by guest author Sara Foley, Smells Good, Feels Good Only last week I was moaning about not having a space to practice yoga, or indeed any space to call my very own. Well today, almost magically, I do. Sometimes the Universe steps in and gives me a hand (or a kick up the bum). Or whatever it is that I deserve. It seems that today I deserve my very own yoga room. This is how it happened. On Sunday I woke up early with the urgent thought that we needed to move the kids’ beds around. The … [Read more...]
How not to screw up your children (too much)
by columnist Gabrielle Harris, The Suburban Yogini When I was thirty I literally FELL pregnant. I was living in a small town in Greece teaching English and my partner was living in NZ. I liked to think of it as an immaculate conception but the Greek mamas liked to think of it differently, I was the spawn of the devil, unmarried and pregnant. My daughter was a gift, a message in a bottle, learning and a teaching all rolled into one big fat ball. Not that I knew any of that. Roll forward … [Read more...]
How to find your inner teacher and move with intuition and grace
By guest author Maddy Schafer Are you consistently inconsistent? I am. I’m a one DVD yogini. That is, a friend shared her yoga DVD and I got hooked. I quickly memorised the fifteen minute morning yoga series, and started doing it on the floor at work a few days a week. Happily I work in an environment where there is carpet and this is possible. But that isn't the beginning of my yoga story. I don’t know how many years prior it was that I decided to start stretching at work in my breaks. I … [Read more...]
Vastu architecture in the West
By guest author Michael Borden The structure of the Vastu inspired building vibrates with cosmic energy and the bodily instrument resonates with this vibration. To create and offer the house of supreme bliss, and to enable us to experience that supreme bliss here in this mundane house itself – these are the prime motives of Vastu Science. - Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati In the mid-1990s, I begun a search for information about Vastu Architecture. I found that there were many ancient and modern … [Read more...]
Leaving behind window shopping for the soul & committing to a tradition
By guest author Carmen Howell of The Sadhana Studio The title for this article came from a blog, where the writer shared her "tempest of emotions, regarding the question of whether to take and commit to a teacher'? The advice she received was that window shopping for ceremonies, teachers and/or traditions prevents a situation where one can go deeply into any one tradition, and will only result in a shallow experience and knowledge of a topic. In short, window shopping can be delusional … [Read more...]
Help Yoga Education in Prisons Trust fund a free yoga manual for prisoners
By guest author Adhyatama of Kalpa Taru, Wellington Some of you may know I have been teaching Yoga up at Rimutaka prison for the last year and Waikeria and Springhill for the four years before that. I drive up to Rimutaka every Tuesday and spend a couple of hours in a Unit with serious violent offenders teaching asana (postures), breathing techniques to calm and relax them and Yoga Nidra. All I can say is that I just love it, and I love them! That may sound weird but honestly what magic … [Read more...]
You’re Un•BAL•anced… 4 easy ways to bring more balance to your life without really getting off your butt.
by columnist Gabrielle Harris, The Suburban Yogini Ever since I was publicly declared 'unbalanced' I got to thinking …… how can I go about getting my balance on? Here is a sampler of treatments from the suburbs: Therapy number one: Yin Yoga After discovering that according to Ayurvedic science my dosha was pitta (fire and energy) I became aware that to find more balance in my life I needed to jump off the power yoga treadmill and sit on my butt for long periods of time letting my … [Read more...]
How to help kids stay longer in yoga poses
by guest author Gopala Amir Yaffe, Rainbow Kids Yoga The benefits of the Yoga Poses increase as you stay longer in them. But staying for a long time in the poses is not easy for kids simply because, for them, it is totally boring… unless you do some of the following: Counting You can count to 10 when you bake a Yoga Pizza (Seated Forward Bend with legs apart), when you go under a yoga tunnel with your imaginary car while in the Yoga Bridge Pose, count down to launching a Yoga Spaceship … [Read more...]
Mind the Gap and It Will Set You Free. Promise
by Gabrielle Harris When I was about nine, Dad bought a strange woman to our house. She was dressed in white and had an exotic name. Our sleep-out was turned into a shrine. Suddenly suburban life was looking up. The lady was handed some cash and I had to give her something of value to myself. I gave her my teddy. I didn’t want to give her my teddy as I was attached to it. It’s good to have attachments when you are nine; it gives you something to work on in later years. Little did I know … [Read more...]
How to help kids do yoga better
by guest author Gopala Amir Yaffe, Rainbow Kids Yoga When you teach yoga to anybody, remember this: Open your eyes, your ears, your mind and your heart, and really look. Look at who is standing in front of you and start from where they are. If you start from where they are, there are no limits to what you can achieve together. If you start from where you expected and planned for them to be, or from where someone told you they are, or from where the book says…man, you’re in trouble! … [Read more...]