Editor's Note: Since this article was published, several accounts of sexual harassment and assault have been made public by Mark Whitwell's female students. We do not in any way condone Mark's behaviour. You can read more about the accounts here. Donna Farhi, author and yoga teacher, as interviewed by Kara-Leah Grant Donna Farhi is a world renowned yoga teacher who has been practicing yoga for thirty nine years, and teaching it since 1982. She lives here in New Zealand but teaches intensives … [Read more...]
How to Prevent the Practicalities Getting in the Way of Your Dreams
by Kara-Leah Grant Over the past decade I've become skilled at working with the unconscious and that which holds us back from realising our dreams. I'm adept at identifying something I would like to experience, and then making it happen. I wanted to write and publish a book. I've now written and published two. I had a dream of teaching Yoga Trance Dance with a live DJ rocking it behind me, and I'm now part of Yoga Rhythms with fellow yoga teacher, DJ and Goddess Rire. I dreamt of … [Read more...]
Have You Given Up Reaching for Your Dreams?
by Kara-Leah Grant Never before in human history have we known so much. We have unlimited information at our fingertips, and that information is constantly being updated. We know how to maintain optimum health including how to eat, how to exercise and how to practice yoga. We can learn any new skill for free - a new language, a musical instrument, we can even get a degree for free. No matter what dream we want to pursue, the information required to do so is available to us. Yet … [Read more...]
How I’m Using the Power of Kirtan to Drive Positive Change
by guest author Madi Das, Kirtan Shakti Courtesy of Integral Yoga® Magazine, Summer 2015 Most days, I go to my regular job, wearing my regular clothes, and I type regular things into my regular computer until it’s time to go home. My co-workers know me as Joe, that guy who has enough light banter to be social, but not so much as to get distracted from his typing. Joe is a good guy. Familiar. Dependable. You know the type. But on Tuesday nights, I trade my collared shirt and GAP slacks … [Read more...]
The Definition of a Yoga Teacher: Nothing More than a Friend, Nothing Less than a Friend
Editor's Note: Since this article was published, several accounts of sexual harassment and assault have been made public by Mark Whitwell's female students. We do not in any way condone Mark's behaviour. You can read more about the accounts here. by Kara-Leah Grant I was fortunate enough to attend one of Mark Whitwell’s classes at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo 2015. Mark is teacher of considerable standing who spent many years with Desikachar and studied directly with Krishnamacharya, the teacher … [Read more...]
Teenage Kicks! The Impact Of Yoga On Teenagers
By guest author Charlotta Martinus, TeenYoga I was 37 when I started yoga and to be frank, I thought it was all pretty weird! And so did most people. A lot has changed since then. There has been a 25% year on year increase in the UK in people involved in yoga, one way or another in the last ten years. So, clearly, perceptions have changed! When I started thinking about offering yoga in schools, it was fun and easily accepted at primary school, as little kids are so open to new experiences … [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...]
Suzanne Sterling on Why What You Love is Key to Your Service {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant It's that time of year again... the run-up to Wanderlust, which means I get to interview all kinds of amazing yoga teachers. First up in the series is Suzanne Sterling, in part because she's also a founder of Off the Mat Into the World which is running some events in New Zealand and Australia this October (just been) and December. Interviewing Suzanne meant finding out the low-down both about Off the Mat and how awesome it is, and about her and how awesome she is. I … [Read more...]
Katy Carter on Why The Space Between is so Powerful {Video Interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant It's that time period between Christmas and New Year's where the madness of the silly season is almost over but the shops and roads are packed. It's that time when our family obligations are usually done, but we haven't quite started our holidays yet. It's that time when the old year is done, yet the new year has yet to start. It's the space between. And a space when Auckland-based yoga teacher Katy Carter has decided to host a five day retreat at Mana Retreat … [Read more...]
J. Brown on the Three Sensibilities that Shape Our Yoga Practice {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant I've been following J. Brown for a few years now, inspired and impressed by the consistent and constant magnifying glass he applies to the yoga world. J. has no qualms about challenging the accepted flow with his articles, calling into question elements of yoga teaching and practice that he finds problematic. But then, J. Brown is an upstart who has always gone against the grain right from the beginning of his career, deliberately taking a different approach from the … [Read more...]