CJ Butler

After a summer of mostly hedonistic living, free of study or much yoga, I bounced in the door of The Bodhi Tree, high on the first chapter of Yoga Bitch (by Suzanne Morrison), for day one of my one year long commitment – 200 hours of yoga teacher training (YTT), and pretty much unprepared for the year ahead. Back in February, I had a whole reading list in mind, and a raft of intentions, but prolonged periods of preparation tend to turn me off.  Maybe they are too reminiscent of my days of study at school and university, where I self-imposed long periods of revision and diligent scholarly rumination, for fear of failure and having to repeat examinations and coursework.  In fact I haven’t pressured myself to prepare in advance for much ever since I left education.  So by the time arrived at my YTT, I had read very little; Stephen Cope’s enjoyable, The Wisdom of Yoga, and also parts of The Yoga Sutras by Patanjali.  In truth I only started the latter as I hea...

Not a fan of joining after-school activities, my daughter was unconvinced with a capital ‘UN’ as I took her to my yoga studio for a taster session of yoga for children.  Her unwillingness began to thaw a little at the warmth emanating from the welcoming yoga instructor who greeted her so kindly.  As I watched them interact, I realized that very few adults talk to children in the way the way yoga instructor was doing; actually listening to my daughter’s comments and responding to them fairly, respecting her with equal gravity as she would another adult.  By the time they had spoken for a very short time, my daughter seemed thoroughly bought in, seeming relieved there were no demands, obligations or rules.  It was totally different to school, and introduced her to an activity which invited her to unplug from all the stresses, rules and routines which make up children’s lives – The things we impose on them through our system of education, and which they generally accep...