by guest author Pip Bennett After all that darkness of my last article, I decided I wanted to up my practice. I wanted to devote myself and commit to the Ashtanga practice as it demands: six days a week. To take on the challenge and see the benefits of a regular practice. Two weeks later, I hadn’t practiced yoga even once. It’s now been a couple of months since then. I did get myself back into the yoga room, but only for a couple of weeks. Turns out that although you can do yoga anywhere and … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Ashtanga yoga.
Ashtanga: Why it’s so Important to Trust the Process
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat One of the great gifts of sharing my internal processes of life so honestly on-line is that I learn from myself. Often, a few years after I’ve written an article, I will re-read it and see the illusions that I was labouring under at the time. Yes, the article is usually about an insight into a difficulty, but there is always another layer or level of illusion. Through re-reading my own articles I’m able to watch myself wake up and become more … [Read more...]
Ashtanga: I Don’t Want to Break My Knees
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat My knees ache. They have been since about April of this year - about three months into a regular Mysore-style Ashtanga practice, two or three times a week. I also do a regular home practice of vinyasa, prana-led asana (slow and steady), meditation and pranayama. I've been able to do Half Lotus for some years now, including Standing Bound Half Lotus (without the forward fold). I have never had any prior knee issues or pain. Although my grandmother … [Read more...]
The Evolution of Ashtanga Yoga Part II
by Matthew Sweeney, The Yoga Temple Although Yoga, meditation and self inquiry are gaining popularity worldwide, these are still relatively new concepts for many people. How we define these concepts and the clarity with which we pursue them is of great interest to me. I am using the following definitions to shine a light on how adherence to a tradition can either help or hinder your practice of Yoga. It might be useful to note how you personally respond to these definitions and to … [Read more...]
The Evolution of Ashtanga Yoga
by Matthew Sweeney, The Yoga Temple Ashtanga Yoga is a wonderful practice for the body and mind. It is an evolving practice that is changing and growing to suit people of all ages and abilities. At least that is its potential. The tradition and its changing nature can be a difficult thing to reconcile. Understanding some of the principles at work is important. At some point in a student’s learning process, they will have difficulty, physically or otherwise. At this point they need … [Read more...]
An apology to the Ashtanga community
Yep - I messed up. My recent article Why I may never take another yoga class was intended to articulate a view that it doesn't matter what kind of yoga we practice, only that it is the right kind of yoga for us. Instead, because I was unclear, and less than skillful in my use of metaphors, many people have felt that I was dissing Ashtanga as a practice. In the article, I used my recent experiences in yoga classes to demonstrate that doing a particular practice when it's no longer right … [Read more...]
How Yoga Helped Me Emerge From the Darkness of Depression
By Astrid Vause I have been practicing yoga for a while now, in fact I am a yoga teacher, but it wasn't until I got sick that I fell deeply in love with this beautiful practice and it's healing powers. It was a warm sunny and vibrant day in my new home in Los Angeles and my children were building towers with wooden blocks and laughing as they toppled over. I sat on the floor with my knees tucked up to my chest and watched the crashing blocks, wincing as they hit the ground. I felt like … [Read more...]
Yoga in Life versus Life as Yoga: An interview with the Teacher Training Team at Samyak Yoga
The team from Samyak Yoga interviewed by Kara-Leah Grant. Tell me about Samyak Yoga. When was it established? What inspired it’s creation? Rakesh: Three young teenagers trained in Yoga, Veda, Vedanta and Sanskrit for six long years under the guidance of many scholars, such as Dr. Ramachandra Bhat Kotemane, from an ancient system of educational institution named Veda Vijnana Gurukulam located in Bangalore and graduated from Svyasa Yoga University found that their goals, aspirations and efforts … [Read more...]
Note to a Younger Self: Systemic Abuse & Individual Response in Yoga
by Donna Farhi, On December 16, 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered a landmark report; the conclusion of an extraordinary five year investigation into systemic and decades long abuse within the Catholic Church. The upshot of this broad sweeping report is the conclusion that the Catholic Church can no longer continue to operate within the protective insularity of it’s own institution and may soon be forced through new government … [Read more...]
Health & Healing Through Yoga Therapy: An Interview with Mark Stephens
by Lucinda Staniland I love getting things for free. And I have a voracious and life-long love of books. So the first time I was offered a free review copy of a Yoga book (as part of my Yoga Lunchbox role) I was fairly swept off my feet. You mean, you really want to send me a free book? About Yoga? Now that's an offer I can't refuse. However, I'm now at a point where I do in fact refuse some of these offers. I've learnt that just because a book is free and about yoga, doesn't mean that it … [Read more...]