by Swami Karma Karuna, Anahata Yoga Retreat Human beings are naturally social. Despite strongly held values of independence predominant in our modern society, we often gravitate towards connection and support in groups, whether in a yoga class, a rugby game, a party or a gym. Whichever environment or group of people we spend time with, at a subtle level it influences us. The grandfather clock offers us an example of this concept. Through many experiments, we know that when the grandfather … [Read more...]
The Hottest Yoga & Consciousness Festivals in NZ & Australia
By Lucinda Staniland & Kara-Leah Grant The explosion of yoga in the last decade has also seen an explosion of yoga festivals. Of course, festivals focused on consciousness have been happening for much longer - Prana Festival here in New Zealand had a 25 year history. While it is sadly no more, there are many other festivals that you can attend where you have a high chance of engaging with more conscious folk. This is a list of some of the festivals coming up over the summer festival … [Read more...]
The Only Two Things Your Children Really Need From You
by Ben Ralston I’ll tell you straight: I didn’t have a clue what to do when my son was born. I had good instincts, I’d read a number of books and done my due diligence, but the stress of the situation I found myself in overwhelmed me. I didn’t have the internal resources to be able to cope because I wasn’t yet a man. I was really a 30 something year old scared little boy, and I found myself way, way, way out of my depth. This is true for the vast majority of Fathers: they aren't men … [Read more...]
Ourmala: The Yoga Centre Where Social Justice Comes First
This is the third article is this series showcasing yoga teachers and organisations who are bringing yoga to people who generally excluded from classes or studios for a wide variety of reasons like social class, finances, incarceration or general access. If you're doing some kind of community or outreach yoga and would like to share your story, please get in touch. By guest author Leah Davies, Paper Planes Connect “Following my heart is how I live my life. Sometimes it’s really easy, … [Read more...]
Why Yoga Studios Are Not Enough: The Community Yoga Project
My new book The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga has got me thinking about all the ways in which people are excluded from yoga - reasons like social class, race, money, incarceration or general access. Much as we like to think yoga is accessible for all and inclusive, the reality is that there are many barriers which prevent large numbers of our populations from benefiting from it's practice. I wanted to highlight the work that is being done to bring yoga to all the people and hopefully inspire … [Read more...]
Embody Your Purpose: Insights from an Off the Mat Workshop
by guest author Jen Wilson, Off the Mat, Into the World I had never been to a ‘proper’ yoga workshop before despite I’ve practiced on and off since my teens. To start with I guess I thought yoga was cool, a bit hippy – I dug that. As life went on I wanted and needed more yoga, but I wasn’t sure where to find it. I was often overwhelmed, prone to the black dog, and scared of everyday life. I started to realise yoga was always there when I fell down. I committed to my yoga practice and … [Read more...]
How to put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation
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...]
The benefits and pitfalls of conscious community
by Aly Titchener Living in an intentional community in the city Given the discussions I often hear around me, and the positive reception from Jennifer’s recent article about family friendly spiritual communities, it seems like there are many people wanting to be involved at some level in a spiritually motivated community. Not only being a part of such a community group, there appears to be a growing swell of people wanting to live within a conscious and intentional community. I’ve … [Read more...]
How sponsorship helped WholeBody Health after the Christchurch earthquake
by guest author Lori-Ellen Grant This article was written by my sister, Lori-Ellen Grant, owner of Wholebody Health in Christchurch. My heart went out to her after February's earthquake and I had to do something to support her - so I wrote this article How the Yoga Lunchbox community can tangibly support the Christchurch holistic health community. As a result, Chris & Evelyn at Bright Communications called Lori-Ellen and made a considerable donation towards providing treatments to … [Read more...]
How the Yoga Lunchbox community can tangibly support the Christchurch holistic health community
Alrighty then loyal Lunchboxers. As we all well know, it's been one helluva week here in New Zealand. Regardless of where we live, or what our personal ties are to Christchurch, we've all been feeling the grief and emotion of the earthquake. Many of us have made donations to various appeals, including the Red Cross and the major bank appeals. Many yoga studios and teachers have been donating funds from classes too. But we still feel like we want to do something more... something … [Read more...]