by Sandy Farquhar, Contemporary Yoga Restorative Yoga practices are now part of many Yoga classes. Karla Brodie and Neal Ghoshal have a combined 35 years of experience teaching Restorative Yoga in classes and courses, to individuals and through in-depth retreats, as well as tailored workshops and teacher trainings. Ahead of their next Restorative Teacher Training they share their passion for Restorative Yoga with fellow teacher and CY administrator, Sandy Farquhar. Sandy: … [Read more...]
Search Results for: power living
How to Harness the Power of Connection & Positivity with Satsang
by Swami Karma Karuna, Anahata Yoga Retreat Human beings are naturally social. Despite strongly held values of independence predominant in our modern society, we often gravitate towards connection and support in groups, whether in a yoga class, a rugby game, a party or a gym. Whichever environment or group of people we spend time with, at a subtle level it influences us. The grandfather clock offers us an example of this concept. Through many experiments, we know that when the grandfather … [Read more...]
Teaching the Superpower of Rest & Reset with Pregnancy Yoga
by KeiShana Coursey, Opti-mum I’m awake between first sleep and second sleep. It’s 1 a.m., and for the past week I have been nursing the family through high fevers (including some gnarly hallucinations). My body has succumbed to this viral storm, waking with a sore throat and aching joints, and I’ve just taken a truckload of potions which means I can’t lie down until it’s, well, down. Last night, I dragged myself off to bed as the sun was setting – which I believe is what used to happen … [Read more...]
The Power of Just Being: Reflections on a Silent Retreat
By Sandra Palmer I am a talker, a chatterbox even. So, I received some surprised responses (shocked, disbelieving and even amused!) when I informed people that I was attending a seven-day silent retreat. Some friends were plainly envious and thought it sounded divine. Many were curious: But why? They asked. Why would you do this? What is the purpose of being silent? Others wanted to know how hard it would be for me. I did not have answers to these questions. I was too busy … [Read more...]
Living Your Gifts: Six Steps to Awakening a Yogic Heart
by Leza Lowitz, Sun and Moon Yoga The Japanese have a word, ikigai (生き甲斐) which means “reason for being.” In Japan, finding one’s reason for being requires a deep, long search for self. This search itself is considered central, as the discovery of one’s ikigai is what brings satisfaction and meaning. Ikigai is a compound of two Japanese words: iki meaning "life, alive" and kai "effect, result, fruit, benefit." So how do we find our ikigai? How do we discover and awaken our gifts? How do we … [Read more...]
How Living Your Yoga Can Mean Taking Parenting Lessons From The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)
by Kara-Leah Grant First night in Napier, staying at my Uncle's house. The TV's on. I haven't lived with a TV for three years. It's novel. I sit to eat my dinner and catch the beginning of a movie. By the time I've finished my dinner, I've grasped the plot and I'm chuckling at the weirdness of the Universe. The movie is about a high-achieving, selfish, self-centered football player who discovers - when she shows up on his doorstep - that he has an eight year old daughter. The plot revolves … [Read more...]
The Benefits of Chasing Pain and the Gifts of Living with an Auto-Immune Disease
by guest author Emma Fernbloom, former owner of The Dunedin Yoga Studio It wasn’t that long ago I was standing in front of a room full of people and assuring them that if they practice yoga regularly, not only would all of their health problems disappear but they would be successfully avoiding old age, loss of vitality and disease. I was glowing with my own certainty that I had found the keys to a healthy fulfilled life. I was strong, flexible and graceful. I was meditating every day and … [Read more...]
Thoughts on living in an awakening world
An Interview with Prajnaparamita, an awakened Master Prajnaparamita is leading a retreat at Kawaipurapura on Feburary 16 and 17. Find out more here. 1. There seems to be a big shift in the way businesses are being run and in the way people are reconsidering their lives. What do you see happening? Globally, structures are breaking down on all levels. They can no longer hold themselves. The banks, politics and many corporations, the way they were used to operating is no longer … [Read more...]
Keeping New Year’s Resolutions is not about willpower or discipline
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I was up early on New Year’s Day. It’s one of my favourite ways to start the year. Early morning, the world seems fresh and alive and ripe for new opportunities and new ways of being. The possibility of new choices and new ways of being seems stronger. 'How will I live this day?' 'How will I live this life?' On January 1st, this sense of potential and possibility feels stronger. New Year’s is a time for resolutions, as we make up our minds we’re … [Read more...]
Mindful eating: a powerful practice in transforming your relationship to food
by regular columnist Valerie Love, Yoga on a Plate Six years ago, I went to visit a friend from college who was teaching English in Kyoto, Japan. A day or so after I arrived, she took me to an outdoor market in the city. Wandering together through stalls of artwork, antiques, handicrafts and food, I was drawn to a table where a woman was selling daifuku, sweet rice cakes filled with red bean paste. As my friend spoke Japanese and I did not, she kindly did the work of ordering one for … [Read more...]