by Kara-Leah Grant I first met Jonni Pollard at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo in 2015. He was leading the mass meditation at 7pm on the Saturday night. I'd bumped into the other Jonnie from Wanderlust - Jonnie Halstead - hovering nervously around the Mothership, which turned into the mainstage and dance floor in the evening. Jonnie with an E confided in me that this dude from Melbourne - also called Jonni - was about to lead a mass meditation and he wasn't sure how it was going to go down. Yes, … [Read more...]
What is meditation? How do you do it? Why would you want to do it? Is it fun? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the articles and stories below.
Is Meditation Dangerous?
by Kara-Leah Grant I got a call from a journalist at the Waikato Times a few weeks ago who wanted to interview me for an article on the 'pros and cons' of meditation. I wasn't sure if I could help her out - after all, I don't teach meditation - however it turned out she wanted to interview me about my experience of awakening and psychosis. Ah... I was to be the con in the article. Yes, meditation is dangerous, it can send you crazy! I pondered whether to do it or not. I understand journalism … [Read more...]
Gina Brezini on the Transformative Power of Circling, or Relational Yoga
Gina Brezini of Circling Adventures as interviewed by Kara-Leah Grant. Kara-Leah: Can you introduce yourself to The Yoga Lunchbox readers? Who are you? Gina: My name is Gina Brezini. I have two passions—for creativity and for spiritual development. As I write this, it occurs to me that both are rooted in authenticity. So, it seems that what I deeply care about is authentic expression. I am committed to teach it in ways that empower, inspire, and create transformation in people’s … [Read more...]
Join Me for a Forty Day Meditation and Manifestation Practice Designed to Rock Your World
by Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga (Just interested in getting the Meditation & Manifestation PDF? Skip to the bottom of the article for details.) My asana practice has been strong and regular for the last few months thanks to a combination of Mysore-style Ashtanga with Peter Sanson, and teaching more Vinyasa Flow classes (which necessitates more practice and prep for asana sequences). But I've been really missing meditation. It's been harder to fit it in when I'm … [Read more...]
A young man, a desire to meditate, and India circa 1979
By guest author John Guthrie April 1979, Kundabodha, a Meditation hermitage in Sri Lanka. This young man had been travelling for some time. Having already begun to learn the disciplines of Hatha Yoga, he now had a burning desire to learn meditation. In particular Buddhist meditation had an appeal to him. What drugs could not do, then no doubt meditation would succeed. After all, in much of what he had read in those recent times, the authors wrote that the illusory nature of mind … [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 Meditate in Four Easy Steps
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness I like to consider what 'meditation' is, from the perspective of a beginner, or someone who's never heard of it. Sometimes the more I think I know about something, the further away I get from really knowing the heart of it! So, having reflected on it, from an experiential place, I reckon this thing called 'meditation' actually just consists of four qualities, or skills in the mind: 1) Focus Take an object, such as the … [Read more...]
What’s Love Got to Do with Meditation?
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness In many traditions, the practice of kindness and love is an integral part of the meditative journey. You may wonder, 'why?' Sometimes the way that the concept of 'mindfulness' is presented can make it seem like a utilitarian technique to become more efficient, or more functional in the world. This is certainly a part of it, of course. But then there's the love thing. You can't go too far into any authentic contemplative tradition … [Read more...]
The joy hidden within chaos
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness On the surface of things, spirituality can seem to be about control, right? 'Mind Control' perhaps. Or 'Body Control'? On the far end of the spectrum you even get teachings suggesting that the point of life is to have ultimate control over the universe. Sounds good, doesn't it? But is that what 'spirituality', or more accurately, freedom is about? I personally wonder if it is. What could be more gratifying to our ego than … [Read more...]
Why ‘Letting Go’ and ‘Detachment’ Can be Pitfalls on the Spiritual Path
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness I received this honest and moving question a few weeks back: If you have never bonded with your mother and so have never experienced secure attachment in a primary relationship, how can you work with non-attachment? And letting go? When you have never really experienced having anything to hold onto? The first thing I should say is this: I am no expert in this field, so please don't take my word as gospel. I can only reflect from … [Read more...]