an essay by guest author Ali Halle Tilley Yoga is an ancient practice, which can bring transformation and liberation to the disillusioned, disenfranchised masses[1] of the Technological Age by combining universal moral codes and postural sequences, with breathing and meditation techniques. One main challenge for yoga practiced in the West, however, is the contagion of consumerism where yoga students and teachers buy into what is currently fashionable and dismiss what is genuine. This … [Read more...]
What if yoga is like religion?
by guest author Melissa Billington, from MYOGA For years I’ve seen the fear people have around Yoga, some claiming it’s a cult or a religion and refusing to take part because they would be seen by the upholders of their own religion as hypocritical or blasphemous. Many yoga styles and schools are based in a religion and there is even Christian yoga. While many more styles and schools stick to their claim that yoga is an art, a philosophy, and a science, but not a religion. The word … [Read more...]
Will you still be doing yoga at 90?
by guest author Emma Furness, owner of the Dunedin Yoga Studio I recently attended the Yoga Aotearoa IYTA convention in Auckland. This was a wonderful opportunity to connect into a wider yoga community – a community that included teachers that had been teaching and practicing yoga for more years than I had been alive. In my practice I often run into my own expectations of what my practice ‘should’ bring me: health, longevity, enlightenment, great body. None of these is guaranteed, even … [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...]
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...]