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...]
Getting on the man mat for Forty Days of Yoga
By guest author John Falepau, Yogi John My yoga journey has very much been a progression of listening, learning, watching, inquiring, listening more, learning more, experiencing and assimilating the effects from yoga into my life and being. A lot of what seemed daunting at first - asanas that felt uncomfortable, Kirtan (pronounced keer-tahn, with a slight rolling of the rrrrs), words that I couldn’t pronounce or remember - I am now mastering. I feel the expansion of my ribcage as I inhale … [Read more...]
How to anchor your home yoga practice
By Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga If you prefer to video to reading, check out the ten minute video at the end of this article. The whole premise of Forty Days of Yoga is built on the idea that by letting go of our fixed ideas of what a yoga practice is we can find a practice that works for our life and our lifestyle. It's about being kind and compassionate to yourself and working with what you needs. However, the flip side of this approach is that it can be easy to … [Read more...]
From poison into potion: Why forty days of yoga is alchemy of the soul
by Melissa Billington We come into the new year with a desire to re-create ourselves, to arise out of last year and make a new start. While I personally consider Spring the new year and the place for emergence since 1582, with the advent of the Gregorian calendar, we observe the start of the new year as January 1. The Celtic calendar sets November 1(May 1 in the southern hemisphere) as the new year. They see going into the dark as the necessary first step to creation, like the child in … [Read more...]
Forty Days of Yoga: A journey to create a home yoga practice
by guest author Sara Foley, Smells Good, Feels Good I said: what about my eyes? God said: Keep them on the road. I said: what about my passion? God said: Keep it burning. I said: what about my heart? God said: Tell me what you hold inside it? I said: pain and sorrow? He said: ...stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you. ~ Rumi I am one of Kara-Leah’s ‘beta readers’ for her upcoming book Forty Days of Yoga – Breaking Down the Barriers to a Yoga Home … [Read more...]
Keeping New Year’s Resolutions is not about willpower or discipline
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I was up early on New Year’s Day. It’s one of my favourite ways to start the year. Early morning, the world seems fresh and alive and ripe for new opportunities and new ways of being. The possibility of new choices and new ways of being seems stronger. 'How will I live this day?' 'How will I live this life?' On January 1st, this sense of potential and possibility feels stronger. New Year’s is a time for resolutions, as we make up our minds we’re … [Read more...]