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Home Yoga Practice: What Counts if You Are a Yoga Teacher?

July 12, 2016 by Kara-Leah Grant 9 Comments

by Kara-Leah Grant A few months ago I wrote an article stating that if you teach yoga, you must have a daily self-practice. That article was widely shared, and read. And it triggered some strong reactions. There were comments, and emails where people shared with me the reasons why they couldn't practice yoga every day. Some of these teachers were only teaching one class a week, on top of working 50+ hour jobs, and they were often teaching disadvantaged groups. They felt like what they were … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home Yoga Practice, Teaching Insights Tagged With: failure, guilt, home yoga practice, mat resistance, self practice, teaching yoga

Peering into the Darkness with Ashtanga Yoga

August 6, 2014 by Guest Author 2 Comments

The Goddess Kali, who looks dark and scary but who removes the ego and liberates the soul.

by guest author Pip Bennett I’ve had some dark, dark clouds following me around these past couple of weeks. One day at a work lunch I found myself judging everyone for how happy they were. I was thinking, they are only happy because they have such-and-such. If I had those things, I would be happy. They don’t understand what it is like to not have choice, be in a difficult situation. Oh dear. I’ve listened to enough Buddhist teachings to know that these thoughts are not true. Things … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Yoga & Community Tagged With: Acceptance, ashtanga, cleansing, compassion, dark spaces, ego, guilt, hard times, healing, judgement, Pema Chodron, wounds

How identifying with NOT being something also causes great misery

May 3, 2013 by Kara-Leah Grant 10 Comments

By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat It's 7am and I've been up for half an hour. Child-free time and totally blissful. Made even more so because since I returned from my book tour I've had no childcare at all. When my lovely Porse childcare woman told me she was stopping work to have a second child, I could feel part of me wanting to panic. "No, you can't! I need childcare. I'm a single mum with a start-up business who's just written a book! What am I going to do?" After all, I … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Musings from the Mat Tagged With: calling, guilt, motherhood, serve, serving, working

The Benefits of Practicing Yoga While Watching TV

March 11, 2013 by Kara-Leah Grant 2 Comments

By Kara-Leah Grant 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 practicing yoga while watching TV is … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Home Yoga Practice Tagged With: bad, conscious, forty days of yoga, guilt, home practice, television, tv, unconscious

I’ve fallen off the Yoga Practice Bandwagon

July 26, 2012 by Kara-Leah Grant 13 Comments

by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat My practice has fallen by the wayside. Oh, something's happening every day, be it Yoga Nidra in bed before falling alseep, or a snatched moment of pranayama while my son watches a DVD, or a moment of standing backbends at the bench while doing the dishes. But rolling out a yoga mat, putting on yoga clothes, and doing a sustained practice? Twice a week. Maybe. I miss it. I yearn for it. I stop for a moment and tune into my breath and feel the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Musings from the Mat Tagged With: guilt, home practice, parenting, presence, solo parent, story, working

Making peace with feeling guilty ‘cos I’m a single mum on the DPB

May 16, 2011 by Kara-Leah Grant 21 Comments

God forbid I enjoy baking with my son

I'm now living in my new home, and it’s every bit as super-duper wonderful as I suspected it might be. The house is beautiful, my flatmates are wonderful, and it feels fantastic to be living in a real home with other people on the spiritual path. Yet in the midst of this heartfelt warmth and delight at moving into a wonderful home with fantastic people… I’ve noticed a lingering anxiety at the heart level. This anxiety is manifesting as a desire to rush through things. Must get the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Musings from the Mat Tagged With: awareness, benefit, DPB, guilt, Ministry of Social Development, single parenting, work

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