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...]
Search Results for: samskara
Mind the Gap and It Will Set You Free. Promise
by Gabrielle Harris When I was about nine, Dad bought a strange woman to our house. She was dressed in white and had an exotic name. Our sleep-out was turned into a shrine. Suddenly suburban life was looking up. The lady was handed some cash and I had to give her something of value to myself. I gave her my teddy. I didn’t want to give her my teddy as I was attached to it. It’s good to have attachments when you are nine; it gives you something to work on in later years. Little did I know … [Read more...]
Confessions of an ex-relationship manipulator and control freak
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Ok, the headline is harsh. I admit it. But also true. See, over the last while, I've been working with a relationship pattern (a samskara) of giving away my power by not speaking my truth because I was afraid of the consequences. It's an insidious pattern because it has all kinds of detrimental effects on one's self-esteem, and the relationships one is in. Plus it creates suffering as the desire to hold on to something while betraying oneself can … [Read more...]
Mindful eating: a powerful practice in transforming your relationship to food
by regular columnist Valerie Love, Yoga on a Plate Six years ago, I went to visit a friend from college who was teaching English in Kyoto, Japan. A day or so after I arrived, she took me to an outdoor market in the city. Wandering together through stalls of artwork, antiques, handicrafts and food, I was drawn to a table where a woman was selling daifuku, sweet rice cakes filled with red bean paste. As my friend spoke Japanese and I did not, she kindly did the work of ordering one for … [Read more...]
What is a Kundalini Awakening and Have I Had One?
WIN a copy of Kara-Leah's new book 'Field Notes from Kundalini Awakening', publishing in 2018. Guaranteed to take you on an intimate journey into the depths of the Kundalini experience. Click here to sign up for the book launch list and go into the draw to win one of THREE print copies. By Kara-Leah Grant The following information is not gospel - it's just my reflections and my understandings based on my own experience of Kundalini Awakening. As always, don't believe a thing I say unless it … [Read more...]
How I Finally Kicked my Co-dependent Relationship to the Kerb
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Who'd've thought? Strong, independent, courageous Moi was stuck in a co-dependent relationship. Yep, me neither. Despite getting wind of this fact about halfway through our 3 year or so relationship, it took me another 18 months to break the pattern. Which in the end meant breaking off the relationship. This relationship had been increasingly volatile ever since I got back from Prana Flow yoga teacher training in LA. I'd made a commitment to … [Read more...]
Because you’ve got to have faith, faith, faith
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It's a bit of an on-going saga right now, this life of mine, but I feel compelled to write about it. Why? Well... because I feel like it's important. Like I have this opportunity to face great change in my life with great courage. And writing about the challenges, the difficulties and the triumphs will show other people a yogic way to live - a way that's about being conscious and open-hearted. It's about taking the tools I've learned on the … [Read more...]
Effects of the Sankalpa in Satyananda Yoga Nidra – Manifesting the positive
By Guest Author Swami Karma Karuna, Anahata Yoga Retreat Many people on the yogic path are committed to self transformation. This active focus on growth may ignite questioning of one’s own behaviour. Sometimes, there is genuine desire to change a particular habit or pattern, but try as one may, the cause of the action can be elusive! Whether resisting or accepting those aspects of the self which seem outside of conscious control, in truth the reactions, perspectives and even external … [Read more...]
Day 32 to 35: Forty Day Sadhana of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya
It happened on Thursday. It was the end of the week, as here in New Zealand we celebrate Waitangi Day on February 6th which was Friday last week. I finished work and met my partner at his workplace to catch a ride up to his boss's house to get our car. His boss lives on top of a hill with panoramic views of Wellington, and he invited us in for a drink on the patio. A couple of wines and some conversation later, it was back to our house for a much needed meal. And then, pleasantly … [Read more...]
Day 15 to 21: Forty Day Sadhana of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya
Read the first posts in this series here: Committing to a Forty Day Sadhana of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya Day 1 to 7: Forty Day Sadhana of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya Day 8 to 14: Forty Day Sadhana of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya I'm over halfway through this sadhana, and the results have been incredible. Last week I shared some of the burning away process, whereby the movement of prana in the body releases old samskaras. This can be a painful and at times bewildering process, yet ultimately it … [Read more...]