I have a huge confession to make. I don't want the responsibility for The Yoga Lunchbox anymore, and I don't know what to do about this. Because even though I don't want responsibility for the website anymore... the website isn't just about me. It's a community website, and it's taken input from the community to create such an amazing resource for the yoga community. There's been all kinds of people who've contributed to The Yoga Lunchbox - regular writers like Alys and Jessica, … [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.
Why I wouldn’t offer donation-style yoga classes again
Back when I first started this website, I was teaching Prana Flow Yoga classes where students paid whatever they thought the class was worth. This was an interesting experiment which generated a series of articles on how much a yoga class is worth. Recently I received an email from a teacher in Namibia who'd found these articles via Google and was excited about doing the same thing with her yoga classes. I've been thinking of switching to a donation based class and... I want the students … [Read more...]
Making peace with feeling guilty ‘cos I’m a single mum on the DPB
I'm now living in my new home, and it’s every bit as super-duper wonderful as I suspected it might be. The house is beautiful, my flatmates are wonderful, and it feels fantastic to be living in a real home with other people on the spiritual path. Yet in the midst of this heartfelt warmth and delight at moving into a wonderful home with fantastic people… I’ve noticed a lingering anxiety at the heart level. This anxiety is manifesting as a desire to rush through things. Must get the … [Read more...]
It’s ok to be happy you know?
I'm so excited right now. And really happy. There's joy spilling from my fingertips. I've had Massive Attack blasting in the morning as I dance my way through making breakfast and Madonna getting in to the groove when I get ready to go out... Not only have I found an awesome house to live in city-side, but I've also got three super-duper roomies moving in. Plus I'm building up my one-on-one yoga clientale, and LOVING teaching my students. I'm doing writers coaching via Skype … [Read more...]
Dude, where’s my teacher?!
I've been totally short-changed on my yoga journey. Never once have I had a Real Yoga Teacher. You know - the kind you have an on-going relationship with.. the kind who supports your yoga journey parsing out morsels of wisdom and insight at the exact moment you need them... the kind who's interested in your development and answers all your questions. Nope, thanks to some cruel twist of fate, I've been left to blunder through the mine field of yoga all by my lonesome. Partly this … [Read more...]
Honouring the changing season with gratitude, release and acceptance of change
I noticed the first leaf changing colour this week, on the tree outside the window in front of the kitchen sink. There's no denying while the days are still bright and hot here in Paekakariki, it's cooler in the shade or in the breeze, and night falls faster. Summer is but a whisper on the wind as autumn embraces us. 'Tis a time to feel grateful for the plentifulness of summer - the endless hot, cloudless blue sky days spent at the beach or the river, the good times spent with family … [Read more...]
Why I almost gave up teaching yoga
After spending two weeks in LA fulfilling a dream and doing Prana Flow yoga teaching with Shiva Rea, I thought I'd come home all fired up to teach kick-arse yoga classes. Instead, getting out of my car on a dreary Monday evening in Dunedin to teach my one and only yoga class a week at The Dunedin Yoga Studio, I felt... irritated. Yup. Ir-eeeeeee-tated. I dragged my feet up the stairs (all three flights - so worth the climb for yoga when you're next in Dunedin). And then I felt like … [Read more...]
Falling in love with seated postures, falling in love with me
Once upon a time, seated postures were so impossible for my rigid and bound body that I could only ever practice a standing series. Now, seated postures are exactly what I need. Partly it's because my body has opened up enough that it is now possible for me to sit on the ground with my legs straight out in front of me and my spine extended upward. Until that point is reached, seated postures either need modification, or props. But also, it's because I've changed. Once a driven, … [Read more...]
How I Finally Kicked my Co-dependent Relationship to the Kerb
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Who'd've thought? Strong, independent, courageous Moi was stuck in a co-dependent relationship. Yep, me neither. Despite getting wind of this fact about halfway through our 3 year or so relationship, it took me another 18 months to break the pattern. Which in the end meant breaking off the relationship. This relationship had been increasingly volatile ever since I got back from Prana Flow yoga teacher training in LA. I'd made a commitment to … [Read more...]
Because you’ve got to have faith, faith, faith
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It's a bit of an on-going saga right now, this life of mine, but I feel compelled to write about it. Why? Well... because I feel like it's important. Like I have this opportunity to face great change in my life with great courage. And writing about the challenges, the difficulties and the triumphs will show other people a yogic way to live - a way that's about being conscious and open-hearted. It's about taking the tools I've learned on the … [Read more...]