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...]
Maintaining a Regular Home Yoga Practice with the ‘Stop, Drop and Practice’ method
by Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga, Breaking down the barriers to a home yoga practice One of the techniques I suggest people use in Forty Days of Yoga is something I call Stop, Drop & Practice. It's been a core reason why I've had a consistent practice the last eight years, and it still works for me now. In fact, this is one of my most effective ways of ensuring that mat resistance doesn't de-rail my daily yoga practice and works great around children, or a busy life. Stop, … [Read more...]
Sun Salutations Video Series: How to do Chaturanga Dandasana
by Kara-Leah Grant Chaturanga Dandasana is one of those postures that we often don't spend time in - either in yoga class or in our home yoga practice. It's a one-breath wonder. We're in, we're moving out, that's it. Partly this is because it's a challenging posture and we usually want to get out of it as soon as possible. And part of it is because it's not a flashy yoga posture where we feel like we get somewhere or gain a lot over time. It's easy to see Chaturanga Dandasana as just a … [Read more...]
What Does it Mean to Open Your Heart Chakra?
by Kara-Leah Grant It's Day 17 of my forty days of a heart-opening kriya (see below for PDF of this kriya). Every day I hit the mat and do seven postures in a specific order. Often I do other asana, pranayama and meditation as well. But no matter what, there is always the consistency of the heart-opening kriya to anchor me in my home yoga practice. So, is it working? Is this yoga practice opening my heart chakra? Before I answer that, I want to take a step back and define what that … [Read more...]
The Five Koshas Explained: How They Impact our Yoga Practice
by Kara-Leah Grant, Do enough research, and it seems we can find evidence that regular practice of yoga can positively impact everything from anxiety, depression, and panic attacks to thyroid conditions, sciatica and asthma. In fact, it could be said that yoga can positively impact anything that has to do with the functioning of our physical bodies, minds or emotions. How can this be possible? Surely yoga’s not a silver bullet? Well no, it’s not. However, yoga works to harmonise the body, mind … [Read more...]
The Best of Yoga Philosophy
The Yoga Lunchbox is proud to host this week's edition of... Best of Yoga Philosophy A Virtual Magazine & Forum The very best Yoga philosophy articles from all over the Web. Follow daily on Pinterest (best browsing), Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin Please pass the word to your friends who like Yoga philosophy. Thanks for your interest and support. Bob W. Editor ***** Very interesting discussion about the Bhagavad Gita ~ A Fascinating Discussion Going on over at Facebook - read … [Read more...]
How to Find a Good (Great!) Yoga Teacher
by Kara-Leah Grant How do I find a good yoga teacher? How indeed? First, start by defining what a good yoga teacher means to you, as it will be different for everyone. What values and factors matter to you? What do you want in a teacher? Things you might want to consider include: location price skill set training style age sex attributes (kind, stern, funny...) experience For example, if you've never done yoga before, and you have a limited budget but plenty of time your … [Read more...]
How to Open Your Heart Chakra in One Simple Step
by Kara-Leah Grant, avid promotor of home yoga practice. It'll change your world (because you are your world). So my gorgeous and most-wonderful man left on Thursday for six weeks. And on Friday I had a brilliant idea. Six weeks! 42 days! I'll do a specific Forty Days of Yoga practice while he's away! Perfect! Now what will I do... how about one of my old favourites, a Heart-Opening Kriya (see below for a PDF of this kriya) I learned many moons ago? Nothing like a little … [Read more...]
The Kundalini Awakening Process: An Inside Story
WIN a copy of Kara-Leah's new book 'Field Notes from Kundalini Awakening', publishing in 2018. Guaranteed to take you on an intimate journey into the depths of the Kundalini experience. Click here to sign up for the book launch list and go into the draw to win one of THREE print copies. by Kara-Leah Grant It's 7:15pm and I'm upside down on the carpet in front of the fire, balancing on my hands and knees, head hanging low, not quite touching the carpet. I'm meant to be on the computer, … [Read more...]