by Kara-Leah Grant On Friday, a friend who is a talented healer, did some energy release work on my shoulders. He stood behind me, pressed into each shoulder and breathed. It was a simple technique and yet I could feel pressure evaporating into the ether. Afterwards he shook his head. You had half a ton of pressure in there. I know this. I feel it and I see it in my body when I watch myself on video - this held tension that isn't so much about the muscles but the underlying … [Read more...]
Tiffany Cruikshank on Yoga as Medicine and the Link Between Prana & Chi {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant Meet Tiffany Cruikshank, an LA based yoga teacher, author, and health and wellness expert. She is one of the most highly educated yoga teachers in both Eastern and Western Medicine and the founder of Yoga Medicine, one of the few Yoga schools offering a 1000 hour Yoga Teacher Training. Luckily for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere we can catch her in person soon, teaching yoga classes at Wanderlust NZ and Australia in January and February 2015. Tiffany has an … [Read more...]
How to Open the Front of the Body using Core Cultivation {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the fourth article and video in this series of Yoga Explorations. You've now learned how to spontaneously allow the body to move within the structure of a posture, as well as two breath pairs - the Ascending and Descending breath, and cultivating the core and radiating from the core breath. This week, we start to put it all together even more, using these tools to work with a posture to find alignment. In particular, we'll be exploring Lunge and variations … [Read more...]
How to Cultivate your Core and Radiate through Your Limbs {video}
by Kara-Leah Grant Welcome to the second in this series of Yoga Explorations. This week we're going to continue building on our sequence while exploring a second pair of breath movements. Tuning into these two breaths - inhaling and cultivating the core, exhaling and radiating through the limbs - helps us to find strength and integrity in postures. But for many of us, tuning into the breath movements within the pose can be difficult. We struggle to keep our awareness on the breath … [Read more...]
Mystery Solved! Why Bikram Classes Were Triggering My Back Pain
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat Eureka! Since I wrote about my experiences with pain in Bikram classes, I've been mindfully watching my yoga practice, and eventually tip-toed back into the Bikram room. Here's what happened. First, some background. I've long had back issues, which you can read about here. Over the last two years, I've been going into Bikram classes pain-free, experiencing pain during class which starts at Pranayama Deep Breathing - the first postures in class, … [Read more...]
Is New Zealand ready for a Wanderlust-style yoga and music festival?
by guest author Jonnie Halstead, Picnic Events Did you know there is a thriving ‘Yoga Festival’ scene in the United States? I didn’t and I‘ve been working the New Zealand festival circuit for over 15 years! In early 2011 I attended a lecture by a prominent modern-day yoga ‘guru’ who was visiting Auckland from LA - yes, none other than Mr. Bikram himself. Kara-Leah approached me at the post-drinks and asked if I had ever considered “something like Wanderlust” here in New … [Read more...]
March 5 – 10: Prana Vidya – Awaken, Expand and Heal with Swami Muktidharma
Learn this ancient science practiced by yogis and healers of early times to increase your vitality and overall health at Anahata Yoga Retreat Prana Vidya is the science of accessing and directing our vital energy. The human body is a storehouse of pranic energy. This technique opens up your awareness to these stores of energy within the body and mind, and teaches you how to consciously direct this energy for improving your health and creating balance on all levels. Prana is the … [Read more...]
Chakra One & Two: Feeling secure and letting go, the essence of Hanumanasana
by Melissa Billington Hanumanasana, often called the splits, is the extraordinary experience of moving in two opposing directions at the same time, without falling apart, or holding the breath, or injuring ourselves. In practicing this great leap of Hanuman, we learn to engage actively and consciously, while releasing actively, consciously and bravely. AT THE SAME TIME! Which brings me into two chakras - Muladhara, root support and Svadisthana, one’s own sweetness or … [Read more...]
I don’t know how to teach yoga anymore. Or do I?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat I don't know how to teach yoga anymore. I haven't known how to teach yoga since I came back from my Immersion Training with Shiva Rea. Ironic eh? Before certification, I knew exactly what I was doing, and taught with ease and love. After certification, I questioned everything I was doing, and taught with effort and struggle. I don't think I can blame Shiva though, or her teacher training. It's something that's happened inside me, to my … [Read more...]
June 8 – 10: Gisborne, Align, Build & Breathe – A Weekend Vinyasa Yoga Immersion with Amber Spear
Align. Move. Breathe. Energise & Restore, all in the one weekend ! Join Amber Spear to explore the dynamics and subtle aspects within the breath, the body postures and the mind during a weekend immersion of Yoga practice time. Amber has a positive and playful approach to teaching. Her guidance is a chance to learn more about not only your yoga practice, but yourself - to let go of old habits, release mental/physical blocks and to develop new perspectives with what you find most … [Read more...]