by Kara-Leah Grant I had a moment on Sunday when I hated myself. Or at least, hated an aspect of myself, for I recognise that it is not the Self I am hating, but a shadow that lives within. This particular shadow is the controlling, wrathful, angry, tense, uptight aspect of me. Here's how this unfolded on Sunday. I felt amazing in the early morning, dancing to my favourite music in the kitchen while washing dishes. Housework + epic music + dancing is one of my favourite household … [Read more...]
Kara-Leah Grant gets up close & personal about life on and off the yoga mat as she puts her life back together after a Kundalini Awakening experience.
The Joy of Discovering a Fear of Failure
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently, I moved back to Glenorchy, a small mountain town where I've lived a few times previously. I was exciting about the move, and also feeling some anxiety. Preparing to write my third book, Love's Shadows, I felt called to come home to the mountains. Yet it also meant moving my son, now seven and at school, yet again. We were meant to be staying put in one place now he'd started school. I was meant to be done with moving around. I was meant to be embracing a … [Read more...]
The Terror of Relaxing and Enjoying Life
by Kara-Leah Grant I’m in one of my favourite places in the world - Glenorchy. The sun is shining. The day is still. It’s at least 20 degrees, which passes for a good summer’s day in what has been the worst summer in years. There’s so much in my life to be grateful for - a loving partner, growing son, supportive family, expanding retreats, selling books, thriving website, incredible friends. I am where I always wanted to be. And yet, I am not relaxed. Nor am I enjoying myself. And I am … [Read more...]
What Does it Mean to Love Unconditionally?
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently in our Heart of Tribe Facebook Group, one of the participants asked me to elaborate on what it means to love people - especially family - unconditionally. “For me, to do this fully would at times be to my own detriment. Sometimes it's just too much 'stuff', too much drama. What do we do when we can't hold that space for them? Or worse...when their stuff is just toxic. And how to discern when to do this and when you just...can't/shouldn’t.” That first … [Read more...]
The Humbling Experience of Ditching Music While Teaching Yoga
by Kara-Leah Grant Facilitating retreat is always a powerful experience, not just for the retreatees, but also for myself and the other facilitators. I know that I'm going to get triggered, that my ideas and beliefs will be challenged, and my unconsciousness revealed. This is the process of retreat, and it is immensely rewarding. In the middle of the fire though, it's damned hard work. Case in point: The Heart of Joy, Bali. I’m co-facilitating with Ben Ralston. It's only the second retreat … [Read more...]
A Brand New Vision! Of… No-Thing-Ness. Again.
by Kara-Leah Grant One month ago I wrote about creating a new vision to orient The Yoga Lunchbox behind. Normally when I set sail on a course of action like that, things move fast. Normally that vision would be laid out clear by now. But these are not normal times, at least, not in my world. Over the last six months I have been on the super-highway to facing reality as it is. At least, that's what it's felt like. A perfect storm of people and circumstances have given me ample opportunity … [Read more...]
The New World Paradigm: Get Clear, Create a Vision, Take Action
by Kara-Leah Grant Eight years ago this week I began The Yoga Lunchbox with a vision in mind - to Bring Yoga to the People. Daily practice had made an enormous difference to my physical, mental and emotional well-being and I envisioned a world where everybody knew about yoga and meditation, and 10% of the population was practicing regularly. That vision has now been fulfilled. Yoga is everywhere. And people are practicing. So now what for The Yoga Lunchbox? That's what I've been … [Read more...]
Can You ‘Make Up’ a Yoga Pose?
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently I read a post on social media which went something like this: Here's so & so teacher making up a new yoga pose for you. WTF? Since when were yoga poses - asana - 'made up'? Since they began being taught through intellectual understanding rather than embodiment, that's when. Yoga postures are a physical result of an energetic process. They emerge from the flow of Prana within the body. Or here's another way to put it. Yoga is a state of presence. In that … [Read more...]
The Key to Ageing Gracefully
by Kara-Leah Grant I watched Madonna on the Grammy's a few years ago and I almost wept. Who was this shell of a woman, her papery-thin and paper-coloured skin stretched tight across her face? We all know she's nearly 60, where's the deviant wrinkles, the glorious salt & pepper hair, the relaxed winks as she settles into enjoying her undisputed reign as Queen of Pop? Instead, she's morphed into a caricature of her once saucy and irreverent self. I yearn for the Maddy of old, who was … [Read more...]
How Love’s Shadows Invite Us Into Deep Intimacy
by Kara-Leah Grant I didn't expect to feel this way when he arrived in my life. But this man who I'd been friends with for four years online before finally meeting in person landed in my heart with the softness of a blown dandelion flower gone to seed. Looking back, I asked myself, when did I know? When did I realise that we had this connection, this intimacy, this opening into relationship? Was it when he stayed at my house after getting off the plane? Was it when he got off the … [Read more...]