generation inherits a field it did not sow. Every generation makes what choices it can about what to harvest, what to replant, and what to return to the earth. Yet not every generation, nor every part of every generation, inherits the same freedom to choose. Traditionally, this is a time of harvest: the beginning of August offers a threshold between growing and gathering, a moment to pause, regroup and celebrate before the work of the harvest begins in earnest. In her journal post, Lughnasadh and the Harvest of Belonging, Mary O’Rawe considers the symbolism of harvest and how yoga practice can widen the circle of belonging and help us reflect on the sowing and reaping we do in our own lives.
Guru and viveka
Guru Purnima is a religious festival that falls on the full moon day during June or July according to the Hindu calendar. At a time when we celebrate our teachers, both spiritual and academic, Suzanne Greenwood examines our relationship to the idea of Guru in the West.
A Garland of Gratitude
On International Day of Yoga, may we offer this garland of gratitude to the people of India for the priceless gift of Yoga to Humanity.
May we always honour and respect it; and preserve it in unsullied form for uplifting the future generations.
World Environment Day 2026: A Yogic Call to Wonder
Yoga reflects the importance of balance as harmony within, among and between inner and outer worlds. When greed, dissociation, overconsumption, and disregard for natural limits dominate human behaviour, these are symptoms of us being lost on the inside and systemic ecological imbalance follows. The ‘climate crisis’ is a sanitised and dissociative way of naming our loss. It calls insufficiently clearly for external action (but what, after all, is truly external). It misses the need for inner transformation, for recognising sustainable living begins with a recognition that there’s only one of us here.
The Transformative Symbols of Yoga
Each yoga asana is in its essence a symbol: its name is by no means arbitrary, and indeed hints at its inner meaning, whether it is an animal, plant, bird or geometrical shape.
Moreover, not only is the asana a symbol which may be reflected upon intellectually, but the practitioner is invited to ‘enter it’ and to experience it organically and existentially in the timeless here and now and indeed to become one with it, “the dancer becoming one with the dance” to paraphrase Yeats.