by Kara-Leah Grant Over two years ago I made a commitment to live out each yama in my life and write about the experience. That series Applying the Yamas to Daily Life has been cornerstone content for The Yoga Lunchbox and has also been published in Asana Journal. Now, at the prompting of my editor at Asana, I've embarked on the same mission for the Niyamas. Every few weeks, I'm picking one niyama and studying it plus observing how it shows up in my life. For those new to yoga, the … [Read more...]
Folding forward into Easy Pose for instant stress-relief
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...]
Chakra One & Two: Feeling secure and letting go, the essence of Hanumanasana
by Melissa Billington Hanumanasana, often called the splits, is the extraordinary experience of moving in two opposing directions at the same time, without falling apart, or holding the breath, or injuring ourselves. In practicing this great leap of Hanuman, we learn to engage actively and consciously, while releasing actively, consciously and bravely. AT THE SAME TIME! Which brings me into two chakras - Muladhara, root support and Svadisthana, one’s own sweetness or … [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...]
Sharing Sadhana: Why yoga teachers’ home yoga practices can inspire
by Kara-Leah Grant Know what I love about this book? It delivers exactly what it promises. The tagline, on the top of the cover, proclaims: "Insights and inspiration for a personal yoga practice." And since reading Sharing Sadhana, my home yoga practice has been inspired, I've had several 'a-ha' moments of insight, and I've even been inspired to write a book on how to create a home yoga practice and stick to it. Not bad eh? And yet when I started reading it... I was doubtful. … [Read more...]
How to find your inner teacher and move with intuition and grace
By guest author Maddy Schafer Are you consistently inconsistent? I am. I’m a one DVD yogini. That is, a friend shared her yoga DVD and I got hooked. I quickly memorised the fifteen minute morning yoga series, and started doing it on the floor at work a few days a week. Happily I work in an environment where there is carpet and this is possible. But that isn't the beginning of my yoga story. I don’t know how many years prior it was that I decided to start stretching at work in my breaks. I … [Read more...]
Leaving behind window shopping for the soul & committing to a tradition
By guest author Carmen Howell of The Sadhana Studio The title for this article came from a blog, where the writer shared her "tempest of emotions, regarding the question of whether to take and commit to a teacher'? The advice she received was that window shopping for ceremonies, teachers and/or traditions prevents a situation where one can go deeply into any one tradition, and will only result in a shallow experience and knowledge of a topic. In short, window shopping can be delusional … [Read more...]
You’re Un•BAL•anced… 4 easy ways to bring more balance to your life without really getting off your butt.
by columnist Gabrielle Harris, The Suburban Yogini Ever since I was publicly declared 'unbalanced' I got to thinking …… how can I go about getting my balance on? Here is a sampler of treatments from the suburbs: Therapy number one: Yin Yoga After discovering that according to Ayurvedic science my dosha was pitta (fire and energy) I became aware that to find more balance in my life I needed to jump off the power yoga treadmill and sit on my butt for long periods of time letting my … [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...]