by Sherida Mullings, Purusha Yogi The extra bit of sunlight has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. While teaching a class the other day, I noticed one on my students squinting as rays of sunlight streamed directly into her eyes. It was 8:10 pm and the sun was just going down. I thought back to just a few months ago when it was dark and depressing at only 6:30 pm and I smiled as I said to my class, “Take a breath and take in the last moments of the daylight.” How glorious it is to feel the … [Read more...]
How George FM Blue Skies Gave My Radiant Self an Opportunity to Shine
by Kara-Leah Grant A couple of months ago, I went to George FM's Blue Skies three-day music festival in Fiji as part of Yoga Rhythms. I wrote about that experience in this article: How George FM Blue Skies Challenged my Judging, Critical Self. This is the follow-up. Once I got over my angst and judgment about spending three days in the whirlwind of a mainstream booze-fest dance party, I got on to the serious business of being joyful. Of being me. The first time at Blue Skies Fiji that … [Read more...]
The Road to Living a Life of Outrageous Joy
by Kara-Leah Grant My road to a life of outrageous joy began with waking up in the Acute Psych Ward at Lion's Gate Hospital in Vancouver. I'd been "committed", which meant I wasn't free to leave until the doctors had deemed me sane and safe enough - to myself and to others. But being committed to a psych ward wasn't the most devastating realisation that morning, it was the knowledge that my fiance had broken up with me. I had been dumped by the man I loved deeply because he didn't like who … [Read more...]
There is nothing wrong with you. You don’t need fixing
By Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I wrote this article about four weeks ago. It's an example of how subtle our layers of reality are. It starts with a story I'm telling about my life and about myself. Out of that story, I extrapolate an unconscious belief, identifying this belief as something that needs fixing, changing, letting go, or releasing so my conscious reality will change. This has been a useful process that's helped me heal much over the last few years. Yet this … [Read more...]
Yoga Explorations # 3: Music can move us into our practice
by Kara-Leah Grant Joy's been on my mind this week. Mostly because I was noticing a lack. Understandable - my life has been intense, on many levels, over the last few weeks. Seems just when I think I've got one area or aspect mastered, the stakes are upped again. That's cool. I can deal. But if I don't watch it, I can also get way too serious. Fortunately, I also have a magic tonic. Anytime I start getting too somber, too depressing, too serious, too stressed out, too hung up on life's ups … [Read more...]
Is peace on earth possible? Yes, yes it is. Today.
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Peace on earth? Possible? Yes. Not sometime off in the future. But right now. Peace is possible - in my heart, and in yours too. I know this. And I know you know it too, although you may not have remembered it. Yet. Each day, small reminders of the power of now seep into my bones and make me feel grateful for being alive. For the work I've done to change the way I perceive the world. For the road I've travelled and the path I've been on. And now, … [Read more...]
The joy hidden within chaos
by guest author Peter Fernando, Meditation and Mindfulness On the surface of things, spirituality can seem to be about control, right? 'Mind Control' perhaps. Or 'Body Control'? On the far end of the spectrum you even get teachings suggesting that the point of life is to have ultimate control over the universe. Sounds good, doesn't it? But is that what 'spirituality', or more accurately, freedom is about? I personally wonder if it is. What could be more gratifying to our ego than … [Read more...]
It’s ok to be happy you know?
I'm so excited right now. And really happy. There's joy spilling from my fingertips. I've had Massive Attack blasting in the morning as I dance my way through making breakfast and Madonna getting in to the groove when I get ready to go out... Not only have I found an awesome house to live in city-side, but I've also got three super-duper roomies moving in. Plus I'm building up my one-on-one yoga clientale, and LOVING teaching my students. I'm doing writers coaching via Skype … [Read more...]
Why practicing ‘Freedom Yoga’ can work wonders for your practice
by guest author and Wellington Yoga Teacher Bruce Foley The term 'Freedom Yoga' has a very nice ring to it. I immediately attach the emotion 'Joy' to the idea of 'Freedom'. Other associated words that come to mind are 'liberation' and 'self-determination'. That last word leads us towards another more weighty word which is 'responsibility'. Almost verbatim, Erich Schiffman describes Freedom Yoga as: Not deciding in advance what you are going to do, but instead listening inwardly, and … [Read more...]