by Kara-Leah Grant This week, I took part in an exorcism. But let's just call it a healing, because that word exorcism caries all kinds of connotations that can stop us from bringing our hearts and awareness into the moment. There was nothing to fear in this healing, except, of course, fear itself. More than ten years ago, I took on an energy, an entity, a being of the subtle realms... it's not something I've talked about much because, you know, crazy. Yet it wasn't crazy for me. It was … [Read more...]
How to Re-Write Your Past and Free up Your Future
by Kara-Leah Grant In practice this week, I noticed that when I've told the story of my awakening/psychosis experience, it's always been focused on the relationship I was in, and how that contributed to the experience. But there's another big piece to that story. And it's one I've never told before. That intrigued me. Why had I not looked at that aspect of the story before? Scanning through my life's history, I saw the pattern repeated over and over again: My story has always been told … [Read more...]
How to Blast Through Avoidance & Clear Out Your Psychic Space
by Kara-Leah Grant Avoidance. It's one of those subtle things that can completely derail our lives. Or at least, prevent us from growing and expanding. And the thing is, it's oh so subtle most of the time. Like, not even there almost. Like, easy to ignore. This week, I've avoided making a phone call to a venue to talk about pricing. I've avoided downloading and reading the notes from my editor on my book. And I've avoided calling someone on treating me bad. These are just the avoidances I'm … [Read more...]
The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself? Bullshit
by Kara-Leah Grant We all know the saying - the only thing to fear is fear itself. But it's wrong. Completely totally and utterly wrong. And if I was a conspiracy theorist, I would say that disseminating that piece of wisdom is a sneaky way to disempower people completely and turn them into comfort-seeking, convenience-addicted sheep. Fear is not to be feared. In fact, fearing fear feeds the fear and locks us up into a big old contracted mess that will do anything to avoid how … [Read more...]
The Joy of Discovering a Fear of Failure
by Kara-Leah Grant Recently, I moved back to Glenorchy, a small mountain town where I've lived a few times previously. I was exciting about the move, and also feeling some anxiety. Preparing to write my third book, Love's Shadows, I felt called to come home to the mountains. Yet it also meant moving my son, now seven and at school, yet again. We were meant to be staying put in one place now he'd started school. I was meant to be done with moving around. I was meant to be embracing a … [Read more...]
The Terror of Relaxing and Enjoying Life
by Kara-Leah Grant I’m in one of my favourite places in the world - Glenorchy. The sun is shining. The day is still. It’s at least 20 degrees, which passes for a good summer’s day in what has been the worst summer in years. There’s so much in my life to be grateful for - a loving partner, growing son, supportive family, expanding retreats, selling books, thriving website, incredible friends. I am where I always wanted to be. And yet, I am not relaxed. Nor am I enjoying myself. And I am … [Read more...]
I’m Afraid my Students are Going to Get Bored with my Yoga Sequences
by Kara-Leah Grant This came up in conversation this week - a new teacher expressing a fear that her yoga sequences weren't interesting enough and that she was going to be boring her students. She wanted to know how to make her sequences more interesting. However, there is a fallacy of logic here. The teacher has a fear arising - that of boring her students. Her approach to working with that fear is to ensure that the external circumstance triggering the fear is removed - bored … [Read more...]
Forget New Year’s Resolutions. Ask Yourself this One Question Instead
by Kara-Leah Grant It's my first day back at "work" in 2015. I'm starting by renaming "work" as "creation", because that's really what I do. I create. And I love it. I create words, movement, ideas, processes, life and ultimately, myself. This year I'm cranking up the mojo on my speaking career (find out more about booking me here) and I'm working on launching my first webinars. Actually, I was meant to do the webinar thing last year, but I kept putting it off. Out of the comfort zone, … [Read more...]
How Yoga Helped Me Deal with the Emotional and Psychological After-Effects of Trauma from Living and Working in Afghanistan
by Marianne Elliott When it comes to working with fear, yoga is one of my secret weapons. Fear is not just a thought or idea. Fear is a neurobiological reaction to perceived threat. This is where modern neuroscience catches up with the wisdom of yoga and meditation. The autonomic nervous system (i.e. the part you don't consciously control) is divided into two sections: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system acts to mobilize the body's 'fight or … [Read more...]
Giant Integration: Feeling Good vs The Truth of the Moment
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...]