WIN a copy of Kara-Leah's new book 'Field Notes from Kundalini Awakening', publishing in 2018. Guaranteed to take you on an intimate journey into the depths of the Kundalini experience. Click here to sign up for the book launch list and go into the draw to win one of THREE print copies. By Kara-Leah Grant The following information is not gospel - it's just my reflections and my understandings based on my own experience of Kundalini Awakening. As always, don't believe a thing I say unless it … [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...]
How to meditate with a baby or toddler
by Kara-Leah Grant, My daily, morning half-hour meditation is a must-do. It's the first priority as soon as I wake up, and whenever possible, I'll get up and do it before my toddler is out of bed. There are times though when he's awake before me, and that means I meditate with him. I've done this ever since he was a tiny baby - tiny enough to lie nestled on my lap, sleeping, while I meditated. He out-grew that at about four months, and now he's quite happy to play around me while I do my … [Read more...]
Love comes first, we’ll make heaven a place on earth
I landed back in Wellington last Thursday under a Full Moon, after spending a week making my way up the South Island staying at friends' and family's houses along the way. The trip unfolded spontaneously, as I allowed each next step to reveal itself in it's own good time. Fortuitiously, my Dad and step-mum arrived back a few days early from their camping trip, so Samuel and I were able to spend a fun-filled afternoon and evening at their house in Blenheim, before catching the ferry the … [Read more...]
It’s the end of the world as we know it… and I feel strong
I feel raw right now as it's been an intensely challenging three or four weeks. I finally broke up with my partner of three and half years on December 30th, a decision that's been a long time coming, but something I was fervently doing my best to avoid. In the end, there was no avoiding the facts. I couldn't continue my practice of being loving and open while standing strong in my truth, and stay in the relationship. Initially there was a feeling of relief - finally no more back and … [Read more...]