by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat For over a decade now I've been living deep journeying into the Self. Post-Bali was no exception. I'd stirred up, identified and released a negative core belief centred around the third chakra. This was difficult work and intensely liberating all at the same time. I'm already seeing concrete results from the clearing of this old belief in the way i'm organising my yoga classes and new chakra course here in Wellington. But that old third chakra … [Read more...]
Search Results for: power living
What If The Whole World Practiced Yoga?
by guest author Laura Green What if there were a world where everyone practiced yoga? Human beings, being imperfect as they are, would probably still manage to mess things up. But, on the whole, life would be far better. Anger Management Violence, wars, envy, hatred, greed – they would all be reduced if everyone practiced yoga. Wouldn't it be great if we lived on a planet where, every time someone started feeling these urges, they practiced yoga? Some anger empowers us, urging us on to … [Read more...]
The Eight Essentials of Restorative Yoga
by guest author Neal Ghoshal, Sacred Moves A few years ago I enrolled on my second Yoga Teacher Training course for a year at the Yoga Academy Auckland - I was on a mission to learn more about this practice and to equip myself with as much knowledge as I could. If I was going to teach Yoga, then I wanted to be good at it. About half way through the year, course tutor Jude Hynes gave us a new practice, brought out some Yoga bolsters from the cupboard and introduced us to the wonderful world of … [Read more...]
Pranayama – It’s Your Medium to the ‘Super Soul’
by guest author L. Farrah Furtado India… the place that heightens the sense of penetration into another worldly reality, or the world beyond this one; a world within a world. I am currently in Mysore, India taking a pranayama, mudra and philosophy course at the Krishnamachar Sri Patanjala Yoga Shala with the famous Guruji, B. N. S. Iyengar. (Not to be confused with B. K. S. Iyengar). This entails taking an hour class with him every day and practicing pranayama six days a week for four … [Read more...]
Oil Pulling – What’s All the Fuss About?
by guest author Kate McLeay Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic health tradition for oral hygiene, detox and rejuvenation. I have been doing this practice daily for just over three years now with many benefits and really love it! I often recommend oil pulling to students and friends and keep getting asked to write down some directions. So here goes… How I got into Oil Pulling As I'm an A type personality, after I received a brief email about oil pulling from my Mum’s wise white witch … [Read more...]
This Moment is Enough: A Simple Practice for Peace
By guest author Mary O’Malley In this moment, I invite you into the peace and the ease that you long for. After your next in-breath, allow yourself a long, slow out-breath. Melt into your out-breath, letting any tension in your body melt with it. Now, on the next in-breath, tighten your muscles. Exaggerate the tension in your body and then say “ahh” as you melt again into your out-breath. Revel in the deliciousness of a deep out-breath coupled with the powerful healing sound of “ahh”. (You … [Read more...]
The Basic Principles of Building a Home Yoga Practice
by Kara-Leah Grant As a yoga teacher, my goal is to inspire my students to practice yoga at home. It's great when people get themselves to classes three times a week, but the true benefits of yoga really start to unfold when you commit to just showing up on your mat by yourself and seeing what happens. In a class, your focus is both internal and external. You're listening to the teacher and watching the demonstrations while also paying attention to what's going on inside of you. When you … [Read more...]
How Compassion Makes Yoga Relevant
by John Guthrie Sitting quietly, the dawn chorus yet to begin, I think of that one word, compassion. The image of a hermit in a cave somewhere comes to mind, and I reflect on this as the embodiment of compassion. Away from the world, yet radiating out the peace that arises from compassion, which has been birthed in the depth of their silence. A place that could just as well have its roots in suffering. There are those whose compassion has arisen from personal suffering. In the last … [Read more...]
There’s More to Us Than Meets The Eye: Exploring The Five Koshas
By Trish Brown, co-director of Dru Yoga Australia If you have ever suspected that there was more to you than just your physical body, yoga philosophy reveals that you are right. According to ancient yoga texts, we are indeed much more than just the physical, being made up of five distinct layers known as the koshas. The koshas are often compared to the layers of an onion. If you can see the physical body as the outer layer, traveling inwards through more subtle layers of energy, emotion and … [Read more...]
How to Get your First Yoga Teaching Job
by Kelly Fisher, Urban Yoga Typically when you finish your first yoga teacher training it can feel as though you're bursting with equal parts fantastic information to share and uncertainty about how or where to share it. Unless you've completed teacher training with an organisation that rolls new teachers onto an existing schedule, it can be a challenge to figure out how you can get into teaching in your town. Often studios will want teachers with previous teaching experience and/or … [Read more...]