by Kara-Leah Grant I discovered Shambhavi Sarasvati when I went looking for Tantra books to deepen my knowledge of the Trika Shaivism lineage. I found The Play of Awakening, which is an accessible, enjoyable, gem of a book. I felt like I was sitting in satsang with Shambhavi, and had many insights and a'ha! moments through reading her words. I love her approach to Tantra and Self-Realisation - it feels relaxed and grounded in day-to-day life. She says that direct realization traditions, … [Read more...]
About Kara-Leah Grant
When it turns out Exile was just a Sabbatical • My return to the Yoga World
by Kara-Leah Three weeks ago, after a three or four year sabbatical, I stepped back into a Yoga Studio to teach. I’d stopped teaching because my practice no longer resembled a studio yoga class, and it was impossible to teach something I wasn’t doing. It felt contrived, and wrong. Walking away from teaching felt like walking away from a core part of my identity. But sticking it out felt like a lie. So I stopped teaching. And I stopped going to studios because I was invariably … [Read more...]
What Does it Mean to be an Awakened Heart Warrior in Troubled Times?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Prefer to listen to an audio version of this article? Click here to listen on Dropbox. The news isn't getting any better. Extinction is looming for 1 million plants and animals, thanks to human activity, says the UN. Trump's Administration heralds melting sea ice as opening new opportunities for trade. And global beverage giants continue to bottle New Zealand's water at aquifer-destroying rates. Storms are worse. Refugee numbers are climbing. Our rivers are … [Read more...]
Climate Change, Extinction & How to be an Agent of Change
by Kara-Leah, It can be scary and painful to see the truth of the moment as it is. But many of us have been learning how to do this in our personal evolution as awakening human beings. We've been learning how to work with fear. How to sit with grief, shame and guilt. We've learned that by doing this, we can then release the wounds, the traumas and historical pain and free ourselves from the past - our own past, and the past of our ancestors. What's this got to do with Climate Change? … [Read more...]
A New Beginning for The Yoga Lunchbox: Meet Our New Supporters, ExerciseNZ
by Kara-Leah Grant, After 10 years of championing The Yoga Lunchbox, I'm SO happy to be handing over the torch to a new team. Yes, that's right! I'm officially moving on from my role at The Yoga Lunchbox and handing over to our new Supporters: ExerciseNZ. ExerciseNZ are a non-profit organisation with the mission of proactively supporting a sustainable exercise and fitness industry in New Zealand and they're super stoked to be able to support The Yoga Lunchbox to serve the yoga community here … [Read more...]
Exorcism: An Invitation to Work Consciously with Fear
by Kara-Leah Grant This week, I took part in an exorcism. But let's just call it a healing, because that word exorcism caries all kinds of connotations that can stop us from bringing our hearts and awareness into the moment. There was nothing to fear in this healing, except, of course, fear itself. More than ten years ago, I took on an energy, an entity, a being of the subtle realms... it's not something I've talked about much because, you know, crazy. Yet it wasn't crazy for me. It was … [Read more...]
How to Re-Write Your Past and Free up Your Future
by Kara-Leah Grant In practice this week, I noticed that when I've told the story of my awakening/psychosis experience, it's always been focused on the relationship I was in, and how that contributed to the experience. But there's another big piece to that story. And it's one I've never told before. That intrigued me. Why had I not looked at that aspect of the story before? Scanning through my life's history, I saw the pattern repeated over and over again: My story has always been told … [Read more...]
You Don’t Need to Know the Origins of an Issue to Heal it
by Kara-Leah Grant You don't have to know WHY you carry a particular belief to completely heal & release it. A story that illustrates this... It's April 2017. I'm on a camping road trip of the South Island with my partner and child. I take us to Lake Middleton - my family camping spot from about age 8 until I was 17. Every summer, and many holidays, we would pack everything into the car, hook on the Nifty Nomad Camper, pack our tents and kayaks and fishing gear, and head up to the Lakes for … [Read more...]
What is Conscious Business and Can it Reshape our World?
by Kara-Leah Grant Nothing has changed society more than business. The second agricultural revolution (Britain approximately 1650 until about 1900) was defined by business, as farmers changed methods to increase productivity and food production out-stripped population growth, creating wealth. Laws around common land changed and transportation infrastructure became increasingly important, completely changing British society. And, through the British Empire, impacted the entire world. That … [Read more...]
Lessons from the Overwhelming Success of LoveLake Festival
by Kara-Leah Grant Five weeks and three core staff - that's all it took to produce a full programme at LoveLake Festival including yoga, meditation, workshops and DJs in three different rooms over four days. Oh, and another four people who joined in the final week for delivery. That, and incredible support from Wairakei Resort Taupō, who hosted the event, and massive buy-in from the conscious community, including the presenters. Because it was a bold move by DJs Chris Scott and Sandon Ihaia … [Read more...]