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...]
Search Results for: yoga nidra
Why it Took Me Twenty Years to Learn the Most Basic Yogic Breath
by Kara-Leah Grant Twenty one years after my first yoga class, I finally learned the most basic of all yoga - I learned how to breathe properly. Yes despite all those years on the mat, and all the many teachers I went through, and all the years of home yoga practice, I didn't master Yogic Breath until 2016. Yogic Breath is elementary to yoga practice. It involves inhaling first into the belly, allowing it to fully expand out, before filling the chest and finally the clavicular (under the collar … [Read more...]
How to Activate Your Chakras, Unlock Your Asana Practice & Make Your Heart Sing
By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops: Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016 Kovalam, India August/September 2017. Find out more here. Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally? Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]
Whereupon the Giant Flashes Back to Early Childhood and Wakes Up
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I'm on a 500hr Yoga Teacher Training with the Power Living Crew called Allow the Giant to Emerge. I'm triggered, massively, and have spent four days of mired deep in my shit. This Thursday evening I'm exhausted and I'm sitting in a Core Belief session with Keenan Crisp and Kristi Clark leading. (Which is really all about working with vasanas.) I'm sick of hearing about core beliefs, I'm sick of hearing about people's childhood memories, I'm even … [Read more...]
What if Non-Attachment is Merely a By-Product of Liberation?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I'm sitting at my computer listening to a great DJ mix on Soundcloud, doing my daily work for The Yoga Lunchbox. Formatting and editing articles, dealing with advertisers, answering emails, posting on social media. Underneath the surface, as I work, I'm aware of a shift in my energy. This shift happened a few weeks ago. Maybe a month. I'm not quite sure. Whatever it was that had been driving me incessantly to publish on the internet - ever since … [Read more...]
A tale of Mat Resistance, and practicing anyway
By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Mat resistance. Happens to the best of us, no matter how long we've been practicing. Here's a glimpse into a moment of mat resistance in my life. Notice how I respond to it, notice the process, notice life isn't all peaches and cream because I'm practicing yoga everyday. ***** It's been a rough week or two. Of course, since I successfully published my first book ten days ago, it's meant to have been an exciting and wonderful few weeks. So … [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...]
How to find the purpose in your teaching
by regular columnist Elissa Jordan, Adventures in Teaching Once upon a time there was a young yoga teacher who spent her days cleaning the windowsill in her acharya’s home, up on a ladder, terrified of heights, scrubbing away. The other students of this one acharya were packed off to teaching assignments, but our young yoga teacher was made to wait. As days became weeks and weeks became months, our young yoga teacher waited patiently, perched upon her ladder, for her big day to … [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...]
How I Dropped the Ball on Day 338 of My 1000 Day Practice
by Kara-Leah Grant Today is Day 138 of a 1000 Day practice I'm doing. It should be about Day 500. But earlier this year, on Day 338 something happened and I dropped the ball. I've been doing Forty Day practices for nearly a decade now. At first, it took great dedication, commitment and mindfulness to practice yoga every day for forty days in a row, especially when I was doing the same practice each day. I learned so much about myself, how my mind worked, and where I was sabotaging … [Read more...]