A book on the Saoirse Yoga practice is in the making! It is the result of 17 years of yoga practice and teaching, of a drawn-out fascination with yoga, its practice, teaching and the lifestyle in brings. It is the distillation of all that I have experienced on the journey, a journey that unexpectedly took over my life.

The book evolved from a manual that I wrote for students who came to me to learn the Ashtanga Vinyasa practice (some of whom went on to become accomplished teachers themselves). While Ashtanga is a wonderful system, later, when I began to practice Saoirse style, I became convinced that it was the best teaching I could offer. For four years I refined the method through my own daily experimentation on the mat, often keeping a notebook at hand as I went through the postures, with the goal of some day publishing a book about the practice.

I have 2 young children and a retreat centre comprising 3 off grid buildings for whose maintenance I am fully responsible. Being off-grid, I maintain water, electricity and firewood supplies, and provide food from garden and orchard. I also have a commitment to long practice every morning and organizing and running some 15 weeks of retreats per year. Life is full, and writing time only presents itself seasonally, typically in deep winter sitting in front of the wood burning stove. Even then, I have to be disciplined and constantly ready to make the most of any quiet moments to work on the book.

Quiet moments, when they come, also lend themselves well to practice, and that takes priority, over writing. To be honest, bar an emergency, for me practice takes priority everything else. While that may sound selfish, I do not believe to be. The practice energizes me and clears my mind, leaves me more balanced, and less irritable. It leaves me more effective in daily tasks and service to others and brings perspective into action. I am far from a perfected being. Actually, if you know me and believe what I just said, you will surely ask yourself,‘ Wow, I can only imagine the disaster he would be if he didn’t practice’. And you would be right to think so! I take one day off practice per week, and by the end of that day the disaster starts to unfold. I become moody, irritable and needy. The off days convince me more than any practice day of my need for practice. It is medicine that works for me, a medicine I can share with you.

I don’t have health insurance or social security. The Saoirse practice is my medicine, each morning it tunes me into the current strengths and vulnerabilities of my body.  Nor have I ever been to a psychologist (despite some recommendations that I do so!) – the inner aspect of the practice helps me deal with emotional turmoil and the unpredictable nature of life. It is certainly not that my life is a bed of roses. While writing this book I have simultaneously been going through a divorce. The emotional pain of that process drove ever deeper into my practice, into eternally reliable refuge of yoga and further convinced me of its healing power.

I never wanted to deny practice in the name of the book as it is that practice and the afterglow of that practice in which the book is written. If I have ever felt tense, or under some need to succeed, or if there was no more in my sitting down to write beyond dogma, I took it as a queue to leave it and go to play with the children, go the garden, do some asana or to sit in the forest. My principal was: as the book recommends in practice, I resolved that the book too should only be created in a state of presence and enthusiasm. 

My point is this! While it has taken many years to write, and there is zero guarantee that anyone will ever buy it, given how I felt during writing, there can be no loss! It does not need to be successful or make money. The process alone has been rewarding, and that is enough.

Some say that when you commit to a project, the universe conspires to assist you. The experience of writing this book inclines me to believe it! When I felt I had completed a first draft, some of my oldest and dearest students turned up to help me produce a professional version. Cale Alit, Nele Merten and Amelie Bachmann, all of whom did teacher training with me, all now devoted yogis and accomplished teachers, came to spend a beautiful autumnal week together at my yoga retreat centre.

Amelie took photographs. She made the process for the first time in my life, truly unself-conscious and enjoyable. Nele posed beautifully for photos, and, as a young doctor and yoga anatomy expert, also gave me sage advice beyond her years on the finer points of the workings of the human body. The ever-creative Cale designed the cover and gave insightful feedback. Zennor Compton’s presence was surely a little miracle, a professional editor for Penguin unknown to any of us, got in touch to offer her time in exchange for sharing the yogic life with us for 10 days. We all instantly bonded with her, and while we guided her in yoga, her bright positive energy and professionalism guided us through the literary process.

During our little yoga and publishing retreat, Anais Sauvage, a real French chef and singer with an angelically evocative voice, fed both our bodies and souls through the process. And smallest but not least, my beloved 8-year-old daughter Satya, quite literally ‘born in a yoga shala’ added her mischief and magic.

Until then the book had been largely a solo effort, but that week of selfless help, sharing and fun, without much guidance on my part, continued the intention of my solo ethos. Again, the process itself was so positive that any further reward can only be a bonus – it was an experience of true Karma Yoga and sign that this is meant to be shared.  

The book will be available in early 2026. I will keep you posted.