A poem by Elena Vaina

Elena first read this poem during conference on Hamish’s birthday in 2021.

Sudden poetry
No matter whether it’s dimly lit 
Or full of sunshine and glaring light,
Half-empty, quiet in every bit 
Or packed with mats, steaming hot and tight,

This room is Hogwarts and Neverland,
Fourth Dimension and Middle-Earth.
I’ll never properly understand 
Full scale of magic on which it works.

When my wet fingers slide off the toes,
Or I slip awkwardly on the mat,
Or accidentally skip a pose 
And wonder if someone noticed that,

When I have eaten too much quite late
And move with groaning and zero grace,
Or by a treacherous twist of fate
My heel ends up into someone’s face, 

When I fall heavily to the floor
Day in day out, for many months -
This practice works for me all the more,
I’ve seen the proof of that more than once.

I may be injured, frustrated, stressed, 
Have something nagging for weeks on end -
This could not possibly matter less
When Hamish holds me in a backbend. 

I’m not expected to touch his feet.
But rest assured that in my mind
I do it promptly each time we meet
And burst with gratitude from inside

For having both the support and space,
For full acceptance at best and worst,
For how in this truly special place 
Not the performance, but love comes first. 

But people being the biggest gist
As much as “prana’s the biggest drug”
Means Hamish merely heads the list 
Of those I constantly want to hug:

Those who quite literally have my back
And other parts - when teach and assist.
Those kindly bringing most tasty snacks,
On whose great brownies I subsist.

But most essential links of chain 
Are those, whose faces and mats I know
Quite often having no clue of names:
With whom I practise – with those I grow.

A photo by Gayoung Yoon

Taken on Waterloo Bridge on the way in to practice, 18th October 2021.

A photo by Catherine Stearn

The sun only shines on one place on Drummond St…

A painting by Lucy Alterman

Euston Underground
‘I would like to suggest my silk painting called “Euston Underground” which I entered into the EFOA Northern Line Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery. The painting shows the Shala and has printed leaves from Euston station’s ancient trees. I hope you like it, Lucy’.