by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It was one of those behaviours or activities that started softly, softly, slipping in under the mat and under awareness. A shared bottle of wine once a week. A shared bottle of wine twice a week. A bottle of vodka in the house - a cocktail before dinner four or five times a week, then a glass or two of wine. Never more than two or three drinks in a night, never every night of the week. But still... As time went by, this behaviour began to tug at my … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2013
What if Enlightenment was just Dropping into Total Ordinariness. What then?
by guest author Emma Fernbloom, author of Conscious Creation of Wholeness & Community It’s strange to find myself free of ambition. It’s been a slow change, but now it’s happened completely, it feels a bit weird. It leaves gaps in conversations, like when everyone is talking about some TV programme you haven’t seen and they’re all wrapped up in the drama of it, but you haven’t been pulled into it so your smile is merely polite with a tinge of enjoyment or irritation at their … [Read more...]
How to Change the World No Matter Where You Are or What You Do
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat This month marked nine years since I returned from overseas, after having two psychotic episodes and ending up in Vancouver's Lion's Gate Hospital's Acute Psyche Ward. I was a mess. Eight years prior to that, I'd left New Zealand after completing a journalism certificate, heading overseas to seek fame and fortunate. I'd been runner up to Dux at high school, invited into two Honours subjects at University and voted Most Likely to be Prime Minister of … [Read more...]
Why Older Yoga Teachers are Often the Best Yoga Teachers
By Susan Grbic, Growing Younger So many younger people are taking to yoga these days, as opposed to forty years ago when I was cutting my teeth as a student and yoga was still considered way too esoteric for your average citizen. Nowadays there’s a dizzying confusion of yoga ‘styles’ to choose from. And precisely because yoga is attracting so many young people, hundreds of young yoga teachers are emerging. I started teaching when I was forty-five, pretty old by today’s yoga teacher … [Read more...]
How I Practiced Hot Yoga for 100 Days Straight
by Anthony Light Editor's Note: Anthony recently completed 100 days of yoga classes at Flow Hot Yoga in Christchurch. Downward dog can actually become a resting posture. Sound a little exaggerated? Well it can sound that way on days where I am feeling tight or tired. But for most of the time I’m now content hanging out in Downward Dog and observing how my body and mind adjust to the posture. If you had said that to me before a few months ago, I would have laughed with a small … [Read more...]
Can We Manifest our Way into True Love? (How about Yes!)
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Six months ago, I decided I wanted to step into relationship again. No big deal right? But when you're a single mother in your late 30s living in a small town with only 300 people... the chances don't sound very high. Factor in a serious commitment to yoga and conscious relationship - whatever that means - and it seemed the chances were even less. But I wanted a relationship, wholeheartedly, and so I did what I could to open up to this … [Read more...]
An Ordinary Life: An Experience of Awakening
By Karen Le Cussan A little over a week ago I had the most amazing experience of my life, something which has now changed forever the way I see the world and how I feel. Before I go into any detail, I'd like to tell you a little about myself: I am forty nine years old, and I am married with three teenage children, two of whom live at home. I am a personal trainer, Balance and Pump Instructor and I work at a local ladies gym in Queenstown, New Zealand. I do not follow any particular … [Read more...]
Grief: The Shadow Side of the Heart Chakra
by Kara-Leah Grant It's all good and well to do these wonderful heart-opening or heart-balancing yoga practices, but without a proper understanding of all aspects of the heart chakra, we can easily hit a wall of resistance that stops our practice cold. The heart chakra is about our ability to love - which requires that we open to the possibility of grief, sorrow and disappointment as well as the wonderful sensations of love, joy, fulfilment and compassion. Working with this kriya meant I was … [Read more...]
How to Consciously Face into Relationship Issues with Love
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I'm shaken to write this article barely three weeks after exploring the concept of loving without attachment. In that article, I faced squarely into the possibility of losing my man in order to let go of the fear and attachment I had around our love. And yesterday morning, my man packed his bags and left. Not because he doesn't love me deeply - he does - but because he can't take on my son as well. Stepping into a parenting situation with a … [Read more...]
Five Ways to be a Better Yoga Teacher
by Kelly Fisher, Urban Yoga After almost a decade of teaching yoga as my full time career, I have had the privilege of watching some of the students who have come to my classes eventually become teachers themselves. I have had the honour of fielding their questions and helping them through those uncertain first months and years of teaching. Plus, as a huge geek when it comes to neuropsychology, yoga anatomy, yoga physiology and yoga alignment, I often help new teachers from other lineages … [Read more...]