by Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips, Spirit Fire Yoga Yoga in all its forms has brought me head-to-head with my greatest challenges and the satisfaction that comes from working through them. My own brand of yoga evolution led me to teaching, first in New Zealand and now in the States. As with every evolution, I learned tons each time I showed up to teach. Showing up at anything is all it takes. While making mistakes as a teacher, I grow and learn to become more connected to others, and kinder to … [Read more...]
About Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips
Breaking down my self-made prison through truth
by guest author Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips The practice brought me to Denver for 27 days of karmic hell and dharmic euphoria. The practice reincarnated 28 years of emotional bullshit compost into rich spiritual soil. The practice destroyed the facade of "reality" in terms of conditioning and societal truths. I died in the practice. The practice brought me back to life. I realized this all at about 5:30 in the morning on Week Two of my Forrest Yoga Teacher Training. It was finger-numbingly … [Read more...]
Forrest for the trees – no bullshit, just yoga
by guest author Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips The planted seed of a fruitful vine is a memorable moment. For me, it was hungrily reading through old issues of Yoga Journal on the second floor of the Wellington library. After starting to feel yoga as a lifestyle decision, not just an exercise regime, I wanted to learn everything I could. My body still bore the inflexibility and weakness of someone brand new to the practice, but my soul had expanded immediately. In the haze of too much … [Read more...]
Confessions of a shiny new yoga teacher
by Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips, I never planned on this happening but, in the immortal lyrics of John Lennon: Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. Now I find myself standing in front of a class full of eager yogis and yoginis, all eying me in expectation. Though I’ve memorised my teaching sequence, filled my water bottle and set my (meticulously planned) iPod soundtrack, I feel under-prepared and, well, kind of terrified. No where in my brain does it register that most … [Read more...]
How to use the creativity of yoga to unleash the child within
We’re all too often wrapped up in the tasks of life. As we age, we run the risk of diminishing our natural creativity for the sake of ‘being a grown-up’. The practice of yoga will help keep the inner child alive, and creativity flowing. By Seka Ojdrovic Children can be our best teachers Nearing the end of a particularly child-like weekend (spent tumbling down a waterslide, enjoying a double-scoop ice cream cone and visiting a toy store), I was thrilled when the sun shone bright so … [Read more...]
How practicing yoga builds internal strength for day to day living
Finding something to passionately believe in is indeed daunting, but immensely rewarding. Discover who you are to discover what you passionately believe in. By guest author Seka Ojdrovic I was given an amazing Christmas gift this year. My aunt had taken it on herself to translate from Serbian to English a story written by my grandfather about an experience of his during World War 2. He and his fellow patriots were told that they would be taken from former Yugoslavia … [Read more...]
How to approach challenging yoga poses with patience and self-kindness
Though we all know, as good yogis should, that the purpose of our practice is to create a greater sense of inner peace and self-actualization, it’s sometimes difficult to not push ourselves past our physical limits. by guest author Seka Ojdrovic It’s often said that we are our own worst critic. Part of being human is striving to attain the unattainable and not being satisfied until it’s within our grasp. The practice of yoga is no exception, as we often literally stretch … [Read more...]