by Dr Jane Hardcastle, Movewell: therapeutic yoga, massage, and movement Hearing “take a deep breath in…and out” is ubiquitous in many yoga classes, as yoga teachers encourage students to better access their breath, become aware of 'chest breathing' and use their breath as a barometer of where, and how they are. Classes are often accompanied by publicly audible ‘ujjayi’ breath. We witness bellies expanding as students believe they are ‘doing’ great breathing. But should we ever ‘do’ … [Read more...]
Meeting Life As It Is: iRest Yoga Nidra & The Practice of Opposites
by Una Hubbard, Meditation and Yoga with Una I used to be a perfectionist living life in black and white, ‘either/or’. My understanding of the depression I experienced, for instance, was to find a way to be happy. If sad, be happy. I mean, simple really. I also had a real beef with anger. And that beef was simply this: I really didn’t like it. I didn't like it when someone raised their voice or showed displeasure. I wanted it all to go away. I wanted calm instead. If angry, be calm. … [Read more...]
How to Use The Power of The Second Chakra to Access Joy
by Sherida Mullings, Purusha Yogi The extra bit of sunlight has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. While teaching a class the other day, I noticed one on my students squinting as rays of sunlight streamed directly into her eyes. It was 8:10 pm and the sun was just going down. I thought back to just a few months ago when it was dark and depressing at only 6:30 pm and I smiled as I said to my class, “Take a breath and take in the last moments of the daylight.” How glorious it is to feel the … [Read more...]
The Simple Trick That Transformed My Meditation Practice
by Lucinda Staniland I'm a perfectionist. I love getting things exactly right. So when I got interested in meditation, I had a lot of questions about how I should be doing it: How long should I meditate for? Eyes open or closed? Should I focus on the breath or chant a mantra? Visualise chakras or empty my mind completely? I tried all these things. But somehow, no matter what I did, I felt like I was never quite getting it right. Meditation always felt like hard work to me. It was … [Read more...]
A Yoga Poem to Brighten Your Practice: Parivritta Janu Sirsasana
By Leza Lowitz, Sun and Moon Yoga Poems can be a window in to the powerful, but often subtle, transformations that occur as part of the practice of yoga. This poem, taken from Leza Lowitz's collection, Yoga Poems: Lines to Unfold By, is a delicate exploration of the physical and spiritual dimensions of Parivrtta Janu Sirsasana. Also check out Leza's recent article, Living Your Gifts: Six Steps to Awakening a Yogic Heart. Parivritta Janu Sirsasana revolving knee to head Deep in the … [Read more...]
How Long Should I Meditate For?
by Kara-Leah Grant If you've googled your way to this article, you've likely come looking for some kind of concrete answer to your question. Like 10 minutes a day. Or twenty minutes, three times a week. If that's the kind of answer you're looking for, because you're using meditation as a way to de-stress, or chill out, or because all the cool kids are doing it, you may as well stop reading right now. This article won't help you by giving you a definitive answer. However, if you're meditating … [Read more...]
How to Activate Your Chakras, Unlock Your Asana Practice & Make Your Heart Sing
By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops: Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016 Kovalam, India August/September 2017. Find out more here. Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally? Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]
Jonni Pollard on the Nature of Unbounded Consciousness and Awakening {video}
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...]
Further Yoga Lessons in Bone Compression and Anatomical Limitations
by Kara-Leah Grant This week in my Ashtanga practice I've been exploring and playing with two joints in particular - my ankle joints and wrist joints. Thanks to a Yin Yoga workshop, I've identified that I have a limited range of movement in both of these joints - less than the normal range. The only posture that my limited ankle mobility appears to impact in the Primary Series (I'm up to Bhujapidasana (Shoulder-Pressing Pose)) is Utkatasana (Chair Pose). Prior to the realisation about my … [Read more...]
How Bone Compression Prevents Me from Doing Bhujapidasana
By Kara-Leah Grant I've been aware of the role that bone compression plays in our range of movement since watching a series of Paul Grilley videos on YouTube. Yet despite knowing this intellectually, it wasn't until I attended a Yin Yoga Workshop with Karin Sang and Markus Henning Giess of Yin Therapy that I realised how bone compression was impacting my yoga practice. Over the course of the day, Markus lead us through several bone compression tests so we could determine our natural range of … [Read more...]