By Sonya Simpson, Interoception, sometimes considered the 8th sense, is the felt sense or mindfulness of the body, and Interoceptive awareness is the ability to process the signals you receive from your body. Some examples of this are; levels of energy and how to respond, pain and what to do with it, and sickness and its interpretation. Well-developed interoception has been shown to increase resilience [1], help with emotional regulation [2], improve health and wellbeing [3], support pain … [Read more...]
Slowing Down & Cultivating Interoception at the Hauora Yoga Conference
By Kylie Rook, New Zealand’s first Yoga Conference, Hauora, far exceeded my expectations. It was really great to see that the New Zealand Yoga Community is already on the G-O S-L-O-W wagon in terms of building interoception, improving vagal tone and allowing students to find what feels right for them. In many cases, this means letting go of the arbitrary alignment cues and even ‘classic poses’ to guide the students into a more felt experience and a deeper understanding of their own … [Read more...]
Finding an Internal Sense of Safe Alignment in Yoga
Through trainings and teachings I've done over the last couple of years and my own personal experimentation and study, my lens of "safe alignment" has drastically started to change. By Amy Green, To me, the inaugural Hauora Yoga Conference felt like an important step in this country's yoga evolution. The welcoming ceremony set the stage for a different kind of gathering than had ever been done in the NZ yoga community. Here were numerous teachers, speakers, presenters and enthusiasts, … [Read more...]
Embracing the Wisdom of Our Tribe at the Hauora Yoga Conference
by Sonya Simpson, When Donna Farhi was mentioned as a speaker at the Hauora Yoga conference I knew that I would move heaven and earth to attend. She is a teacher from my yoga lineage, she wrote the book Yoga Mind, Body & Spirit that I carry around all dog eared and tatty (the book not me… well, sometimes me as well) and I feel that it is a rare thing that brings her out of her cosy place of residence to speak with us in Auckland. The Hauora Yoga Conference was just that rare … [Read more...]
Can the NZ Yoga Industry Form a Cohesive Collective Body?
Yoga teachers & students attend J. Brown's 'Gentle is the New Advanced' workshop at the Hauora Yoga Conference by Lianne Divine, I haven't had much to do with the NZ Yoga community over the years. I refrained from joining the now disbanded NZ Ayurveda Yoga Therapy Association and have had no Professional Yoga Teacher's body to support my 20 years of Yoga teaching experience and NZ Government Qualification Standard training in a 4 year fulltime Diploma in Yoga and a Diploma in Ayurvedic … [Read more...]
On Forgiveness, Redemption & #MeToo in the Yoga Community
by Donna Farhi, Now that the finger has been let out of the dam, there’s been a deluge of #metoo stories coming from our Yoga community. When we do start naming names, what then? In the past, even when teachers have been revealed for serious breaches of conduct, many of those same teachers were immediately forgiven without skipping a beat, and continued onwards with their glorious careers, seemingly unscathed. A recent article in a New Zealand newspaper by Michele A’Court called “Redemption … [Read more...]
How Patanjali’s ‘Atha’ Applies to Everyday Life
by Heather Robinson, In that moment. In that moment something holds me – here on my yoga mat, here I stand ready for practice, here I am connecting …. Then it happens - Did I switch my phone off? Do I need to check?..... Now I follow my breath with its gentle rhythm, compelling and calming me, now I’m connecting…… Or am I?? I forgot to make that phone call, will I remember later? Is my phone off? Sound familiar? You’re not alone! Thankfully, there is guidance and incentive. Millennia … [Read more...]
How Does Yoga, a Self-Regulating Practice, Regulate itself as an Industry?
by Melissa Billington, MYOGA Freedom & The Amazon Academy The advantage of growing up in the alternative health realms is that I’ve seen the evolution of these arts & sciences over a number of decades. My mother was doing yoga while I was in the womb & a few years later she became a massage therapist. When she worked in a health food store, I would hang out in the back. When we were Buddhist we chanted and had an altar in our home. Our family heritage to the pre-colonized Powhatan … [Read more...]
Could All Yoga Classes be Trauma-Informed?
by Sandra Palmer, Integrative Therapy For most of us reading this article, entering a yoga studio and completing a yoga class will be taken for granted. We may not think twice about wearing tight and revealing yoga clothing. We may be able to follow the yoga teacher’s instructions with ease - some with more grace than others! Sadly, there are many people for whom attending a yoga class is very difficult or even impossible. This is particularly so for those who experienced trauma in their … [Read more...]
Note to a Younger Self: Systemic Abuse & Individual Response in Yoga
by Donna Farhi, On December 16, 2017, the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse delivered a landmark report; the conclusion of an extraordinary five year investigation into systemic and decades long abuse within the Catholic Church. The upshot of this broad sweeping report is the conclusion that the Catholic Church can no longer continue to operate within the protective insularity of it’s own institution and may soon be forced through new government … [Read more...]