by Kara-Leah Grant There are two ways to live life. One is as a victim, getting upset and angry at what life throws at you, and trying to change the people and circumstances around you to make life easier. The second is as a Master, taking whatever life throws at you and using it to change yourself, making yourself stronger and more resilient so life becomes easier and easier. If you've been wasting energy on trying to change people around you, or wasting energy on reacting to the … [Read more...]
What does it look like to live like a yogi? In this section you'll find all kind of article about living life the yogic way - from conscious consumerism, to architecture and how to deal with hangover... Here you'll find out how yoga applies to all aspects of life!
The Gifts of Applying Ahimsa to Daily Life
By guest author Mike Kuplevatsky The fundamental nature of happiness and our relationship between our inner world and the external world most often intertwine. Without realizing it, our happiness is often governed by the external world. For example, if someone frowns at us, honks a horn at us, calls us crazy, disagrees with with some of our viewpoints or thinks badly of us, our happiness most often instantly becomes interrupted. That can play out into violence towards ourselves or to … [Read more...]
Gina Brezini on the Transformative Power of Circling, or Relational Yoga
Gina Brezini of Circling Adventures as interviewed by Kara-Leah Grant. Kara-Leah: Can you introduce yourself to The Yoga Lunchbox readers? Who are you? Gina: My name is Gina Brezini. I have two passions—for creativity and for spiritual development. As I write this, it occurs to me that both are rooted in authenticity. So, it seems that what I deeply care about is authentic expression. I am committed to teach it in ways that empower, inspire, and create transformation in people’s … [Read more...]
How Compassion Makes Yoga Relevant
by John Guthrie Sitting quietly, the dawn chorus yet to begin, I think of that one word, compassion. The image of a hermit in a cave somewhere comes to mind, and I reflect on this as the embodiment of compassion. Away from the world, yet radiating out the peace that arises from compassion, which has been birthed in the depth of their silence. A place that could just as well have its roots in suffering. There are those whose compassion has arisen from personal suffering. In the last … [Read more...]
There’s More to Us Than Meets The Eye: Exploring The Five Koshas
By Trish Brown, co-director of Dru Yoga Australia If you have ever suspected that there was more to you than just your physical body, yoga philosophy reveals that you are right. According to ancient yoga texts, we are indeed much more than just the physical, being made up of five distinct layers known as the koshas. The koshas are often compared to the layers of an onion. If you can see the physical body as the outer layer, traveling inwards through more subtle layers of energy, emotion and … [Read more...]
How to Deal with the Challenges that Arise in Relationships using Yoga
by guest author Swami Neelmani First, let us look at the word relationship. What does it mean? A relationship is an association, a connection, a bond, an ongoing exchange, a link which occurs with ourselves, other people, nature, animals and objects. There are a variety of things we can have relationships with in life. In relationships we connect and interact with something or somebody else, through our mind, emotions, energy and actions. Possibly the most challenging, confronting … [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...]
Exploring the Niyamas: How does Svadhyaya affect our lives?
by Kara-Leah Grant I've been pondering the yamas and niyamas for a few years now. Reading about them, thinking about them, writing about them... and of course, living them out. The niyama on my mind right now is Svadhyaya, often translated as study. Seems to sum up my entire approach to yoga really - the study of the practice and the study of the Self. Without that, there is no yoga, just a bunch of fancy moves thrown together on a mat. Svadhyaya is the difference between rotely moving … [Read more...]
Exploring the Niyamas: Using tapas to burn through our shit
by Kara-Leah Grant Oh God do I need to cultivate tapas right now. Or I am cultivating it. Or the cultivation of it is serving me. Or something. I'm over-whelmed, emotional, stressed out and just want to get off this damn computer and go sit under a tree. (Notice the shift from Wednesday's post on self-realisation? Welcome to duality people!) It's two days until book launch and I have a mountain of things to do but I'm staying with family and also want to see them and I have a … [Read more...]
Exploring the Niyamas: How do we cultivate Samtosha (contentment) in our life?
by Kara-Leah Grant Of all the yamas and the niyamas I've explored in my life so far, this one made the most sense simply by looking at the word. Contentment. Yip. Know what that means. I didn't need to go and hunt through all my books reading what various yoga teachers and yogic scholars have written about contentment. I didn't need to search on Google to explore the different nuances. I got it. Out of the box. And I need it. Oh do I need it so bad. Wait... is that an oxymoron - to … [Read more...]