by Una Hubbard, Meditation and Yoga with Una As I write this we’re over halfway into the “Year of the Pandemic”, or what boils down to the “Year of Great Upheaval and Uncertainty”. If you’ve been on Facebook you’ve no doubt seen the many memes declaring 2020 the year we all would just as soon forget. It’s as though we’re all holding our breath until this Covid thing is over. We’re biding our time, waiting it out. And at some point in the future, there will be a fix …. and then we’ll be … [Read more...]
What is meditation? How do you do it? Why would you want to do it? Is it fun? Find out the answers to these questions and more in the articles and stories below.
Mindfulness and the Prefrontal Cortex
by Dyana Wells, Open Ground School of Meditation A lot of us have heard about mindfulness and its possible benefits. Recently I have learned a few interesting things about the brain that have made the benefits of mindfulness meditation even clearer to me. Meditation produces a thickening of the prefrontal cortex – the part of the cerebral hemispheres above and behind the eyes. The prefrontal cortex increased in size massively during our evolution into human beings and it may hold the … [Read more...]
Meeting Life As It Is: iRest Yoga Nidra & The Practice of Opposites
by Una Hubbard, Meditation and Yoga with Una I used to be a perfectionist living life in black and white, ‘either/or’. My understanding of the depression I experienced, for instance, was to find a way to be happy. If sad, be happy. I mean, simple really. I also had a real beef with anger. And that beef was simply this: I really didn’t like it. I didn't like it when someone raised their voice or showed displeasure. I wanted it all to go away. I wanted calm instead. If angry, be calm. … [Read more...]
The Simple Trick That Transformed My Meditation Practice
by Lucinda Staniland I'm a perfectionist. I love getting things exactly right. So when I got interested in meditation, I had a lot of questions about how I should be doing it: How long should I meditate for? Eyes open or closed? Should I focus on the breath or chant a mantra? Visualise chakras or empty my mind completely? I tried all these things. But somehow, no matter what I did, I felt like I was never quite getting it right. Meditation always felt like hard work to me. It was … [Read more...]
Swami Karma Karuna on Yoga Nidra Training & Our Great Need For Restorative Practices
by Kara-Leah Grant Yoga Nidra has long been an important and regular part of my yoga practice. I found it invaluable when I had a newborn baby, as a way to rest and restore in less than twenty minutes. And, even more interesting, after doing it consistently for over a decade, I'm starting to reap some of the more esoteric benefits of the practice that Swami Karma Karuna describes below. For these reasons, I'm delighted to see that Anahata Yoga Retreat is holding a Yoga Nidra Instructor … [Read more...]
How Long Should I Meditate For?
by Kara-Leah Grant If you've googled your way to this article, you've likely come looking for some kind of concrete answer to your question. Like 10 minutes a day. Or twenty minutes, three times a week. If that's the kind of answer you're looking for, because you're using meditation as a way to de-stress, or chill out, or because all the cool kids are doing it, you may as well stop reading right now. This article won't help you by giving you a definitive answer. However, if you're … [Read more...]
How to Activate Your Chakras, Unlock Your Asana Practice & Make Your Heart Sing
By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops: Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016 Kovalam, India August/September 2017. Find out more here. Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally? Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]
Jonni Pollard on the Nature of Unbounded Consciousness and Awakening {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant I first met Jonni Pollard at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo in 2015. He was leading the mass meditation at 7pm on the Saturday night. I'd bumped into the other Jonnie from Wanderlust - Jonnie Halstead - hovering nervously around the Mothership, which turned into the mainstage and dance floor in the evening. Jonnie with an E confided in me that this dude from Melbourne - also called Jonni - was about to lead a mass meditation and he wasn't sure how it was going to go down. Yes, … [Read more...]
Is Meditation Dangerous?
by Kara-Leah Grant I got a call from a journalist at the Waikato Times a few weeks ago who wanted to interview me for an article on the 'pros and cons' of meditation. I wasn't sure if I could help her out - after all, I don't teach meditation - however it turned out she wanted to interview me about my experience of awakening and psychosis. Ah... I was to be the con in the article. Yes, meditation is dangerous, it can send you crazy! I pondered whether to do it or not. I understand journalism … [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...]