Image by Okan Caliskan from Pixabay by Kara-Leah, I'm feeling a real desire to simplify and streamline my life right now. Beyond what's the normal de-clutter of a spring-clean. Yesterday I watched a video which helped me clarify why this is so. Kiesha Crowther Little Grandmother is one of the 12 young Shaman wisdom keepers from the United States speaking clearly about what's going on in our world right now. It's nothing new. We've heard it all before. This is a crucial time for Planet … [Read more...]
Is it yoga if we ‘leave the mysticism behind’, or is it just a workout?
I forget sometimes that to many people yoga is just a workout. It's a way to stretch, to get a tight butt, to flatten the belly. I forget that Prana doesn't necessarily even exist for many people. Spirituality, energy, connection, divinity and all that kind of spiritual woo woo is pretty far out in most corners of NZ society. Most people aren't interested in any kind of spiritual enlightenment, or spiritual path when they go to a yoga class. They've got a wedding to go to next weekend … [Read more...]
My third eye’s a’twitchin’ – does that mean she’s awakening?
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 My third eye has been twitching all afternoon, a sensation which started during my recent trip to LA for teacher training with Shiva Rea. The last time I can remember it doing this I was … [Read more...]
Integrating Tantra practices into daily life
One of the most amazing experiences of my Prana Flow teacher training with Shiva Rea was our morning meditation and lecture sessions with Chris Tompkins, something I'll go into detail about in a future post. I've long wanted to establish an early morning practice, and having to be there most mornings at 7am for 12 days has done this. I was able to witness the effect of just sitting and connecting to the Self, the effect of using bija mantras every morning, and the way it set my entire day … [Read more...]
Diving into the flow of Fluid Power
It's day number.... something? on my Prana Flow teacher training with Shiva Rea. The training is at Exhale Spa, Venice, California and the apartment I'm staying in with another student is a short walk along Venice Beach. Ah Venice Beach... like no other I've ever encountered. Shops and cafes on one side... a wide pavement of walkers, bikers, rollarbladers & skaters, dogs and skateboards in the middle... and vendors, musicians, and hanger-ons on the other side. Beyond the vendors … [Read more...]
Applying the fifth yama, Aparigraha (non-hoarding), to daily life
by Kara-Leah, Of all the yamas, this is the one which, if kept, would have the most profound effect on our western, consumer, materialistic society. If we all lived in such a way that we were non-possessive, non-accumulative, and non-hoarding... it would totally shift our relationship to stuff, to the earth, to ideas, to ego-identity and to each other. The way we did business would change. The way we manufactured products would change. Our footprint upon the earth would lighten enormously. The … [Read more...]
Applying the Fourth Yama, Brahmacharya (Moderation), to Daily Life
Image by gonghuimin468 from Pixabay by Kara-Leah, By far, this has been the trickiest yama to get a handle on. Definitions of what it means vary widely - from total celibacy at one end, to the application of moderation towards all sensory experiences at the other. Some also define it according to the literal word meaning itself, which provides another spin altogether. Brahma literally means the ‘divine consciousness’ and charya, in this context, means ‘living’ or ‘one who is established in’. … [Read more...]
Applying the third yama, Asteya (non-stealing), to daily life
by Kara-Leah Working with a different yama each week has been far tougher than I ever thought. It feels like each one is showing me yet another way in which I create suffering from myself. Problem is, the patterns of behaviour are so subtle and so ingrained that perceiving them is one thing, changing them is another. Asteya, or non-stealing, has shown up in all kinds of unexpected ways for me. Far more than just refraining from stealing material items, Asteya also means not taking … [Read more...]
Applying The Second Yama, Satya (Truth), to Daily Life
By Kara-Leah Grant It didn't surprise me to discover this week that a yoga asana (posture) for Satya could be Virabhadrasana 1 or Warrior 1 Posture, as this is a posture of standing forward and being forward in your truth. Before I started yoga, my entire life had been built on a lie - a lie that I'd told myself and totally believed. This lie was so embedded in my consciousness that when I first ever did Virabhadrasana 1 in a yoga class I was so challenged mentally and emotionally that I … [Read more...]
Surviving and thriving in the Christchurch earthquake
Like many yoga workshops, the recent Anusara Workshop in Christchurch with Noah Maze shook up our concepts of reality, purpose, values and life. Only in this workshop, Heroes and Heroines: Stories and Practices of Yoga, it wasn't the teachings nor the practice or even the teacher doing all the shaking, it was the earth herself. On Saturday morning, at 4.35am... just hours after a stimulating two hour practice to kickstart the weekend underpinned by the mythology of Hanuman the Monkey … [Read more...]