by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat One of the great gifts of sharing my internal processes of life so honestly on-line is that I learn from myself. Often, a few years after I’ve written an article, I will re-read it and see the illusions that I was labouring under at the time. Yes, the article is usually about an insight into a difficulty, but there is always another layer or level of illusion. Through re-reading my own articles I’m able to watch myself wake up and become more … [Read more...]
Search Results for: Ashtanga yoga
Ashtanga: I Don’t Want to Break My Knees
by Kara-Leah Grant My knees ache. They have been since about April of this year - about three months into a regular Mysore-style Ashtanga practice, two or three times a week. I also do a regular home practice of vinyasa, prana-led asana (slow and steady), meditation and pranayama. I've been able to do Half Lotus for some years now, including Standing Bound Half Lotus (without the forward fold). I have never had any prior knee issues or pain. Although my grandmother (maternal side) and mother … [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...]
But First The Giant Must Dissolve in a Puddle of Tears on the Yoga Mat. Again
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It's post-Bali yoga teacher training with the crew from Power Living and I am totally spaced out. I don't know whether I'm coming or going. One minute I was in conversation with Duncan & the PLAY crew poolside at Potatohead in Seminyak, then I was in a taxi and off to the airport, flying for eight hours overnight, arriving the next day in Auckland, driving 2.5 hours to Tauranga to pick up Samuel, sleeping some more, and driving four hours to … [Read more...]
What are Vasanas and How Do They Affect Your Yoga Practice?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Earlier this year I took a short workshop with Duncan Peak from Power Living. In the workshop he mentioned the term 'vasana', defining it as character traits or tendencies and he talked about how our practice stirs up these tendencies and brings them into consciousness. Now I'd never heard of vasanas, and struggled to remember the term after the workshop, which happened the day before Wanderlust. The day after Wanderlust, I was driving from … [Read more...]
How I Learnt to Build Core Strength and Heal My Injuries with Yoga
By Jonathan FitzGordon, The CoreWalking Program Way back in 1998, following the last of three knee surgeries, and after a year and a half of physical therapy, I was finally back on my yoga mat, when a teacher asked me a life changing question. "What are you doing to avoid a fourth surgery?" "Nothing," was my sheepish response. Yoga had saved my life but it also broke my body. My childhood had been active though no one taught me how to do anything so I was particularly horrible at baseball, the … [Read more...]
Forrest for the trees – no bullshit, just yoga
by guest author Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips The planted seed of a fruitful vine is a memorable moment. For me, it was hungrily reading through old issues of Yoga Journal on the second floor of the Wellington library. After starting to feel yoga as a lifestyle decision, not just an exercise regime, I wanted to learn everything I could. My body still bore the inflexibility and weakness of someone brand new to the practice, but my soul had expanded immediately. In the haze of too much … [Read more...]
An interview with yoga researcher Brandon Eggleston PhD
Brandon Eggleston is a faculty member at the University of Southern Indiana, USA, who researches yoga practice. He's coming to New Zealand in December to conduct interviews with yoga practitioners to find out why they practice yoga. The research will be done in partnership with a colleague of his who is currently working on her PhD at the University of Auckland. The interviews, which will take between 15 and 20 minutes and can be done by phone, will be conducted between December 26th … [Read more...]
How a Non-certified Yoga Teacher With No Guru Ended Up Teaching (And Should She Be?)
by Kara-Leah, This is a question I have contemplated many times since teaching was first thrust upon me. And it's also one this website has explored extensively in recent weeks. After reading all of the responses from other teachers, I began to wonder... how on earth can I call myself a yoga teacher? I have no qualifications. I've never attended a teacher training of any real length. I've never studied under a guru, nor a teacher for any length of time. I'm a long way from mastering … [Read more...]
How yoga has the power to transform and release avidya (self-ignorance)
My first experience with the power of avidya came about twenty minutes into my third ashtanga yoga class. Or maybe my second. The exact number is not important, just that I was a broke backpacker partway through a pre-paid ten week yoga course. The teacher, a long, lanky woman in her early forties, brought us into Warrior One - Virabhadrasana I. My hips were skewed decidedly sideways. My back heel struggled to connect with the floor. My arms were crooked and screamed in protest as I … [Read more...]