by Lucinda Staniland I'm a perfectionist. I love getting things exactly right. So when I got interested in meditation, I had a lot of questions about how I should be doing it: How long should I meditate for? Eyes open or closed? Should I focus on the breath or chant a mantra? Visualise chakras or empty my mind completely? I tried all these things. But somehow, no matter what I did, I felt like I was never quite getting it right. Meditation always felt like hard work to me. It was … [Read more...]
Why ‘Ambivalence’ Is The Most Powerful Word I Know
by Lucinda Staniland I've been using the word 'ambivalent' a lot recently. I like the sound of it. I like that it acknowledges complexity - of myself and of the world. I like that it doesn't lock me, or anyone else, into a box. Take getting married for example. My partner and I were married in January 2017, and for me, it was a classic experience of ambivalence. In fact, it was during the preparations for our wedding that the word 'ambivalent' became a core part of my vocabulary. I … [Read more...]
The Benefits of Yoga: Are They Proven By Science?
by Lucinda Staniland The benefits of yoga are well advertised. We hear that yoga will help us (among other things): lose weight, breathe better, live longer, have better sex, recover from depression, cure sciatica, heal our digestive system, build core strength, alleviate back pain, heal mental illness, and build bone health. But does science agree that yoga can really heal us in all these ways (and more)? Is Yoga really the silver bullet we've been waiting for? It turns out that yoga and … [Read more...]
How to put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation
by guest author Lucinda Staniland Your great mistake is to act the drama as if you were alone. As if life were a progressive and cunning crime with no witness to the tiny hidden transgressions. To feel abandoned is to deny the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely, even you, at times, have felt the grand array; the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding out your solo voice. Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the conversation. - David Whyte - Community … [Read more...]
How to embrace uncertainty and channel agency
by Lucinda Staniland Let me start by telling you a story. Once upon a time, I thought that one day I would grow up, get everything sorted out, be thin and nice and beautiful, understand how the world worked, and finally be a complete human being. One day, I thought, one day it will happen. I started yoga at seventeen and was going through tough times - so far my hypothesis had not proved true. I was a teenager, but I was more confused than ever, and life only seemed to have gotten … [Read more...]
Taking yoga off the mat
by guest author Lucinda Staniland A friend asked me the other day: “How did you get involved in all of this?” "All of this” being an all-encompassing voluntary role with the youth climate action movement, plus involvement with other social and environmental justice groups including - but not limited to - Gecko and 350 Aotearoa. I told her, feeling like a complete cliché, that I'd done this yoga-based course called Embodying Your Purpose. It's part of an initiative called Off The Mat, Into The … [Read more...]