by Kara-Leah Grant Over the past decade I've become skilled at working with the unconscious and that which holds us back from realising our dreams. I'm adept at identifying something I would like to experience, and then making it happen. I wanted to write and publish a book. I've now written and published two. I had a dream of teaching Yoga Trance Dance with a live DJ rocking it behind me, and I'm now part of Yoga Rhythms with fellow yoga teacher, DJ and Goddess Rire. I dreamt of … [Read more...]
Have You Given Up Reaching for Your Dreams?
by Kara-Leah Grant Never before in human history have we known so much. We have unlimited information at our fingertips, and that information is constantly being updated. We know how to maintain optimum health including how to eat, how to exercise and how to practice yoga. We can learn any new skill for free - a new language, a musical instrument, we can even get a degree for free. No matter what dream we want to pursue, the information required to do so is available to us. Yet … [Read more...]
So that’s what Brahmacharya is all about. Containing my Inner Vamp
by Kara-Leah Grant This New Year’s Eve was a watershed for me. For the first time in my life, I tamed the wild demon of my sexuality. Never have I felt more powerful or more in integrity, and that sense of power and integrity has since spun out, infusing every element of my being. I was at a five day festival and in the company of an extraordinarily sexy man. The connection between us was humming and thick and a mere sideways glance was enough to bring on dry mouth and heart palpitations. And … [Read more...]
How to use Feldenkrais Technique to Free up Your Yoga {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant I first came across Feldenkrais in a yoga teacher taught by a friend in Wellington - Oli Wiles. He was smitten with the technique and skilfully wove it through his yoga teaching to great benefit. Now that I've been practicing yoga for almost two decades, I've also become very interested in how the body opens up, or doesn't open up. From my own experience I can see that it's not a simple equation of doing x, y, or z posture enough times and achieving your optimum range of … [Read more...]
When the Price of Beauty and Presence is Sadness
By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Yesterday we got home from six days away - my son with his father, and me in Napier teaching yoga classes and workshops. I love being on the road, catching up with the many friends I have around the country, teaching at a variety of studios, sharing my passion for yoga in workshops. I love home too but when I'm at home, I'm reminded of the home I don't have, the life I'm not leading. In that life I'm coming home to a man I love, who loves me. … [Read more...]
There is No Space for Me. A Short Journey into Depression
by Kara-Leah Grant On Sunday afternoon, lying on the grass outside under fluffy white clouds and a lazy blue sky, I felt the snaky tendrils of depression slither into my heart and settle in my being. One moment, everything was as it was. The next, I felt a heaviness of being, a reluctance to move or act or even be, a dragging at my insides, a rising of emotion. Usually the arrival of depression is not so noticeable. It sneaks up on me and I'm not aware until it's taken me down and I'm … [Read more...]
How I Learned to Live My Yoga and Rock My Life
by Kara-Leah Grant Ten years ago I was six months out of an Acute Psych Ward after two psychotic episodes, and was just beginning the process of cutting down the medication I'd been given after a diagnosis of bipolar. The emotional pain of being dumped by my fiance was still fresh and raw, and I'd only just stopped sobbing my heart out every day. Not that I was crying only about our break-up. The psychosis had ripped open decades of unexpressed emotion plus the spiritual awakening I'd had at … [Read more...]
The Definition of a Yoga Teacher: Nothing More than a Friend, Nothing Less than a Friend
Editor's Note: Since this article was published, several accounts of sexual harassment and assault have been made public by Mark Whitwell's female students. We do not in any way condone Mark's behaviour. You can read more about the accounts here. by Kara-Leah Grant I was fortunate enough to attend one of Mark Whitwell’s classes at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo 2015. Mark is teacher of considerable standing who spent many years with Desikachar and studied directly with Krishnamacharya, the teacher … [Read more...]
How Deep Do You Really Go in Your Yoga Practice?
by Kara-Leah Grant On Friday, a friend who is a talented healer, did some energy release work on my shoulders. He stood behind me, pressed into each shoulder and breathed. It was a simple technique and yet I could feel pressure evaporating into the ether. Afterwards he shook his head. You had half a ton of pressure in there. I know this. I feel it and I see it in my body when I watch myself on video - this held tension that isn't so much about the muscles but the underlying … [Read more...]
Reflections on Teaching the Worst Yoga Class of My Life
by Kara-Leah Grant On Saturday I taught my first yoga class in five weeks, as it's summer holidays here and I've been doing just that - holidaying. Possibly it wasn't prudent to take so much time off teaching when I've got a major festival within a week - i.e. Wanderlust. Although as I've been on a Forty Day Practice, my asana practice is stronger than it's ever been. However it turns out a strong asana practice doesn't necessarily make me a stronger teacher. I turned up on Saturday … [Read more...]