By Karen Le Cussan A little over a week ago I had the most amazing experience of my life, something which has now changed forever the way I see the world and how I feel. Before I go into any detail, I'd like to tell you a little about myself: I am forty nine years old, and I am married with three teenage children, two of whom live at home. I am a personal trainer, Balance and Pump Instructor and I work at a local ladies gym in Queenstown, New Zealand. I do not follow any particular … [Read more...]
How to Use Ayurveda to Guide Your Yoga Practice
by guest author Jacinta Aalsma Besides yoga, I’ve always been interested in Ayurveda. Not so strange; Ayurveda and yoga have been sister sciences since the beginning in ancient India. Ayurveda deals with the healing side for the physical body as well as the mind. You could consider yoga as the more spiritually-oriented sister. In practice, they will both overlap. Since a couple of months my yoga practice has been transformed from mostly public classes in my local yoga studio to a home … [Read more...]
The Benefits of Chasing Pain and the Gifts of Living with an Auto-Immune Disease
by guest author Emma Fernbloom, former owner of The Dunedin Yoga Studio It wasn’t that long ago I was standing in front of a room full of people and assuring them that if they practice yoga regularly, not only would all of their health problems disappear but they would be successfully avoiding old age, loss of vitality and disease. I was glowing with my own certainty that I had found the keys to a healthy fulfilled life. I was strong, flexible and graceful. I was meditating every day and … [Read more...]
How I Learnt to Build Core Strength and Heal My Injuries with Yoga
By Jonathan FitzGordon, The CoreWalking Program Way back in 1998, following the last of three knee surgeries, and after a year and a half of physical therapy, I was finally back on my yoga mat, when a teacher asked me a life changing question. "What are you doing to avoid a fourth surgery?" "Nothing," was my sheepish response. Yoga had saved my life but it also broke my body. My childhood had been active though no one taught me how to do anything so I was particularly horrible at baseball, the … [Read more...]
All the Curvy Ladies do Practice Yoga
By guest author Anna Guest-Jelley, Curvy Yoga When I first started practicing yoga, I never, ever, ever saw another bigger-bodied person like me. Never. Most days, I thought I was the only one. But I secretly dreamed of finding others -- people who also longed for a yoga practice where no one said Lay your belly on your thighs Because, hello, if I move a centimeter, I'm already there. Wave your hands in the air Now, I know I'm mixing song references here, but I hope you'll forgive me. Because … [Read more...]
E=MC2 for Yogic Inspiration
by guest author KateMcLeay, Flow Yoga What has the most influential scientist of the 20th century got to do with yoga? Albert Einstein, the German physicist who revolutionized scientific thought, developed the Theory of Relativity and opened the gateway for the creation of the atomic bomb, remains prolifically quoted and what he says totally speaks to my yogic psyche. When I think of Albert Einstein I think of crazy hair, a towering intellect and wise words. Many of those wise words sound … [Read more...]
The Unbearable Lightness of Being: Yoga, weight, body image and weightlessness
By guest author Nanditha Ram, author of Blissful Mom, Blissful Baby I have borrowed the title of one of my favourite novels to serve as title of this article. It's a post modern philosophical product of the 1980s, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera. I've borrowed it because it brought to my mind, in a round-about sort of way, a connection with yoga and weight... and our modern day crisis of how we view the self. Yoga is a great weight busting practice. A truly reliable way to … [Read more...]
Where Are All the Fat Chicks in Yoga Media?
by Kara-Leah Grant Polarizing headline, no? Am I allowed to use the word fat? How about the word chick? Or would you prefer I lead with something along the lines of: Why are most yoga images of young, slender white women? Also appropriate. But I like the first headline. I like the way it sounds and the way I say it. How you read it and what judgement you place on it is up to you. I pass no judgement on fat. Or on chicks. This is a valid query - as one of my readers pointed out … [Read more...]
Exploring the Niyamas: How does Ishvara Pranidhana affect our lives?
by Kara-Leah Grant Do we dare, do we dare, do we dare surrender to God? Oh boy - the G-word in yoga. Scary stuff indeed. How on earth does God relate to yoga? Let's start by ditching the word God - although that's what Ishvara refers to, instead we can call it the Grand Ordering Design if we like. It's nothing more than the infinite intelligence throughout the Universe that keeps everything in place - the sun rising, the moon waxing and waning, the tides rising and falling, seeds … [Read more...]
The great debate – Which is better, Yoga or Pilates?
by guest author Jude Mahood, Suburban Yoga, Dunedin I recently heard someone describe Yoga/Pilates fusion (or Yogalates as it is often called) as the coming together of natural soul mates. I couldn’t agree more. But there are still many people out there who think that bringing Pilates principles into their Yoga is somehow tainting or contaminating. There is nothing wrong with being purist in our thinking, but it’s also important to maintain an open mind. When we close our minds, we close … [Read more...]