by Kara-Leah Grant She's sometimes referred to as "the Madonna of Yoga" - at least, that's what Vanity Fair called Shiva Rea when she did a desert photo shoot for them in 2007. But magazines love catchy monikers and as someone who grew up idolising Madonna and has studied with Shiva... the two women are nothing alike. "I'm not sure what exactly what they were referring to, whether it was my boldness, but I'm not into being a yoga celebrity at all. At all! Humility for me is a really important … [Read more...]
Amy Ippoliti on the Most Valuable Thing You Can Offer in Yoga Class
by Kara-Leah Grant This article was written in February 2014 for Wanderlust NZ & Australia that year. I've re-published it as Amy is appearing at Wanderlust Sunshine Coast October 2015 and it was a fabulous interview. When I first heard that Amy Ippoliti was teaching at Wanderlust NZ and Australia, and saw photos of her, I made the assumption that she was one of the new-breed of yoga teachers - young, hip and cool but not necessarily with any depth of understanding or decade-long … [Read more...]
Reflections on Teaching the Worst Yoga Class of My Life
by Kara-Leah Grant On Saturday I taught my first yoga class in five weeks, as it's summer holidays here and I've been doing just that - holidaying. Possibly it wasn't prudent to take so much time off teaching when I've got a major festival within a week - i.e. Wanderlust. Although as I've been on a Forty Day Practice, my asana practice is stronger than it's ever been. However it turns out a strong asana practice doesn't necessarily make me a stronger teacher. I turned up on Saturday … [Read more...]
Suzanne Sterling on Why What You Love is Key to Your Service {video interview}
by Kara-Leah Grant It's that time of year again... the run-up to Wanderlust, which means I get to interview all kinds of amazing yoga teachers. First up in the series is Suzanne Sterling, in part because she's also a founder of Off the Mat Into the World which is running some events in New Zealand and Australia this October (just been) and December. Interviewing Suzanne meant finding out the low-down both about Off the Mat and how awesome it is, and about her and how awesome she is. I … [Read more...]
Are We Drowning Under a Deluge of Perfect Yoga Images?
by Kara-Leah Grant, Musings from the Mat As many of you know, Wanderlust is coming to New Zealand and Australia next year - first with one-day city-based events, and then in 2015 with the whole four day festival she-bang. I'm one yoga teacher who's been selected as a Wanderlust Wayfarer. Wayfarers are a network of teachers who spread the word about Wanderlust to their local communities. As part of my role, I had to send in my bio and a photo of me. Should be easy right? I'm all over the … [Read more...]