by guest author Premratna (Sarah Spence) Over the last few years I have started to see the difference between the different levels that music can take me to. After the hip hop, pop and theatre music of my teens and early adult years, I was relieved and excited to find a world of fun upbeat music that is spiritual in nature: kirtan and mantra came into my life. I can liken my musical journey to a music pyramid (like the healthy food one). I started at the wide bottom … [Read more...]
An exploration of non-attachment, or vairagya
by guest author Swami Muktidharma Saraswati For details of a retreat this weekend at Anahata Retreat on non-attachment, please see the end of this article. Attachment is one of the main causes in our lives of unhappiness. Attachment causes fear and fear is the trigger for a lot of other emotions such as anger, stress and lack of satisfaction in life. When there is attachment to an object, however small, there is fear of losing it. … [Read more...]
A yogic Christmas fable – The Christmas Tree
Every now and then, something drops into my in-box that fills me with delight and merriment. This arrived recently from fellow yoga teacher Roger Livingstone and I just knew I had to share it with a wider audience. Enjoy! Dear Yoga Friends and other aligned beings, Here is my Christmas message. I trust you'll dig it. All my best to you. Long ago in a fabled age when men and women were wise, noble and good, the Christmas Tree had profound symbolic meaning. Some characteristics … [Read more...]
What’s yoga got to do with climate action?
Well, plenty actually. And this is the perfect time to write about that connection. One, it's International Blog Action Day, when bloggers around the world write about one topic that matters - this year the environment. And two, next Saturday October 24th is International Climate Action Day, also happening worldwide. Here in Wellington, there will be meditation at Frank Kitts Park all day, and The Big Stretch - a free yoga class at 3pm. We want to get as many yogis to the free yoga … [Read more...]
How yoga has the power to transform and release avidya (self-ignorance)
My first experience with the power of avidya came about twenty minutes into my third ashtanga yoga class. Or maybe my second. The exact number is not important, just that I was a broke backpacker partway through a pre-paid ten week yoga course. The teacher, a long, lanky woman in her early forties, brought us into Warrior One - Virabhadrasana I. My hips were skewed decidedly sideways. My back heel struggled to connect with the floor. My arms were crooked and screamed in protest as I … [Read more...]
Being Still for a Change – Why Meditating is a Response to Climate Change
by guest author Christine Dann, writer, researcher, teacher and Green activist October 24, 2009 is a day with a difference, one that will go down in history as the first international day of grass roots action on climate change. Hopefully it will be the last such day, because the world leaders meeting at the December climate change conference in Copenhagen will get the message - stop protecting the profits of big business and start protecting people and other living beings by committing to … [Read more...]
How yoga helps unleash the power of truth in your life
By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It is so common to lie in our day-to-day lives that most of us don't even know we're doing it. It is so acceptable to withhold truth in order to gain advantage that it's considered good business practice or smart politics. Truth is seen as something that gets in the way of a good sale, it gets in the way of what we want to do, or where we want go. Truth is simply, as Al Gore put it - inconvenient. It is true that we can not sustain the lifestyle … [Read more...]
How yoga practice teaches you to listen to your intuition through life’s transitions
by guest author Lynda Miers-Henneveld of Yoga Unlimited Yoga teaches us to embrace the natural rhythms of life. Through our practice we can ground ourselves in times of instability, or motivate and energise ourselves when we feel stuck. A personal practice has to reflect our changing circumstances if it is to support us in our journey through this life. If we stay present to what is happening in our bodies, minds and hearts, we can adapt our practice intuitively. … [Read more...]
How to use yoga to help you be a better parent
Yoga is 'union' and there is no greater path to union than that of the relationship between parent and child - and a parent's relationship with themselves. by guest author Amanda Reid of Samadhi Yoga Where else do you have the challenge and opportunity to be your most mindful at each moment? Where your every communication has the potential to create conflict or upliftment? Children respond either consciously or unconsciously to each moment and can make us painfully aware of our gaps … [Read more...]
Am I a bad yogi because I want to eat steak?
Last week I received a comment from a reader prompted by the article they'd been reading, Will yoga give me a great body? I have recently started yoga, been almost a month & I love it. I have been doing "The Paleo Diet" - Lean Meats, Fruits, Vegs, No breads or Grains, Beans etc. I am eating more of what a cave man would/could eat and with that & yoga I am losing weight. I have to be honest with you, I kinda feel bad. I feel that I can't love yoga & be a yogi if I eat meat, which … [Read more...]