Columns

“Darling,” OX managing director, Jill Rayner says to me, “can you write something about Pride? Because even though you’ve moved to Australia and Melbourne’s queer scene is bigger than Oxford’s, the principle’s the same.” 

In many areas of life, the top spots are taken by males. This often has nothing to do with talent. The situation is slowly improving but the world would be a better place if more of our global leaders were female. We need fewer testosterone-fuelled males with inflated egos and more level-headed women to help guide us towards the promised land. In our household it's the women who get things done. 

There’s a kindness to yoga. One of its core principles, ‘ahimsa’, roughly translates as ‘do no harm’. For Oxford yoga teacher Katie McNeil, it’s been a guiding light in her career. 

The five languages of love – according to some guy in the early 90s – are Acts of Service, Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, and Gifts.

When Hollywood film cameraman Ben Minot injured his knee, he was told he may never walk again without surgery. Unhappy with that idea, he began to explore yoga as a therapy instead.

I’ve just started teaching Hot Yoga again at a beautiful new studio in East Oxford. I absolutely love it – but it wasn’t always that way. When I first started sauna-style yoga over ten years ago, I couldn’t believe that people did this for fun! 

The optimism edition can be a difficult one to pitch amidst rather a bleak and depressing social climate, but despite the fear and anger we may all be experiencing, research has shown that as a generation, Gen Z are still full of hope.

So, spare a thought this Christmas to the unsung heroes of the transport industry whose workplace is the often-dangerous UK road network. Cut 'white van man' some slack; they have probably still got 85 more parcels to deliver and it's seven o’clock at night.