by Cathryn Monro, Spilt Milk Yoga What does self-knowledge mean? What is inner work and how do we DO it? How does one actually self-transform? Motherhood is like the most intense, long haul retreat you could ever go on; you meet your best and your worst behaviours, and no matter what you have to show up every day and be “Mum”, even when you don’t feel up to it. And yet, it’s especially when we don’t feel up to it that we have an opportunity to find a new way forward. If we choose to … [Read more...]
Cathryn Monro on Motherhood as a Spiritual Path
By Kara-Leah Grant Meet Cathryn Monro, artist, facilitator, mother of two, and author of Spilt Milk Yoga, a companion guide for mothers that applies the lessons of yoga to the everyday experience of motherhood. Cathryn is passionate about honouring mothers, and about sharing her hard-won wisdom that motherhood is a spiritual path. Join us as we discuss the complexities and beauty of motherhood, and the transformative power of a regular yoga practice. On the relationship between … [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...]
How Living Your Yoga Can Mean Taking Parenting Lessons From The Rock (Dwayne Johnson)
by Kara-Leah Grant First night in Napier, staying at my Uncle's house. The TV's on. I haven't lived with a TV for three years. It's novel. I sit to eat my dinner and catch the beginning of a movie. By the time I've finished my dinner, I've grasped the plot and I'm chuckling at the weirdness of the Universe. The movie is about a high-achieving, selfish, self-centered football player who discovers - when she shows up on his doorstep - that he has an eight year old daughter. The plot revolves … [Read more...]
How identifying with NOT being something also causes great misery
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...]
How yoga helped me… enjoy a fulfilling pregnancy
Submitted by Mandy Lawson of Cobano, Costa Rica The day I found out that I am pregnant with my first child was one of the most astounding, emotional and happy days of my life so far. In our minds we can imagine how we will feel and react when something long awaited happens, but this was much more intense that I could have guessed. I doubt that I will ever forget the amazement and disbelief that I encountered upon seeing the two little pink lines on the pregnancy test. I just kept … [Read more...]