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Lughnasadh - Celebrating the First Harvest

Hi! 🌙 So on July 31st/August 1st, at the time of Lughnasadh (or Lammas: "loaf mass"), we celebrate the first harvest - the grain harvest - and pause to acknowledge just how important that grain is to our sustenance and nourishment over the coming months. The first grain - the first loaf of bread - these are wonderful and important milestones in the wheel of the year. We are asked to give thanks and express gratitude for the abundance we are fortunate enough to experience. Why Lughnasadh? This Sabbat seems to me to shine a light on the way the individual and community pagan spiritual experience acts as a microcosm to the greater experience of the Earth as a whole entity.  We get a gentle reminder of the cycle of birth and death and rebirth, particularly characterised by the involvement of Lugh, god of light and fire. As the embodiment of the Sun, here the god is beginning to show signs of his waning power. We have passed midsummer where he was at his height and now he is givi
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Valentine's Day... What's it All About?

Hi! 🌙 So, Valentine's Day. A favourite celebration for the romantics amongst us. I don't mind admitting that I got a little mushy when a bouquet of flowers and some of my favourite wine and chocolates appeared in front of me this morning, courtesy of my Mr Marren!  But though this special day certainly didn't appear out of nowhere, as with many long-standing traditions, it's not 100% clear exactly how or when this all started. So I did a bit of digging  around and found a few potential scenarios...  "What have the Romans ever done for us...?"   If you've ever asked yourself that question, let me tell you all about the Pagan Roman festival of LUPERCALIA .  This celebration took place in Ancient Rome at the Ides of February (15th February). It was the festival of Faunus, god of agriculture and Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome. It celebrated the coming of spring and contained important fertility rites amongst the Roman people.  Priests of the Luperci
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A Mantra For All: Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah...

Hi! 🌙 So, lots of people have been asking me about the mantra I often chant at the end of practice.  It's very rare for me to end a practice without some kind of mantra these days and I often choose mantras that have some kind of bearing upon the specific practice we are doing or even the time of year. For me, the closing mantra rounds off the practice and indicates a kind of "seal" for the energy created during the session. As my practice has deepened and my teaching has developed, the use of mantra has become an integral part of the process and is as important to me as the postures themselves.   I love using Sanskrit mantras for many reasons. Firstly, because I love the sound of this language and it really makes me feel connected to the heritage of this wonderful practice of yoga. I think it is important to keep the roots and the reasons for practising yoga at the forefront of this practice otherwise it just becomes the performance of a series of complicated movements
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Imbolc... The Earth Awakens

Hi! 🌙 So, the wheel of the year keeps turning...  I heard that if it's a bright, sunny day, that means the Cailleach can go out and fetch more firewood to keep her warm so she can keep winter going for a bit longer, but if she forgets and oversleeps, the day will be gray and stormy, therefore signalling an end to the cold days - well, today was a beautiful sunny day here (though cold) so I am assuming we need to snuggle up and keep hibernating a little longer! The Cailleach - she's known as The Veiled One and The Queen of Winter. She's a hag and, in some legends, a shapeshifter. She's a powerful old woman, filled with the wisdom of the ages, the ancients and the ancestors. Her skin is deathly pale and her teeth are red. She can leap across mountains and ride the storms. She's a true force of nature, wild and destructive but not evil. She cares for animals both wild and domestic during the winter and is the patron of wolves.  The Cailleach is ageless and immortal a
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The Wolf Moon... 2021's First Full Moon

Hi! 🌙 So this year's Lunar splendour kicks off with the Wolf Moon, also known as The Cold Moon for obvious reasons! In times gone by, the full moons have been named according to the seasons, the weather or even the behaviour of nature or humankind around that time. The Wolf Moon , it is said, is so called because in the Northern Hemisphere, this is a time when wolves can often be heard howling more than usual. The old-timers thought it was maybe because of hunger but we now know that wolves howl for many other reasons: defining territory, to locate pack members and even to reinforce social bonds!  The Hopi Native American tribe are said to have named this moon PAAMUYA which means "Moon of Life at its Height" as a comparison to the summer sun which is exactly 6 months away at the opposite high point of the year. The moon rides high in the sky at this time of year (in the Northern Hemisphere) just like the sun in the height of Summer. Because of the various astrological h
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A New Start... A Place to Share My Journey...

Hi! I'm Cheryl, The Yoga Bohemian.  I welcome you to my brand new blog where I intend to share with you some of the discoveries I make along my path and the knowledge and experiences I find and create along the way. I invite you to walk along with me and I welcome your experiences and questions too. If ever there's anything you'd like to see mentioned here in these pages, please feel free to reach out and ask - I would like you to be a part of the process... About me? I'm a lot of things!  I have 2 children a beautiful back cat and a wonderful husband and home in Shropshire UK. This loving foundation and the support of my family throughout all my crazy schemes has enabled me to follow my dreams... So what do those dreams look like...? I am a teacher and practitioner of yoga and I find that here is where I really find my peace. I love to teach and the spirit of a good personal yoga practice has guided me through many a dark time in my life.  I also practice crystal heali
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