by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the fourth Creative Sun Salutation Abundance flow here on The Yoga Lunchbox. This week we explore a transition posture as we move from the front of the mat to the back of the mat - an important part of working with circular sun salutations. In this particular variation, I'm using a squat to make that transition, which gives us a greater sense of our roots or foundation. Squatting is all about our relationship to the earth - we have to both surrender downward … [Read more...]
On the Dilution of the Genuine Transmission of Yoga Part 2
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I've been contemplating the many reactions I received to this article over the past week or so, On the Dilution of the Transmission of Yoga. One person unsubscribed from the website (or at least - one person told me they had because of this article, more people may have!) saying that I had made some good points but she found the article judgemental and unyogic. Other people rejoiced that someone was speaking such things out loud. It does feel … [Read more...]
Exploring How to Release the Iliopsoas Muscle Group in Warrior I
by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the third Creative Sun Salutation Abundance flow here on The Yoga Lunchbox. This week we move into the heart of our abundance sun salutation, moving through variations of Warrior I pose. Most of you will be familiar with Warrior I, yet no matter how many times you may have done it, there's always something to learn. Taking time and playing within each pose, separating out the components of it, is a masterful way to learn the posture from the inside … [Read more...]
How to Cultivate Abundance on the Yoga Mat Part 2 {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the second Creative Sun Salutation flow here on The Yoga Lunchbox. As with the last six-part series, the first two episodes in this series are free for anybody to access, and the final four are for Insiders only. (You can become a member of Inside the Box here.) This week we add on to the beginning of our abundance sun salutation, moving through halfway lift, high plank, low plank, upward dog, downward dog, three-legged dog and knee to nose. Most of you … [Read more...]
How to Cultivate Abundance on the Yoga Mat Part 1 {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the second Creative Sun Salutation flow here on The Yoga Lunchbox. As with the last six-part series, the first two episodes in this series are free for anybody to access, and the final four are for Insiders only. (You can become a member of Inside the Box here.) When I teach and practice yoga, my tendency is to work with different energies on the mat, cultivating those energies as required, depending what's going on in my life at that time. This particular … [Read more...]
On the Dilution of the Genuine Transmission of Yoga
by Kara-Leah Grant I was recently in a yoga class with yet another teacher who's not present, not teaching to the room, and not really teaching yoga. Oh, there were postures, and alignment cues, and by the end of the class as she'd come more into herself and some presence, offering some lovely phrases and suggestions. Other people enjoyed the class. They left feeling like they'd done a "good yoga class". They were happy. Content. And they'll keep coming back. Me, I was watching my … [Read more...]
Is Ancestral Trauma a Source of Modern Day Depression and Anxiety?
by Kara-Leah Grant Since 2004 I have progressively healed myself through a combination of yoga, meditation and a wide variety of healing techniques. As I went through this process, my old coping techniques slowly but surely fell away - in the past I've used everything from drugs, alcohol, exercise and relationships to distract myself. Dropping these various distraction techniques was never easy. I didn't give up marijuana until I was pregnant. When life got really tough and I found … [Read more...]
The Conundrum of the Inflexible Yoga Teacher
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat One Sunday recently I retired to the beach for 90 minutes to work my way through a set yoga sequence a friend had posted on their Facebook page. It was total luxury. My son was with his uncle, I had no-where to be and nothing to do, but soak up the sun, the salty breeze, and washing sound of the waves while immersing myself in a yoga sequence. I hated it. Oh, not the scene, or the setting, or the child-free time but the sequence. From the … [Read more...]
Should I Tell Students it’s My First Class Teaching?
by Kelly Fisher “Should I tell the students it is my first class teaching?” I get this question often and there are good reasons to tell them and good reasons not to tell them. My personal bias is for transparency and honesty. Being vulnerable and open enables people to do the same. As yoga teachers we're holding space for our students' personal inquiry and experience. While we can't know what goes on inside of our students' hearts and minds or control it, we can facilitate the kind of raw … [Read more...]
How Yoga Trance Dance™ Destroys World Weariness and Opens Up Creative Flow
by Kara-Leah Grant If you know me, you know I love dancing. Always have, ever since I saw Flashdance at age 8, and got hooked on the original Fame TV series. That was me... always dancing. But there was never any chance I could become a professional dancer because I had zero flexibility, plus at age 16 I had a spinal fusion. (I still remember the first day I danced again after that operation... the doctor said three months, I gave it two.) However... life moves in mysterious ways and in … [Read more...]