by guest author Lucinda Staniland Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone. As if life were a progressive and cunning crime with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely, even you, at times, have felt the grand array; the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding out your solo voice. Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation. - David Whyte - Community … [Read more...]
Search Results for: lucinda staniland
How to embrace uncertainty and channel agency
by Lucinda Staniland Let me start by telling you a story. Once upon a time, I thought that one day I would grow up, get everything sorted out, be thin and nice and beautiful, understand how the world worked, and finally be a complete human being. One day, I thought, one day it will happen. I started yoga at seventeen and was going through tough times - so far my hypothesis had not proved true. I was a teenager, but I was more confused than ever, and life only seemed to have gotten … [Read more...]
Top 10 Best Yoga Articles of 2019
by Lucinda Staniland As the new year begins, I like to take a moment to reflect on all the amazing content that has passed through my hands in the last twelve months. As Editor of The Yoga Lunchbox, I'm blessed to regularly engage with a range of yoga teachers, thinkers and writers, many of them based right here in New Zealand, and to share their reflections with our community of yoga-loving readers. This year, our most popular articles covered some topics that were big talking points in … [Read more...]
Dr Scott Lyons on Somatic Stress Release, Trauma & Boundaries
by Lucinda Staniland It's always fascinating to touch base with Dr. Scott Lyons (DO, PhD, MS, MFA, CHT, BMCP/T, RSMT, SME, BMCP, IDME, SEP, CST, BFA, RYT-500), co-founder of Embodied Flow. Scott has done a lot of academic learning (as evidenced in that extremely long string of letters after his name!) but the thing that is so refreshing and surprising about Scott is that, above all else, he prioritises learning and teaching from an embodied, experiential place. As you'll quickly notice in … [Read more...]
Tongue Scraping: Does it Really Work?
by Lucinda Staniland If you try to sell me something, I will always approach it with a healthy dose of skepticism. And for good reason. In our consumerist world, I am constantly bombarded with “life-changing” devices and programs, many of which fall more than a little short of their magnificent marketing claims. In my experience, it ALWAYS pays to ask: What is the history of use behind this product? Who is making and marketing it and what motivates them? Are their claims … [Read more...]
A Review of the Valka Yoga Cork Yoga Mat: Non-Toxic & Eco-Friendly
by Lucinda Staniland & Cara Butler, As the editor of a popular yoga website, I receive a lot of requests to review various yoga-related products. Over the years, this has resulted in me getting a lot of practice at the all-important skill of saying ‘No’. I’ve learned the hard way to only say yes to doing a review when it’s a ‘"hell yes!" Thoroughly testing a product and writing a review takes a significant amount of time and energy and there’s nothing worse than doing it for a product … [Read more...]
Can Yoga Help with Better Sleep? A Q&A with Mark Stephens
by Lucinda Staniland In a restless world, sleep has become something of an elusive creature. Increasingly few of us get enough deep, restful sleep and as a society, we're starting to see the consequences in our declining physical and mental health. My personal experience of sleep has changed dramatically in recent years. After a lifetime of watching TV, using computers and being exposed to artificial lighting in the evening, I started to become conscious of how profoundly this affected my … [Read more...]
When Yoga Isn’t Enough: The Importance of Varying Your Movement
by Lucinda Staniland Movement. It’s a big deal. Humans move often, and in varied ways, and when we don’t do this (like when we sit for 8+ hours a day which is the norm in many countries now) there are consequences. Most of us will have experienced some of these consequences in our own bodies to some extent, whether that's through pain, injuries, disease or other physical challenges. In recent times, yoga has become increasingly popular as a way to get moving. Of course, there’s much … [Read more...]
Finding Hope in Chronic Pain: Why I’m Rethinking Biomechanics & Alignment
by Lucinda Staniland I used to think that alignment and biomechanics were the answer to the riddle that is chronic pain. If only I could work hard enough to correct my hyperlordosis, strengthen my weak glutes, and reverse my scoliosis then my pain would ease - right? At least, that’s what I was told. Now, I’m not so sure. In fact, I’ve found that I’ve been able to reduce my chronic pain significantly without changing my biomechanics or alignment at all. In fact, I now wonder if my focus … [Read more...]
Being an Awakened Heart Warrior: An Interview with Kara-Leah
by Lucinda Staniland, Last week, Kara-Leah sat down with Erika Bélanger of the On and Off Your Mat podcast to dive deep into conversations about yoga, leading retreats and what it really means to be an Awakened Heart Warrior. Over the years, Kara-Leah has spent hundreds of hours interviewing interesting yogis, but this is the first time I've heard her being interviewed herself! Tune in to hear Kara-Leah answer the following questions: How does having a daily home practice has impacted … [Read more...]