Submitted by Tracy Pepper of Mount Maunganui My yoga teacher training programme required that I spend 25 days on an ashram practicing, and this had a profound effect on me. We happened to start these 25 days with hip opening. As we went through the various types of postures - which are grouped into these emotional releasing areas, it brought up a lot of "stuff". Stuff I thought I dealt with through years and years of therapy. Stuff I didn't want to deal with again. Stuff that made me … [Read more...]
Search Results for: mantra
How to make your office practice your yoga practice
by Gabrielle Harris Are you too busy at work to become liberated? Would aliens snatch you up out of your office desk for analysis because of that mindless look on your face? Do you want to incorporate more yoga into your daily work life? Here are a few simple tips to turn your office day into a yoga day. One of the definitions of yoga is to become disconnected from the connection to suffering. Going to work can potentially be a breeding ground for suffering. This is where we play out our … [Read more...]
An interview with Swami Samnyasananda, a consultant neurophysiologist
Article courtesy Anahata Yoga Retreat Swami Samnyasananda is a consultant neurophysiologist whose research explores the effects of pranayama, meditation and relaxation on the heart, brain and autonomic nervous systems. He is a Certified Yoga Teacher, Life Member and Fellow of the World Society for Clinical Yoga (Lucknow, India), and has over 30 years of experience in classes, personal tuition & clinical counselling in yoga, meditation, relaxation and stress management (M.B.T.I. … [Read more...]
An Interview with Swami Muktimurti on the Yoga of Sound
Supplied by Anahata Yoga Retreat Anahata Yoga Retreat, just outside of Nelson, is once again hosting Swami Muktimurti from Mangrove Mountain, Australia during the Navaratri (9 nights) celebrations. An expert in Mantra, ancient Sanskrit and singing, Swami Muktimurti and Swami Muktidharma (NZ Acharya) are presenting a retreat focused on Nada Yoga, or the yoga of sound, during this auspicious astrological time. We caught up with her during this retreat to gain some more insight on this … [Read more...]
Dude, Love is the Guru
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Back at the start of last year I wrote a couple of posts be-moaning my lack of connection to a Real Yoga Teacher and a Guru. Dude, Where's My Guru? Dude, Where's My Teacher? This week I've been reading a most excellent book by Ram Dass (he of Be Here Now) called Be Love Now. And lo & behold, wouldn't you know, it's answered all of my questions about finding a guru, what a guru is, and the relationship we have with a guru. I'm stoked, … [Read more...]
Tantra: A system for mind expansion
by guest author Swami Muktidharma There is a huge misunderstanding about the great science of Tantra, especially in our western society. Some confuse it with witchery or black magic and a lot more think that Tantra is only related to sexual practices. As with many things imported from the East to the West, this is a gross misrepresentation of Tantra and a very limited way to understand an ancient and deep science. Tantra relates to each and every aspect of our lives, and therefore must … [Read more...]
Dude, where’s my teacher?!
I've been totally short-changed on my yoga journey. Never once have I had a Real Yoga Teacher. You know - the kind you have an on-going relationship with.. the kind who supports your yoga journey parsing out morsels of wisdom and insight at the exact moment you need them... the kind who's interested in your development and answers all your questions. Nope, thanks to some cruel twist of fate, I've been left to blunder through the mine field of yoga all by my lonesome. Partly this … [Read more...]
Why I almost gave up teaching yoga
After spending two weeks in LA fulfilling a dream and doing Prana Flow yoga teaching with Shiva Rea, I thought I'd come home all fired up to teach kick-arse yoga classes. Instead, getting out of my car on a dreary Monday evening in Dunedin to teach my one and only yoga class a week at The Dunedin Yoga Studio, I felt... irritated. Yup. Ir-eeeeeee-tated. I dragged my feet up the stairs (all three flights - so worth the climb for yoga when you're next in Dunedin). And then I felt like … [Read more...]
How to meditate with a baby or toddler
by Kara-Leah Grant, My daily, morning half-hour meditation is a must-do. It's the first priority as soon as I wake up, and whenever possible, I'll get up and do it before my toddler is out of bed. There are times though when he's awake before me, and that means I meditate with him. I've done this ever since he was a tiny baby - tiny enough to lie nestled on my lap, sleeping, while I meditated. He out-grew that at about four months, and now he's quite happy to play around me while I do my … [Read more...]
Practices for the Heart Chakra, Part 1
Regular contributor Jessica Powers looks at ways to open the heart - crucial if we're going to shift out of mind consciousness and into heart consciousness. The Meaning of Anahata The Sanskrit name for our energetic heart center is Anahata, ‘the unstruck sound’. While that at first seems to be a Zen koan, in actuality it speaks of the vibrational basis of the Universe and the place within each of us that resonates with it: beginningless, endless, eternal. Anahata refers … [Read more...]