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Meeting Life As It Is: iRest Yoga Nidra & The Practice of Opposites

March 19, 2020 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

by Una Hubbard, Meditation and Yoga with Una I used to be a perfectionist living life in black and white, ‘either/or’. My understanding of the depression I experienced, for instance, was to find a way to be happy. If sad, be happy. I mean, simple really. I also had a real beef with anger. And that beef was simply this: I really didn’t like it. I didn't like it when someone raised their voice or showed displeasure. I wanted it all to go away. I wanted calm instead. If angry, be calm. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Meditation Practices Tagged With: Dr Richard Miller, iRest, meditation, Opposites, Una Hubbard, yoga nidra

Why Meditating WITH The Body is So Important

November 28, 2019 by Guest Author 1 Comment

by Dyana Wells In the modern world, there is a tendency for us to live exclusively through our conceptual minds. We live in bubble worlds of thoughts and emotions, rather than in the world of direct experience.  The body, however, experiences itself and the world directly. It is shaped – moment to moment – by its direct interaction with life. The conceptual mind sees the world through the filter of its own beliefs and expectations. It experiences a second-hand world that tends to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Practices Tagged With: Meditating with the body, meditation, Somatic meditation

The Simple Trick That Transformed My Meditation Practice

May 18, 2017 by Lucinda Staniland 4 Comments

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...]

Filed Under: Meditation Practices, Practices Tagged With: how to meditate, Lucinda Staniland, lying down meditation, meditation, meditation tip

Living Your Gifts: Six Steps to Awakening a Yogic Heart

February 2, 2017 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

by Leza Lowitz, Sun and Moon Yoga The Japanese have a word, ikigai (生き甲斐) which means “reason for being.” In Japan, finding one’s reason for being requires a deep, long search for self. This search itself is considered central, as the discovery of one’s ikigai is what brings satisfaction and meaning. Ikigai is a compound of two Japanese words: iki meaning "life, alive" and kai "effect, result, fruit, benefit." So how do we find our ikigai? How do we discover and awaken our gifts? How do we … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Deepening • The Yoga of Life, How Yoga Helped Me Tagged With: Buddhism, Ikigai, Japan, Leza Lowitz, meditation, samtosha, santosha, writing

How Long Should I Meditate For?

January 19, 2017 by Kara-Leah Grant 2 Comments

Samuel meditating

by Kara-Leah Grant If you've googled your way to this article, you've likely come looking for some kind of concrete answer to your question. Like 10 minutes a day. Or twenty minutes, three times a week. If that's the kind of answer you're looking for, because you're using meditation as a way to de-stress, or chill out, or because all the cool kids are doing it, you may as well stop reading right now. This article won't help you by giving you a definitive answer. However, if you're meditating … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Meditation Practices, Practices Tagged With: consciousness, enlightenment, fears, meditation, waking up

What Is iRest® Yoga Nidra Meditation and How Can It Help You?

December 7, 2016 by Guest Author 64 Comments

by Neal Ghoshal, Sacred Moves  As the popularity of Yoga continues to expand, more and more people are being drawn into practices beyond Yoga asana (posture), into breath work, into meditation, into the subtler aspects of the tradition. One of the practices that is becoming increasingly lauded is Yoga Nidra. I first came across Yoga Nidra back in 2003 when learning to teach at the Ashram Yoga School in Parnell, Auckland. Ashram Yoga, a Satyananda style inspired Yoga school, included Yoga Nidra … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Yoga Styles Tagged With: anxiety, chronic pain, depression, insomnia, iRest, meditation, Neal Ghoshal, NZ Yoga Nidra, PTSD, Richard Miller, yoga nidra

Lawrence Edwards on The Divine Power of Kundalini Awakening

October 7, 2016 by Guest Author

by Kara-Leah Grant Meet Lawrence Edwards, a neurotherapist, psychotherapist, and an expert in Kundalini Awakening. Lawrence is unusual in this field because he has a deep grounding in both Eastern and Western traditions, and applies them both to his work with Kundalini. Join Lawrence and I as we explore Kundalini awakening in the modern world: why it can be so freaky, how it is connected to mental illness, and the trials and perils of finding an authentic teacher. On defining Kundalini … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Teacher Interviews, The Process of Kundalini, Video Interviews Tagged With: Conciousness, kundalini, kundalini awakening, kundalini yoga, Lawrence Edwards, meditation, Mental Illness, Pyschosis

How to Activate Your Chakras, Unlock Your Asana Practice & Make Your Heart Sing

September 29, 2016 by Guest Author 2 Comments

By Premaloka, Yoga on Waiheke Join Premloka for her Awakened Heart Yoga Retreats and Workshops: Raglan, New Zealand 28th-30th October 2016  Kovalam, India August/September 2017. Find out more here. Would you like more Happiness in your life? Would you like your practice to not only be connected to the physical body, the mind, and your breath, but to also transform you emotionally? Through working directly with the chakras and then connecting with the Bhavas (the body’s emotional … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Energetic Practices, Home Yoga Practice, Meditation Practices, Physical Practices, Practices Tagged With: Anahata, asana, chakra, chakras, kundalini, meditation, pranayama

Jonni Pollard on the Nature of Unbounded Consciousness and Awakening {video}

July 28, 2016 by Kara-Leah Grant 2 Comments

by Kara-Leah Grant I first met Jonni Pollard at Wanderlust Great Lake Taupo in 2015. He was leading the mass meditation at 7pm on the Saturday night. I'd bumped into the other Jonnie from Wanderlust - Jonnie Halstead - hovering nervously around the Mothership, which turned into the mainstage and dance floor in the evening. Jonnie with an E confided in me that this dude from Melbourne - also called Jonni - was about to lead a mass meditation and he wasn't sure how it was going to go down. Yes, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Meditation Practices, Practices, Teacher Interviews Tagged With: 1 Giant Mind, consciousness, Jonni Pollard, kundalini, meditation, shakti, The Heart, Vedic Meditation

When Overwhelming Thoughts Take Over Your Restorative Yoga Practice

November 27, 2015 by Guest Author 1 Comment

By Nityda Bhakti, The Yoga Wellness Space Yoga is a practice of turning inward or pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses). It can be hard to do this at times in a more rigorous yoga class, especially for those still learning the poses and therefore needing to fix their focus to others in the room in an effort to get their bodies into the right position. Restorative yoga allows us the space to hold poses for longer, with the support of props, so that we don’t have to use physical effort to do … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Practices Tagged With: breathwork, centering, distracting, emotions, grounding, how to yoga, meditation, mental health, mindfulness, overwhelming emotions in yoga, practice, pranayama, pratyahara, restorative yoga, stress management, stress reduction, tolerating discomfort, yoga chitta vritti nirodha, yoga for anxiety, yoga for depression, yoga for trauma, yoga skills, yoga therapy

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