I taught yoga at Brockwood Park School this evening – a weekend class open to students, mature students and staff. I kept to the same format as last year, a gentle class with relaxation at the beginning and end, plenty of pratapana before some classical poses. People welcomed it and said it was just what they needed. I’m glad to be able to help a little. I still get nervous beforehand. Not directly before but during the afternoon as it gets nearer. But once I am inside the hall and I get to the reality of it rather than the imagined scenario, it is fine. I am accepting what I feel, loving it and allowing it’s place. I’ve been afraid of speaking in front of groups since Miss Dolan’s class when I was about six, when I probably cried. So this is healthy for me, to speak in a context in which I am comfortable and enjoy sharing. Another class tomorrow due to demand (and my wanting to keep class sizes to around 10).

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A clue to DJ Premier’s inventiveness:

Like, I was a weird dude… I used to listen to a lot of New Wave stuff, like The Smiths, and Psychedelic Furs, and The Cure, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Dial House, Joy Division… I was into all that stuff. The Thompson Twins, just all this crazy stuff.

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Great iPlayer viewing: How TV Ruined Your Life. Episode 1: Fear.

Those old public information films were very frightening. It’s all inside somewhere; I’m riddled with fears of overhead power lines, substations and farmyard terrors.

From the show:
“Television began to enjoy the same level of influence on society as religion had for centuries.”
Our “brain nuts” (Amygdala) don’t know the difference between TV and real violence, so despite any rationalisation and fancy shoes, the same primitive fight or flight response kicks in. It’s stressful, and the nervous energy doesn’t get used up in the would-be fight or flighting.
“The more TV news you watch, the more passive, nervous and frightened you become.” But you don’t show it of course. The more frequently an image is repeated on screen, the greater significance we attach to it in the real world. Mean World Syndrome: the belief the world is a mean and frightening one.
And switching it off doesn’t make you feel any safer because now you are more aware than ever of the glowing silence all around.
“You are 20 times more likely to die driving to the airport than you are on the plane”
The more frequently an image is repeated on screen, the greater significance we attach to it. Mean World Syndrome, the belief the world is a dangerous place.
“What if the Large Hadron Collider went a bit Amstrad?”
Good old Charlie Brooker.

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Steps stepped: 4447