by Kara-Leah Grant The last couple of years I’ve been getting up close and personal with long, slow holds in seated poses. There’s a couple of reasons for this. One is that I’m often exhausted from being a single parent and running my own business - the thought of standing postures or sun salutes sometimes makes me shudder. Giving myself permission to just sit on what mat and see what unfolds from there means I'm far more likely to practice every day. The second is that I’m yang enough - … [Read more...]
Forty Days of Yoga: A journey to create a home yoga practice
by guest author Sara Foley, Smells Good, Feels Good I said: what about my eyes? God said: Keep them on the road. I said: what about my passion? God said: Keep it burning. I said: what about my heart? God said: Tell me what you hold inside it? I said: pain and sorrow? He said: ...stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you. ~ Rumi I am one of Kara-Leah’s ‘beta readers’ for her upcoming book Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking Down the Barriers to a Yoga Home … [Read more...]
Finding space for my home yoga practice in my accidental yoga room
by guest author Sara Foley, Smells Good, Feels Good Only last week I was moaning about not having a space to practice yoga, or indeed any space to call my very own. Well today, almost magically, I do. Sometimes the Universe steps in and gives me a hand (or a kick up the bum). Or whatever it is that I deserve. It seems that today I deserve my very own yoga room. This is how it happened. On Sunday I woke up early with the urgent thought that we needed to move the kids’ beds around. The … [Read more...]
Yoga Explorations #4: The Imperfect Self
by Kara-Leah Grant I'm starting to dig this video making process. Finding my groove, opening up, getting comfortable... all of which makes me feel better about being on video, which makes me better on video. It's kinda like starting yoga. When we first start, or even think about starting, we're uncomfortable, we're closed off and shut down, we're tight, we're afraid, and often these feelings are so strong, we don't start so we don't have to face them. But the only way to learn … [Read more...]
Yoga Explorations # 3: Music can move us into our practice
by Kara-Leah Grant Joy's been on my mind this week. Mostly because I was noticing a lack. Understandable - my life has been intense, on many levels, over the last few weeks. Seems just when I think I've got one area or aspect mastered, the stakes are upped again. That's cool. I can deal. But if I don't watch it, I can also get way too serious. Fortunately, I also have a magic tonic. Anytime I start getting too somber, too depressing, too serious, too stressed out, too hung up on life's ups … [Read more...]
Yoga Explorations #2: Child, a posture of internal wisdom
by Kara-Leah Grant There's nothing flashy about child's pose. It's unlikely to ever grace the cover of Yoga Journal magazine. No one ever gets all excited about how awesome their child posture is either. But child's pose is the rock of a home practice. Its the place we turn to when there is no other place to go, it's the place we go when we want to come home to ourselves, and it's the place when we find our internal source of power. This week, I've been experiencing grief and sorrow. It … [Read more...]
Yoga Explorations #1: Unlock your home practice
by Kara-Leah Grant Last week, I published an article called Free your pelvis and the rest will follow. I'd written this at the request of a long-time loyal reader who was having lower back issues. In the article, I included a short video of me talking about using yoga to heal, and written explanations for seven ways to explore the pelvis and spine. The article was a big hit, and it's now inspired this new series designed to support you in your home practice. For many of, the idea of … [Read more...]
How to make your office practice your yoga practice
by Gabrielle Harris Are you too busy at work to become liberated? Would aliens snatch you up out of your office desk for analysis because of that mindless look on your face? Do you want to incorporate more yoga into your daily work life? Here are a few simple tips to turn your office day into a yoga day. One of the definitions of yoga is to become disconnected from the connection to suffering. Going to work can potentially be a breeding ground for suffering. This is where we play out our … [Read more...]
How to maintain a home yoga practice with a baby (or generally demanding life)
It's something other mothers have been asking me for the last few months - how do I maintain my home yoga practice (crucial as a yoga teacher) when I've got a 9 month old baby boy, and shared custody of a seven year old girl? It's simple really. I make my practice the priority for the day. It's my one must-do every single day. Everything else can wait. In practice, this isn't easy, and requires discipline. But it is simple, and it applies not just to parents with young children, but … [Read more...]
How to Apply the Right Yoga Practice to Your Daily Life
by Kara-Leah Grant Life is busy. Most of us are juggling some combination of work, family, socialising, passions & hobbies and health & well-being. Sometimes, despite our best intentions, the things that we know make us feel the best - like regular yoga practice - can be the most difficult to maintain. This is especially true when we go through a life change, or a particularly stressful period. Right when we need it most, our yoga practice falls away. Our job changes, or we … [Read more...]