by Kara-Leah Grant Since stopping regular coffee drinking back in 2013, I have become fastidious about never drinking coffee before practicing or teaching yoga. Since I practice every day, and teach often, there are very rare windows when caffeine is an option for me. At a recent summer festival, I realised how deeply this belief I have about the importance of not having caffeine in the system when practicing and teaching was ingrained. A couple of hours before I was teaching a class, I … [Read more...]
The videos and articles in this section explore the basis of what yoga really is, and describe ways of how to go about practicing it yourself.
Patanjali’s Five Key Attitudes for Committing to Your Yoga Practice
by Kara-Leah Grant Today was Day 300 of a Tantric yoga practice I'm doing, which got me reflecting on what it takes to commit to yoga. Every day, no matter what, I sit and do this particular yoga practice, which consists of seated spinal rotations with pranayama, chanting with visualisation and mudra, and meditation. My intention is to do 1000 days in a row - that's almost three years of dedicated, committed practice. If I miss a day, I have to start again on Day 1. It's taken me over … [Read more...]
Discard Your ‘Intentions’, just do Your Yoga and Pass the Ketchup
By David Cary I came to yoga in the early 2000s quite by accident. At the time I was struggling with ‘a big move’. Yoga was calming, and of course being in a room graced by a sprinkling of beautiful people did help. I finished one term, and, not knowing, moved to the next level class. Was that a mistake! Suddenly it was filled with lentil eaters, ujai breathers, spiritual people and other misfits from the fringes of society. And it was hard. That was the end. A year or so later, I found … [Read more...]
How Deep Do You Really Go in Your Yoga Practice?
by Kara-Leah Grant On Friday, a friend who is a talented healer, did some energy release work on my shoulders. He stood behind me, pressed into each shoulder and breathed. It was a simple technique and yet I could feel pressure evaporating into the ether. Afterwards he shook his head. You had half a ton of pressure in there. I know this. I feel it and I see it in my body when I watch myself on video - this held tension that isn't so much about the muscles but the underlying … [Read more...]
How Many Years of Yoga Practice Does it Take to Get Flexible?
by Kara-Leah Grant This is an impossible questions to answer - at least, to answer definitively, but I'm still going to give it a damn good crack. And with good reason. Despite the fact that yoga has nothing to do whatsoever with flexibility - that flexibility is side benefit of one's yoga practice and no measure of the depth or strength of one's yoga practice - yoga and flexibility are intimately intertwined in the modern idea of yoga. There's good reason for this. We are … [Read more...]
The Well-Seasoned Yogi: Eleven Tips for Older People on Getting Started with Yoga
In celebration of the launch of The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga, I’ve invited some friends and colleagues to write articles relating to the theme of the book’s subtitle: Because yoga is for every body. Given that yoga has enormous benefits for staying youthful - that is, being able to move freely even as you age - it's strange that we don't see more media images of older people practicing yoga. It sends the message that yoga isn't for older people which so isn't true. Today's guest author, … [Read more...]
An Overview of Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga
This article is an edited extract from K-L's new book, The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga, from the section called Yoga History, Philosophy and Concepts. It's a huge topic area, but in seven chapters, there is a succinct overview of much of the territory you might come across in yoga class - including Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga. by Kara-Leah Grant, author of The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga One of the most famous of the yogic texts is The Yoga Sutras. These were either written … [Read more...]
Launching a Foundational Guide to Yoga for Beginners and Beyond
Pre-orders now open. Shipping September 24. See below. by Kara-Leah Grant Cast your mind back to your very first yoga class. What did it take to get there? Did you have to overcome any fears or hesitancy? Were you nervous? Did a friend take you? Was it a great class - or a bad experience? Did you keep going to yoga, or did you walk away for a few weeks, or months, or years before finally going back? Did it take you a while to find the class and the teacher that was right for you? Most … [Read more...]
How to Find Your Perfect Yoga Class After Relocating
by Andrea Leber, author of BEST of YOGA: Melbourne I’ve lived in Germany, France, Hungary, and Malaysia, then spent seven years in the UK and finally, two years ago, moved to the other side of the world: to Melbourne. Apart from the usual challenges relocating always throws at you (no matter how often you’ve gone through the whole process!) if you’re a dedicated yogi, one particular challenge is finding a new place to roll out your mat. No, not just any yoga studio, but somewhere that … [Read more...]
How to Uncover the Treasures of the Chakras through Yoga
by Kara-Leah Grant Back in 2000 I was living with chronic back pain including agonising spasms, searing sciatica on the right side and a right foot that was half numb, meaning I walked with a limp. I had no faith in doctors because I'd had a spinal fusion eight years earlier (aged 16). I'd felt like like the doctors I'd seen then or since didn't understood my back or what was causing my pain. Yet I dutifully took myself off off to the Whistler Medical Clinic to get x-rays and see if … [Read more...]