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This month's newsletter cover dance over lockdown, what I've been reading and a note on Ganesh Chaturthi.
Dancing and Lockdown
I wrote two parts of a Dancer in Lockdown series of blog posts for Pulse, the UK's main online South Asian music and dance publication. They cover my early lockdown phases of absolutely no motivation and capturing when inspiration found its way back in again. If you click through on the images below, you should come through to them :)
I hope you enjoy reading them!
Continuing the theme of dance and lockdown, I was also interviewed by GEN Next, a new platform for discussion of topics in the South Asian dance community in the UK. The theme was 'Creativity and Lockdown', and I was interviewed by Saloni Saraf. It was a really interesting conversation, where I talked a bit more about how I got into odissi, how my lockdown experience has been, and some heartfelt discussions about what drives me as a dancer and questions I ask myself. It's just over 50 minutes, and if you would like to listen to it click below.
Currently Reading
Reading is one of my most absolute favourite things. I don't give it anywhere near as much time as it deserves, but I've picked it up with some fresh fire over the last month.Going for it and ordering some new books that I've been wanting for years! I bought quite a hefty stack of books about 5 years ago and have been incredibly slowly making my way through them. I think I felt I'd made enough progress that it was time to reignite my excitement with new books!
I'll save the new books I ordered for next month's newsletter, this time around I'll share what I'm actually currently reading.
This is a subject I've been wanting to read FOR YEARS, not even realising it was on my bookshelf THIS WHOLE TIME. Full on anatomy geek out but linking with what is mechanically happening in the body when we practice yoga. Currently on a chapter all about breathing. If you know me in person in some kind of movement setting, you'll know I'm really into it. So this is just hitting all the right spots.
I've got quite a bit more to go on this book as it's a solid number of pages and it's pretty dense, but I am so excited to develop an actual technical understanding of how yoga is working on a (basic) functional level. I know yoga is not entirely this, but this is stuff I love to think about.
Online Yoga Videos
I filmed my first YouTube yoga tutorials! It actually started as something I did for my non-dance-work colleagues, as we had all started working from home and it felt like something nice to do. Then I thought I may as well upload it to YouTube!
I'll be honest, the quality of the video/audio footage is just simple. But the information will change your life if you integrate it into your regular practice! And it has made me realise this is something I need to put more energy into. I want to start sharing what I've learnt over the past decade of studying yoga more, and this feels like the best medium for me.
You can find the series if you click on the image below!
Yoga with Maryam: Tadasana Series
These 3 videos are an introduction to the basic Tadasana sequence from the Vinyasa Krama style of yoga.
Video 1: Introduction where I explain some of the things we'll be going through
Video 2: Breakdown of the different parts of the sequence. This is a reference video, so you can come back to this one any time if you need some clarity on a movement.
Video 3: Full sequence run through. Coordinated with breath. This one you can press play any time once you are more familiar with the movements and follow along.
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Let me know if you give it a try and how it goes - I would really love to hear!
I've been busy gathering the pieces I need for setting up my own little home studio (that will have professional level videos from now on!) and you'll be seeing more videos over the next few months.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Saturday 22nd August, was Ganesh Chaturthi, which is the Hindu elephant headed god Ganesha's birthday!
It's a time to celebrate Ganesha and everything he represents - he is the remover of obstacles and is blessed with the illumination of wisdom. He is invoked at the beginning of auspicious events so that energy can flow unimpeded to its goal and allow the greatest truth to bear fruit.
I loved this breakdown and invitation my dear dance sister Sedona Soulfire offered via Instagram. She has a way of recognising what is happening in embodied practices at an energetic level, and communicates that in a way that is meaningful, even if you aren't at all familiar with the symbolism/culture. Please click through on the image if you would like to spend a lovely 8 minutes with Sedona the human light beam.
Om Gam Ganapatihe Namaha!
Till next time...
I think I'll leave it there for now!
Thank you so much for being part of my journey, it means a lot that you want to hear more about me and my work and my practice.
Warm summer wishes,
Maryam