How dropping my story helped me change my yoga practice

Why do my forward bends suck after over a decade of practice?

I've been practicing yoga for over a decade now, and I'm still tight and inflexible. That's not quite true of course, but when I compare my flexibility to that of the images of yoga we see in the media, or the popular teachers on DVDs... I fall well short. And I find it perplexing. It doesn't make me feel less than in anyway, and I'm well aware that the point of yoga is not flexibility, rather flexibility is a by-product of practice. But how long does it take to lengthen the … [Read more...]

Unravelling the stories that shape our yoga practice

The power of presence

My life right now is a fluid mix of story & yoga. I'm studying creative writing at Victoria University and I'm finishing off my Prana Flow Yoga Teacher Certification (posted off all the book work in the mail on Monday! Woo hoo... now just have the exam to sit.) This combination of story and yoga has dovetailed into a deeper understanding of how we write the scripts for our lives, how we cast ourselves and the people around us as characters, and how we react to these scripts and … [Read more...]

Let’s make yoga a part of daily life in New Zealand

More people doing yoga, yeah!

On Friday night we had Swami Muktidharma from Anahata Yoga Retreat here at our house for Kirtan. It was a treat. Just the singing would have been amazing. But in between mantras, Swami Muktidharma spoke about life, about transformation, about the planet, about spirituality. One thing he said really stuck in my mind. I'm totally paraphrasing here... but it went something like this: The Green Party is all good and well, but in the end, in order to create real and lasting change, the … [Read more...]

How yoga practice teaches you to listen to your intuition through life’s transitions

Wellington Yoga Teacher Lynda Miers-Henneveld

by guest author Lynda Miers-Henneveld of Yoga Unlimited Yoga teaches us to embrace the natural rhythms of life. Through our practice we can ground ourselves in times of instability, or motivate and energise ourselves when we feel stuck. A personal practice has to reflect our changing circumstances if it is to support us in our journey through this life. If we stay present to what is happening in our bodies, minds and hearts, we can adapt our practice intuitively. … [Read more...]