By Sandi White, Breath and Beyond Two weeks ago I set out on a quest to conquer forty days of home yoga practice. It wasn’t something I had ever really thought I could or would do. However, after reading Kara-Leah Grant’s book, Forty Days of Yoga, I felt compelled to start. I am now two weeks into my journey and this is what I have discovered so far. 1. Yoga may not change my life experiences, but it can help me to deal with them. This past week I have been dealing with a range of … [Read more...]
How Yoga Helped Me at Every Stage of Life
In celebration of the launch of The No-More-Excuses Guide to Yoga, I’ve invited some friends and colleagues to write articles relating to the theme of the book’s subtitle: Because yoga is for every body. Sara is an Australia-based writer and I first met her when I asked for volunteers to be Beta-Readers for Forty Days of Yoga. Little did Sara or I know how that was to be the beginning of a strong connection. Sara is a talented writer and courageously faces into the difficulties of modern … [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...]
Men and Yoga: Creating A Healthy Yoga Habit With 40 Days of Yoga
By guest author John Falepau, Yogi John Who would have thought I’d be doing ten minutes of yoga every morning before a bowl of porridge and a cup of coffee? I’ve always been an early riser, getting up and off to work. Not that long ago I got up to heave heavy weights before going to work. There’s still a heavy weight of sorts, throw in a yoga mat, and here I am. Getting on my man mat every morning is the start of my day, and it’s what I look forward to when I turn in the night before. … [Read more...]
How to Open Your Heart Chakra in One Simple Step
by Kara-Leah Grant, avid promotor of home yoga practice. It'll change your world (because you are your world). So my gorgeous and most-wonderful man left on Thursday for six weeks. And on Friday I had a brilliant idea. Six weeks! 42 days! I'll do a specific Forty Days of Yoga practice while he's away! Perfect! Now what will I do... how about one of my old favourites, a Heart-Opening Kriya (see below for a PDF of this kriya) I learned many moons ago? Nothing like a little … [Read more...]
I can’t do that. Actually, maybe I can. Hey, I can do it!
by guest author Sara Foley, Smells Good, Feels Good I'm not really sure how to begin this post, except to say: These ideas that you have about what you can and can't do, the things that are too hard or to big to begin - often these ideas are formed in a time of perceived failure. We don't think to ourselves; Oh, right, maybe I am not ready to do that yet, or maybe if I try that a different way it will work, or maybe I need some help to do that, or even let's sleep on that and try again … [Read more...]
The Benefits of Practicing Yoga While Watching TV
By Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga During class on Wednesday, as we moved from posture to posture, I drew my students attention to the way they were beginning to intuitively move their bodies in counterposes and releases after a more intense posture. They weren't thinking about it, it was just happening as their body moved spontaneously and they followed along. One of my students looked up and exclaimed: That's what's happening when I watch TV now! A-ha! One benefit of … [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...]
One way that Forty Days of Yoga has revolutionised my life
By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Today I did something that has the potential to revolutionise my life. I set an alarm and deliberately got up before my three year old son. I wanted to be up by 6:30am and I wanted the early morning peace and quiet to do my yoga practice. This is a huge break-through for me. Once upon a time, I effortlessly arose before 7am and spent a couple of hours on the computer writing, often getting my day's work down before 9am. I loved this - it … [Read more...]
How to anchor your Forty Day practice with consistency amid fluidity
by Kara-Leah Grant, author of Forty Days of Yoga In the 40,000 words of Forty Days of Yoga I give no specific instruction on asana or set sequences. That means that if you're looking for a home yoga practice book that will tell you what to do, this is not it. I know – you're looking for a magic bullet. That perfect home yoga practice that will turn you into a yogi. I know this because at workshops and in classes, via email and in comments, student after student after student asks me, and … [Read more...]