by Kara-Leah The mission of this website is to get everybody in New Zealand doing yoga - but it's really important to remember that yoga is not just about the physical postures called asana. One of the lesser known and yet perhaps most powerful forms of yoga is Bhakti Yoga. This is the yoga of devotion and is often practiced via kirtan - or chants. Take a moment to think of your favourite music right now, and how it makes you feel when you sing it - when you lose yourself and get right into the … [Read more...]
Search Results for: bhakti
How Teaching Yoga on a Remote Island Helped Me Cope with Grief
by Julie Stansfield, Ebb and Flow Yoga As I travel along the road that connects the south with the north of the island to teach my weekly yoga class in Port Fitzroy, I reflect on how my life has changed since I first moved to Great Barrier Island thirteen years ago. I certainly wouldn’t have thought I’d be travelling fifty minutes to share my love of yoga with a group of enthusiastic women. Driving on a winding, gravel road which takes me from my home on the western side of the island, I … [Read more...]
Shiva Rea on the Evolution of Prana Vinyasa Yoga {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant She's sometimes referred to as "the Madonna of Yoga" - at least, that's what Vanity Fair called Shiva Rea when she did a desert photo shoot for them in 2007. But magazines love catchy monikers and as someone who grew up idolising Madonna and has studied with Shiva... the two women are nothing alike. "I'm not sure what exactly what they were referring to, whether it was my boldness, but I'm not into being a yoga celebrity at all. At all! Humility for me is a really important … [Read more...]
When Overwhelming Thoughts Take Over Your Restorative Yoga Practice
By Nityda Bhakti, The Yoga Wellness Space Yoga is a practice of turning inward or pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses). It can be hard to do this at times in a more rigorous yoga class, especially for those still learning the poses and therefore needing to fix their focus to others in the room in an effort to get their bodies into the right position. Restorative yoga allows us the space to hold poses for longer, with the support of props, so that we don’t have to use physical effort to do … [Read more...]
Am I Endorsing Obesity by Telling Bigger- Bodied Yogis to Love Themselves?
By guest author Nityda Bhakti "I am so interested in trying yoga- I just need to wait until I lose this last fifteen pounds." "Yoga? Me?! Do you see my size? I could never lift myself off the ground like that!" I’ve heard comments like these for the past decade that I’ve been teaching. I’ve made it my mission to make friends, family, acquaintances, even strangers for that matter, see that you don’t have to be a certain weight, body-type, gender, age or race to begin a yoga practice. I’ve … [Read more...]
How I’m Using the Power of Kirtan to Drive Positive Change
by guest author Madi Das, Kirtan Shakti Courtesy of Integral Yoga® Magazine, Summer 2015 Most days, I go to my regular job, wearing my regular clothes, and I type regular things into my regular computer until it’s time to go home. My co-workers know me as Joe, that guy who has enough light banter to be social, but not so much as to get distracted from his typing. Joe is a good guy. Familiar. Dependable. You know the type. But on Tuesday nights, I trade my collared shirt and GAP slacks … [Read more...]
Suzanne Sterling on Why What You Love is Key to Your Service {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant It's that time of year again... the run-up to Wanderlust, which means I get to interview all kinds of amazing yoga teachers. First up in the series is Suzanne Sterling, in part because she's also a founder of Off the Mat Into the World which is running some events in New Zealand and Australia this October (just been) and December. Interviewing Suzanne meant finding out the low-down both about Off the Mat and how awesome it is, and about her and how awesome she is. I … [Read more...]
Healing the black hole: John Ogilvie’s story from drug addict to yoga teacher
John's article first appeared in Australian Yoga LIFE by guest author Ana Davis John Ogilvie is one of those rare people you meet with whom you feel an almost instant heart connection. There is a glint in his eyes that tells of an inner-spring of joy and a hint of boyish cheekiness. His presence is one of yogic lightness that makes it difficult to imagine him ever having plumbed the depths of despair and spiritual emptiness that characterise a destructive drug addiction. Nowadays John … [Read more...]
Exploring the Niyamas: How does Saucha affect our lives?
by Kara-Leah Grant Over two years ago I made a commitment to live out each yama in my life and write about the experience. That series Applying the Yamas to Daily Life has been cornerstone content for The Yoga Lunchbox and has also been published in Asana Journal. Now, at the prompting of my editor at Asana, I've embarked on the same mission for the Niyamas. Every few weeks, I'm picking one niyama and studying it plus observing how it shows up in my life. For those new to yoga, the … [Read more...]
How to make your office practice your yoga practice
by Gabrielle Harris Are you too busy at work to become liberated? Would aliens snatch you up out of your office desk for analysis because of that mindless look on your face? Do you want to incorporate more yoga into your daily work life? Here are a few simple tips to turn your office day into a yoga day. One of the definitions of yoga is to become disconnected from the connection to suffering. Going to work can potentially be a breeding ground for suffering. This is where we play out our … [Read more...]