by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I rolled out my yoga mat this afternoon, grabbing an opportunistic moment to get in my practice. My lunch was well digested. The baby was sleeping. My partner was outside practicing his guitar. And I knew I needed to practice. No asana for two days and my body felt tight. There was tension in my left shoulder shooting up into my neck, and my lower back has been uncharacteristically achy for a few weeks. One long om shanti track into my … [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.
How yoga helped me find my fortune in the big city
Two years ago my partner and I left Arrowtown to seek our fortunes in the big city. I'd been following my twin passions of writing and yoga as a freelancer in Queenstown, but was struggling financially in a big way. Everything I tried to do, I came up against brick walls- left, right and centre. Nothing seemed to be working for me at all. After a short three day trip to Wellington over the summer of 2008, I knew that Wellington was where I needed to be. Fortunately, it was where my … [Read more...]
The path to true abundance lies within
We live in an infinitely abundant universe. This is a fact. Stare up at a clear sky night and try and count the stars. Cut open a capsicum and try and count the seeds. Stand on the corner of Lambton Quay and Willis Street and try and count the people flowing in all directions. Life is abundant. It flourishes under even the harshest of conditions. Deserts. Mountain tops. Ocean depths. … [Read more...]
Why forgiveness of self is part of the yogic path toward samadhi (bliss)
Years of yoga practice has peeled away layers and layers of behaviours and thought patterns. The veil of avidya (self-ignorance) is lifting, but not without pain and discomfort. It’s this pain and discomfort that sent me fleeing from class so many years ago. It’s this pain and discomfort that has made my practice sporadic and disjointed at times. Bikram in particular used to dig deep inside to this bottomless well of tears that would erupt during class and pour forth without pause until … [Read more...]
Why sangha (spiritual community) is the most precious thing on your path
In Buddhist practice, the three jewels of life - or the three refugees - are what you turn to for support, for guidance, and for friendship. These are: The Buddha nature - the ideal or highest spiritual potential that exists within all beings. The Dharma - the teachings of Buddha, or the path one walks in following the teachings. And finally, Sangha - the community of other spiritual folk walking that same path, albeit in their own individual way. While these are Buddhist concepts, … [Read more...]
How Yoga Helps Us Ride the Storms of Life
by Kara-Leah Grant They say that some of the most stressful events in life include the following: renovating selling a house relationship breakdown pregnancy job uncertainty moving Of course, there are plenty of others. But these are just the ones I'm experiencing right now. Yep, life is kicking my butt. I should probably be curled up in a corner dissolving into a puddle of tears. But I'm not. I feel more calm, more centred, and more me than I've ever felt in my entire … [Read more...]
Why nothing is a problem anymore
My work mates thought I was nuts. A four day meditation retreat, three and a half days of which were in silence. Doing nothing but sitting meditation, walking meditation, eating and sleeping. To me it sounded like bliss. No work. No website. No teaching. No relationships. No internet, tv, media, newspaper, books, magazines. Just unadulterated being, led by one of New Zealand's most prominent meditation teachers, Stephen Archer in a beautiful retreat house in Otaki. The day's … [Read more...]
How to unleash your inner Goddess
There is a Goddess that lives inside each and every woman. In some women, the Goddess is obscured by thick, heavy clouds of fear. Posture is weighted, cramped and hunched. Skin is pale. Eyes dart. In other women, the Goddess has been laquered over with a mask of perfection. Glitz, glamour and gloss strut their stuff, leaving no time nor room for the sensual, knowing, easy delight of a Goddess. Then there are those women who fear for the safety of their Goddess in this (apparently) … [Read more...]
Why it’s important to have friends that share your vision for life
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat One of the joys of being serious about yoga and meditation practice is the community of like-minded friends I've built up around me. Traditionally, a serious aspirant on the spiritual path would have a teacher or guru to turn to for help, guidance and assistance. Life in Wellington means that this teacher or guru usually shows up in my life in the guise of friends and family. Walking a spiritual path is not easy. One could liken it to the … [Read more...]
A yogic exploration of winning the Big Wednesday jackpot
The single most destructive desire present in the human race is the desire "to make money". In the name of "making money", we make slaves of other people, we rape and pillage the earth, we abuse animals, we create inferior products designed to break down and crowd our landfills, we compromise our internal values, we trample over colleagues, we burn ourselves out, we spend more time working than with our family, and we write it all off as "just business". All this because of our burning … [Read more...]