by Kara-Leah Grant Nothing has changed society more than business. The second agricultural revolution (Britain approximately 1650 until about 1900) was defined by business, as farmers changed methods to increase productivity and food production out-stripped population growth, creating wealth. Laws around common land changed and transportation infrastructure became increasingly important, completely changing British society. And, through the British Empire, impacted the entire world. That … [Read more...]
Philip Shepherd on What It’s Really Like To Experience Radical Wholeness
by Lucinda Staniland What is radical wholeness? This is a question that Philip Shepherd has spent many decades exploring and experiencing. As an international embodiment expert and the author of "New Self, New World," "Radical Wholeness," and creator of The Embodied Present Process™, Philip has studied wholeness through scientific, historical and anthropological lenses and through the felt intelligence of his own body. Kara-Leah Grant caught up with Philip to explore his nuanced and, to many … [Read more...]
Can Yoga Teacher Scandals and Transgressions be an Opportunity for Growth?
by Kara-Leah Grant The guru model is dead in modern Western Yoga. And the list of scandals involving gurus, or teachers, or swamis just seems to be growing longer. Where the hell are all the enlightened and perfect teachers? They don't exist. Our teachers - known and unknown, big and small, experienced and fresh, revered and loved, skilled and talented, wise and powerful - they are also human. Which means that our teachers, like us, have unconscious shit that can get in the way of their … [Read more...]
The Key Elements to A Successful Yoga Teaching Career
by Kara-Leah Grant It's been more than a decade since I started teaching yoga, and so embarked on a yoga teaching career. That career has included teaching group classes, workshops, retreats, presenting at festivals, writing yoga books, delivering corporate seminars, and publishing this online yoga magazine. I began as a sole trader and taught yoga on the side while working other jobs. In April 2011, after becoming a single parent, I started my own company and doubled-down on my desire to … [Read more...]
What the Hell Happened with YEANZ Ltd & Wanderlust Australia New Zealand?
by Kara-Leah Grant It's the news that has ruptured the New Zealand and Australian yoga community and shattered the dreams of thousands of people. On January 12th, 2018 YEANZ Ltd, the company that held the license for Wanderlust in Australia and New Zealand, went into liquidation. Eleven days later, the worst was confirmed - Wanderlust Great Lake Taupō was effectively cancelled. The Yoga Lunchbox has been part of the Wanderlust journey right from the beginning: I've interviewed many Wanderlust … [Read more...]
Dr Scott Lyons on The Art of Being Human & Embodied Flow™ Yoga
by Lucinda Staniland, It's always a joy to come across someone who takes real pleasure in the work they do in the world. Without a doubt, Dr Scott Lyons is such a person and I could tell so immediately when I began watching his conversation with Kara-Leah Grant. Although he clearly takes a serious and earnest approach to his work, there is also an overflowing sense of delight and lightness to him, which I couldn't help but be enchanted by. Dr Scott Lyons is a Clinical Psychologist and … [Read more...]
How Teaching Yoga on a Remote Island Helped Me Cope with Grief
by Julie Stansfield, Ebb and Flow Yoga As I travel along the road that connects the south with the north of the island to teach my weekly yoga class in Port Fitzroy, I reflect on how my life has changed since I first moved to Great Barrier Island thirteen years ago. I certainly wouldn’t have thought I’d be travelling fifty minutes to share my love of yoga with a group of enthusiastic women. Driving on a winding, gravel road which takes me from my home on the western side of the island, I … [Read more...]
Leslie Kaminoff on Why Asanas Don’t Exist
by Lucinda Staniland Meet Leslie Kaminoff, a Yoga educator with forty years experience in the study of Yoga and the breath. Leslie studied with T.K.V Desikachar, a teacher renowned for his emphasis on the therapeutic aspects of yoga, and he is the co-author of the bestselling book Yoga Anatomy. In Leslie's conversation with Kara-Leah Grant, I was struck by his particular brand of what I would call respectful realism. This is a man with a deep belief in the power of the work that he … [Read more...]
Amy Ippoliti on Why 60-Minute Yoga Classes Might Be Watering Down Yoga
by Lucinda Staniland Meet Amy Ippoliti—yoga teacher, author, earth activist and founder of 90 Monkeys, an online professional development school for yoga teachers. One of the first things I noticed when I watched this video interview with Amy was her irrepressible enthusiasm for the practice of yoga. Yes, there's no doubt in my mind that this woman loves yoga, and loves sharing it with the world. And yet, while Amy is incredibly open hearted and enthusiastic, she also cultivates a sharp … [Read more...]
9 Questions To Ask Before You Host a Travelling Yoga Teacher
by Kara-Leah Grant Hosting a travelling yoga teacher can be a successful and profitable venture for a yoga studio - if done right! It can use up "dead time" in the studio. It opens up an additional income stream. It can bring in students that don't usually come to the studio, some of whom may come back. It can increase the exposure and awareness of the host studio in the marketplace. It can educate and inspire the studio's student base. And it can be the beginning of an … [Read more...]