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Ponderings
Welcome to my little life check-ins.
What I love most about yoga philosophy is the chance it gives us to pause and examine our lives. "An unexamined life is not worth living," said Socrates.
Each week I share a pondering to sit with and see which little seeds get planted.
Please Stop Criticising Yourself
Why is it so much easier to fixate on the words that came out the wrong way than to remember the smiles we gave? A little poem to meditate on.
Emily Cook
Nov 41 min read
There's a version of her I won't see again
Next time I see her, she won't be quite the same girl I hugged goodbye today. She'll have a few more life-changing experiences and grow in wisdom — which is exactly what…
Emily Cook
Aug 311 min read
Is your heart cocooned too?
You may have heard me talk about an armoured heart in class before, and how hard yet rewarding it is to stay open in every moment. If we shut any part of ourselves out…
Emily Cook
Aug 101 min read
Who do you 'think' you are?
Who do you think you are? Notice the emphasis on "think"...? So much of who we "think" we are is built from memories — things that happened, moments we keep revisiting.…
Emily Cook
Aug 41 min read
Truth be told
Next time you catch yourself holding back your honest opinion on something, get curious about it. What do you know in your heart you want to say — even though it feels a…
Emily Cook
Jul 271 min read
How are you? No. Really - how are you?
How are you today? Really? Not the automatic answer — fine, thanks, not too bad. What's your mood today? What's your body telling you? Sometimes it's a lightness, a bit…
Emily Cook
Jul 201 min read
Try this little experiment
What do you see in the image? Duck, or rabbit? Whatever you saw first isn't really about the picture. As Anaïs Nin put it, "we don't see things as they are, we see them…
Emily Cook
Jul 131 min read
Be like a tree 🌿
Have you ever made a good decision when you were in a rush? Me neither. This week in class, we're taking our cue from the trees. Feeling steady and grounded, an inherent…
Emily Cook
Jun 301 min read
Grow in
We've all heard "Grow up. Don't be so childish." Childish gets such a bad rap. And so the imaginative, just-for-fun parts of us quietly get pushed down as we build the…
Emily Cook
Jun 221 min read
Leave space for your flames
I keep adding. Do you? Perhaps it's more makeup. Another coffee. More activities jammed into a holiday. More things, because they are "good for me" piled onto an already…
Emily Cook
Jun 131 min read
Drop or ocean?
I made a little painting this week — micro focus vs big picture. The ocean is so expansive, but we often are staring at one little droplet in life. Are we looking at the…
Emily Cook
Jun 91 min read
We've all heard "I'm here for you"...
We've all heard "I'm here for you." This week I'm thinking "I'm hear for you." One of the deepest expressions of love — is truly listening, isn't it? Not waiting for our…
Emily Cook
Apr 131 min read
Take the long shot 🏹
Have you ever had an urge to take a long shot — contact someone about an idea, apply for that job, ask someone out? I was meditating recently when an impulse arrived.…
Emily Cook
Apr 61 min read
Why do we love to watch the sun go down? 🌅
Have you ever wondered why we love to watch a sunset? There's something about the changing light, the sun slowly descending, then instantly disappearing — it gives me a…
Emily Cook
Mar 231 min read
You may never feel ready
Hello, "Traveller, there is no path. The path is made by walking." — Antonio Machado Clarity isn't something you wait for. It's something you walk toward. Are you…
Emily Cook
Mar 91 min read
The list I've never written...
I have to-do lists everywhere. On my phone, in notebooks, on random bits of paper that follow me around the house. What I had never heard of was a "stop-doing list".…
Emily Cook
Mar 21 min read
Pull back the throttle
If you've been going full throttle, come and anchor. This Sunday, 15th Feb, enjoy three hours to slow down—gentle yoga flow, meditation, delicious raw treats, melting…
Emily Cook
Feb 141 min read
What time is it? Now...
If you're like most of us, our minds are easily distracted — pulled into the future or dragged back to the past…
Emily Cook
Feb 91 min read
Do we all wear armour?
Hello! Quick little experiment for you this week: Notice how your body feels during different conversations or activities. Because in every moment, you're either opening…
Emily Cook
Feb 21 min read
Shhhh .... Joy is quietly waiting
Hello! This week we're exploring something subtle and wonderful: quiet joy. Stress tends to pull at our attention. It's demanding and urgent. Whilst quiet joy sits there…
Emily Cook
Jan 271 min read
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