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  • Welcome
    • About Susan
  • Consultations
    • Yoga Therapy
    • Spiritual Guidance
    • Astrology
    • Ayurvedic Health Coaching
      • Vata
      • Pitta
      • Kapha
      • Recipes
    • Rapid Transformational Therapy
    • Yoga for Burnout
    • Payment details
  • Courses
    • Align with Purpose
    • Events
    • Plum Village English Speaking Sangha
    • Mindful Living Course
    • Mindful Parenting
    • Yoga at Work
    • Laughter Yoga
  • Blog
    • Videos
  • Extras
    • New to Yoga?
    • What is Yoga?
    • Meditation & Full Moon Meditations
    • Surya Namaskar
    • Mudra
    • Shanti Mantra
  • Contact
  • Susan’s Book
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Inspiration

Ancient wisdom, modern solutions

Susan Hopkinson

I'm a mother, teacher, writer, and astrologer helping people like you feel better in their body, mind and life.

  • Time to turn the page!
    In Blog
  • The yoga holiday from hell
    In Blog
  • Momentum and growth
    In Blog
  • Separation Anxiety
    In Blog
  • What’s my Karma?
    In Blog
  • Blog

    From the Autumn Equinox to the Full Moon in Aries

    Susan / September 23, 2018

    As always around a full moon, our emotions can be heightened, and this can be even more so with the impulsive and passionate energy of Aries.

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  • Blog

    Equinox and Equilux: finding balance

    Susan / September 22, 2016

    Today is the Autumnal Equinox, exact this afternoon (Thursday 22nd, 16:21 in Brussels), at the moment the Sun enters tropical Libra. Technically, this Sunday the 25th – the day of our Open House! – is the day of Equilux, where we have the same amount of light as dark. Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes. If it were…

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  • Blog,  Events

    Mindful Living

    Susan / August 29, 2014

    This course is an invitation to move towards greater balance, peace and participation in life through a more conscious awareness of our attitudes, feelings and impulses.

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SUSAN

I help people like you feel better in their body, mind and life. You will get immediate, positive results to help you transform yourself and your life.

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  • The view from my new dining room. It feels wonderfully grounding to be living so close to the earth once more. It’s been ten years of living a couple of floors above, which wasn’t so good for me. Metta is pretty chuffed to have lots of sniffing spaces as well! Figs, grapes, brambles and roses await plucking in the garden. Once the boxes are cleared away, tea awaits your visit for those in Brussels! 🙏🏻🥰 #movingontobetterthings
  • When you only have one ladder. 😬Thanks for helping! 🤗🥰#improvisationinspiration
  • Did you read about our yoga holiday from hell? This is the one who kept us up all night. Here he’s soaking in the splash pool outside our room at the Practice Place in Crete. See my latest blog following the link in bio. 🤪😩😉 | #yogaholiday #yogaholidayfromhell #yogapractice #reallifeyoga
  • Time to turn the page! Today’s New Moon in expressive Leo is strongly influenced by Venus, symbol of abundance, money, relationships, and what we enjoy in life. 🌑 Venus is where we find our happiness, which generally revolves around relationships and values, so now we are likely to explore new ways of going forward with people and money. 🥰 It’s a promising fresh start compared to the past couple of months of tension and confusion, but with Uranus in a challenging square to the Sun, Moon and Venus, some rather revolutionary or surprising change is inevitable. 😳 Whether you like the results or not, you will be clearer in August about things that were muddled or complicated in recent weeks, and the faster you accept the new situation, the sooner you will be able to get on with your new life. 😌 Jupiter is in a harmonious flow with all of this Leo energy, so use this time for growth and planning ahead, and roll with whatever comes up. It can be delightful or challenging – we never know with Uranus in the mix. 😉 The next couple of weeks are great for starting new endeavours, re-branding yourself and reaching out to others in a new way, especially in the areas of your chart ruled by Leo and Sagittarius. If you want to know more about how this affects you personally, book an appointment with me! 🙏🏻
  • This passage from my book reflects the growing discussion about #guru worship at the moment: 👉🏻 When followers dare to challenge the teacher/ guru or question the nature of the organization they belong to, they get blamed for their own failings, which supposedly led to their deception. Swami Muktananda, who has the distinction of belonging to the ever-growing list of verbally, sexually, and physically abusive gurus, wrote: Why do false Gurus exist? It is our own fault. We choose our Gurus just as we choose our politicians. The false Guru market is growing because the false disciple market is growing. Because of his blind selfishness, a false Guru drowns people, and because of his blind selfishness and wrong understanding, a false disciple gets trapped. A true disciple would never be trapped by a false Guru. Ironically, he makes a good point: we do get involved with some teachers because of our very own projections, and, arguably, these are what creates the guru in the first place. It's hard for the human ego to resist constant fawning and adoration, and for a teacher to survive intact she or he must step back from the followers to avoid this from the start. Iyengar said he played up his strict and imposing reputation–and his big eyebrows–precisely because he sensed that his female (Western) students were getting too close. Thích Nhất Hạnh, a true master, rarely made eye contact or spoke to lay (non-monastic) students, unless a direct question was asked in a formal setting (and even then, he preferred to take questions from children, whom he considered to have a less ego-driven agenda than adults). The teachings were always meant to take precedence over the teacher. It is the simple truth of life that all humans are flawed to a greater or lesser extent. There are no exceptions to this rule, alas, so we must avoid projecting superhuman qualities onto other human beings. Keeping the inherently flawed nature of humanity firmly in mind while learning from a teacher or guru is a way of cultivating discernment based on what is being taught, not who is doing the teaching...
  • Today is the Full Moon known as Guru Purnima. Of all the teachers I have been blessed to meet on my path, Thich Nhat Hanh has been the most influential. His quiet embodiment of peace and compassion wordlessly transmitted the teachings in every moment. I am forever grateful. I was happy that a friend sent me this photo. He approached so softly I didn’t know he was there until I turned and saw him beside me. This is a favourite photo because he was already unwell (July 2014) and only a couple of months before his stroke. His commitment to embodying and transmitting the teachings was what made them so impactful. Thank you dear Thay. A lotus for you. 🙏🏻 #gurupurnima @thichnhathanhsangha #plumvillagemonastery #gurusgrace #compassion #buddhism #blessings
  • Much love and gratitude for all teachers on this Guru Purnima 🌕 🙏🏻 Devotee: "How can one know whether a particular individual is competent to be a Guru?" Ramana Maharshi: "By the peace of mind found in his presence and by the sense of respect you feel for him." 🥰 “We must do the practice that genuinely works for us and our spiritual path. If we haven't directly experienced something and it's not broadly accepted amongst yogis and scholars, then it should be questioned; nothing should be accepted at face value. To avoid spreading misinformation, we should do our best to understand as much as possible about the path we choose, so facts and teachings aren't distorted either for our own practice or that of others. 🤓 When a person or a group openly advertises 'hidden,' 'secret' or 'never before seen' ancient techniques, it's time to be skeptical. If legitimate, hidden teachings are hidden for a reason–they're not sold to all-comers at weekend workshops. This is especially true if there's no reference to the practice in ancient texts. Sadly, thousands of people have been convinced by unscrupulous teachers who were simply making things up, claiming nobody else knows these practices because they were uniquely privileged to have been initiated to ancient secrets by unnamed or deceased masters. 🤔 A good teacher will impart learning on anyone who wants the knowledge–it should not necessary to be initiated or pay membership dues in order to follow a guru's teaching. In the same way, it should not be a problem to receive teachings from more than one guru–students evolve, and sometimes this requires finding another teacher. A true guru will not have a problem with this, although flitting from one to another without deeper study would be discouraged. 👌🏻 Not everyone is ready to embark on every aspect of the yogic path. An authentic and sincere teacher who has experienced the effects of the practices will be able to distinguish what each person needs and is ready for.”🙏🏻 . From: Teaching Yoga in an Upside Down World: How to stay on the path when society goes off the rails. ~ Susan Hopkinson
  • There are two places available on our Bhutan Pilgrimage with @samsara.asia 🇧🇹 We’d love to have you with us for this trip of a lifetime, plus a fun day in Delhi together 🇮🇳 Daily meditation and movement, plus Farm Stays with local families. 28 September to 9 October 2019. Details on my site at the link in my bio. Kuzuzangpo la! 🙏🏻😎. #bhutan #pilgrimage #yogaholiday #meditation #inspiration #discoverbhutan #discoverdelhi
  • (I’m not sure who to credit for this image of me sitting in meditation. If you know, comment below. 😉🙏🏻) . I'm admittedly not very media savvy. Apart from being a rather private person, the contrived and superficial nature of many social media interactions bumps up strongly against what I think of as yoga. By now, we're all pretty clear that yoga is about being mindful and training the mind to be focused and discerning, with āsana being just one means for achieving this and certainly not the fullest expression of yoga. Yet we still don't seem to recognize that it's impossible to simultaneously curate our life on social media and be present and mindful... having done an āsana or sitting practice, I consider it has served its function in the moment and doesn't need to be memorialized forever by posting photos of it on social media. Why do we feel the need to do this? What message are we trying to convey? The insatiable need for social media content means there will always be more vacuous images of yoga practitioners posturing in various places–indoors, outdoors, with pets, on the beach, at places of exotic or cultural interest–and it's no different from socialite wannabes offering well-rehearsed pouts and posturing in various places–indoors, outdoors, with pets, on the beach, at places of exotic or cultural interest. Why do others have to see what we do all day? Dinacaryā–our daily routine–is personal and should be driven by what is right for the individual. Do we have to see that green smoothie you're eating? Do we need to know that you've just finished a yoga class or your practice? “Here's me in a difficult posture!” “Here's me doing a pose on a cliff/ in my kitchen/ in a train station/ in front of an ancient temple.” And, my personal favorite: “Here's me sitting in meditation (except I'm not meditating, because I'm posing for a photograph and thinking about ‘likes’).” Who are we doing our practice for if everyone else needs to know about it? . . . - From Teaching Yoga in an Upside Down World

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  • The view from my new dining room. It feels wonderfully grounding to be living so close to the earth once more. It’s been ten years of living a couple of floors above, which wasn’t so good for me. Metta is pretty chuffed to have lots of sniffing spaces as well! Figs, grapes, brambles and roses await plucking in the garden. Once the boxes are cleared away, tea awaits your visit for those in Brussels! 🙏🏻🥰 #movingontobetterthings
  • When you only have one ladder. 😬Thanks for helping! 🤗🥰#improvisationinspiration
  • Did you read about our yoga holiday from hell? This is the one who kept us up all night. Here he’s soaking in the splash pool outside our room at the Practice Place in Crete. See my latest blog following the link in bio. 🤪😩😉 | #yogaholiday #yogaholidayfromhell #yogapractice #reallifeyoga
  • Time to turn the page! Today’s New Moon in expressive Leo is strongly influenced by Venus, symbol of abundance, money, relationships, and what we enjoy in life. 🌑 Venus is where we find our happiness, which generally revolves around relationships and values, so now we are likely to explore new ways of going forward with people and money. 🥰 It’s a promising fresh start compared to the past couple of months of tension and confusion, but with Uranus in a challenging square to the Sun, Moon and Venus, some rather revolutionary or surprising change is inevitable. 😳 Whether you like the results or not, you will be clearer in August about things that were muddled or complicated in recent weeks, and the faster you accept the new situation, the sooner you will be able to get on with your new life. 😌 Jupiter is in a harmonious flow with all of this Leo energy, so use this time for growth and planning ahead, and roll with whatever comes up. It can be delightful or challenging – we never know with Uranus in the mix. 😉 The next couple of weeks are great for starting new endeavours, re-branding yourself and reaching out to others in a new way, especially in the areas of your chart ruled by Leo and Sagittarius. If you want to know more about how this affects you personally, book an appointment with me! 🙏🏻
  • This passage from my book reflects the growing discussion about #guru worship at the moment: 👉🏻 When followers dare to challenge the teacher/ guru or question the nature of the organization they belong to, they get blamed for their own failings, which supposedly led to their deception. Swami Muktananda, who has the distinction of belonging to the ever-growing list of verbally, sexually, and physically abusive gurus, wrote: Why do false Gurus exist? It is our own fault. We choose our Gurus just as we choose our politicians. The false Guru market is growing because the false disciple market is growing. Because of his blind selfishness, a false Guru drowns people, and because of his blind selfishness and wrong understanding, a false disciple gets trapped. A true disciple would never be trapped by a false Guru. Ironically, he makes a good point: we do get involved with some teachers because of our very own projections, and, arguably, these are what creates the guru in the first place. It's hard for the human ego to resist constant fawning and adoration, and for a teacher to survive intact she or he must step back from the followers to avoid this from the start. Iyengar said he played up his strict and imposing reputation–and his big eyebrows–precisely because he sensed that his female (Western) students were getting too close. Thích Nhất Hạnh, a true master, rarely made eye contact or spoke to lay (non-monastic) students, unless a direct question was asked in a formal setting (and even then, he preferred to take questions from children, whom he considered to have a less ego-driven agenda than adults). The teachings were always meant to take precedence over the teacher. It is the simple truth of life that all humans are flawed to a greater or lesser extent. There are no exceptions to this rule, alas, so we must avoid projecting superhuman qualities onto other human beings. Keeping the inherently flawed nature of humanity firmly in mind while learning from a teacher or guru is a way of cultivating discernment based on what is being taught, not who is doing the teaching...
  • Today is the Full Moon known as Guru Purnima. Of all the teachers I have been blessed to meet on my path, Thich Nhat Hanh has been the most influential. His quiet embodiment of peace and compassion wordlessly transmitted the teachings in every moment. I am forever grateful. I was happy that a friend sent me this photo. He approached so softly I didn’t know he was there until I turned and saw him beside me. This is a favourite photo because he was already unwell (July 2014) and only a couple of months before his stroke. His commitment to embodying and transmitting the teachings was what made them so impactful. Thank you dear Thay. A lotus for you. 🙏🏻 #gurupurnima @thichnhathanhsangha #plumvillagemonastery #gurusgrace #compassion #buddhism #blessings

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RECENT POSTS

  • Time to turn the page!
    In Blog
  • The yoga holiday from hell
    In Blog
  • Momentum and growth
    In Blog

Categories

  • Blog (145)
  • Events (27)
  • Featured (11)
  • Uncategorized (2)
  • Videos (3)
  • Workshops (3)
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