by Eve Grzybowski | Dec 5, 2016 | Yoga practices
Consistency is the key to successful home yoga practice. It builds a habit, a neuronal pathway or a psychological groove. This momentum will carry you along even when your mind or life tries to pull you in other directions.
I know from experience that there are times when I’m tempted to break my routine. I’m human. But I’m always glad after the fact that I did my practice, not the least because I kept my commitment.
There’s an element of faith in the beginning. You’re hoping that you’ll feel as good at the end of your practice as you do at the end of your class sessions. But your faith in yoga practice will be validated. The more practice you do, the more effective your sessions become.
by Eve Grzybowski | Oct 4, 2016 | Camping, Outback Australia: Recorded
I thought I was was a reasonably flexible person. And I don’t just mean being able to fold up in Uttanasana like a Swiss Army knife. I mean mental/emotional flexibility. I used to be quite glib in my yoga teaching: ‘work on your suppleness and this will make you mentally limber.’
by Eve Grzybowski | Sep 3, 2016 | Camping, Climate, Nature
We didn’t plan it. Actually, we’ve done remarkably little planning on this our 4-month odyssey around the eastern half of Australia.
But we lucked out!
Apparently the central and southern desert regions of the Northern Territory have had more than their fair share of rain this year–i.e., the whole year’s precipitation to date.
So almost everywhere you look there are sprays and bouquets and even meadows of flowers. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Nov 9, 2015 | Community, Yoga practices, Yoga Retreats
There’s a lot of controversy in the yoga world about the quality of yoga teacher trainings right now. It was inevitable. The explosion in the popularity of yoga has meant that not only do more people want to do yoga but more want to teach it. So, we see the proliferation of yoga brands with the various ‘styles’ offering their own spin on yoga teacher training. There are short courses, long courses, on-line courses, part-time, diplomas, advanced diplomas, and I don’t know what-all.For my part, I have a teaching certificate from Martyn Jackson (1980), another from B.K.S. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Aug 10, 2012 | Philosophy, Wisdom, XSutras, xTmp, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Sometimes I feel like a elderly person, a kind of maternal figure who’s produced many yoga progeny over the years. In one sense it’s kind of cool. I look out and see all these people who got interested in yoga through contact with me, and even stayed with it; some of them were even moved enough by the great discipline of yoga to teach in their own right and have their own yoga children.
In another sense, I do feel old when I’m around the younger generation. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | May 2, 2012 | Wisdom, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching
I’ve been on a gentle roller coaster ride.Early in the morning, I cleaned the Yoga Shed and it sparkled with sunny energy. Then, I did my yoga practice in the shimmering space.I don’t know why it happened; I just got caught in the ruminating jaws of my mind, and became grumpy thinking of too many tasks to do and not enough time. After a practice that was supposed to make me peaceful, I then took my grumpiness into our office and tried to deposit it in my husband’s lap. He’s too smart for that, though. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Feb 9, 2012 | Wisdom, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching
There’s nothing as energising as hanging out with people who are passionate about what they do in life. Many yogis who are drawn to deepen their involvement with yoga decide to do teacher training and then become even more enthusiastic about this age-old discipline. Would that the love affair could last forever, but sometimes the original passion pales, for various reasons: it’s hard to make a living, the physical work is too hard, self-doubts arise. Something else can happen. A yoga teacher can get jaded after some years and, as a result, her teaching becomes dull. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Aug 12, 2011 | Healing, Hip Surgery, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy
I am reminded of the importance of good posture everyday in so many ways.
Here in Tucson, Arizona, I’m visiting my older sister whose “bad back” has finally caught up with her. As a seventy-seven year old, and having exhausted many different therapies, she now is facing a lamenectomy and L2-5 spinal fusion, next week. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jun 1, 2011 | Healing, Health, Hip Surgery, Wisdom, XHip, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy
Today’s blog is something new for me. I decided upon listening to one of my favourite Leonard Cohen songs yesterday that I would update one of the most popular posts that I’ve written. It gives a nod to the composer’s well-loved tune, “Anthem”, which has the refrain:
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
I’m of the opinion that the song’s sentiment is so popular because we humans don’t want to have work so hard at being perfect. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Oct 15, 2010 | Health, Hip Surgery, Humour, Pleasure, Wisdom, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching
Those of you who have practised yoga with me know I am a sigher. Why hold back? Sometimes yoga is so delicious pleasure begins to burble up from the belly, the kidneys, the heart, and who would want to stifle such an organic impulse. Add voice to it, and, voila, perfection!
I’ve traveled miles on this U.S. trek, now drawing to a close, maybe 450 miles in Arizona alone. Sighs have been too few and far between. […]
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by Eve Grzybowski | Oct 3, 2010 | City Life
“New New, New York”, a woman standing next to me at the airport newsstand was humming. Not all cities get songs created for them – just the great ones.
I’ve been having a love affair with NYC this week. I admit it. I’ve been romanticizing the warts and celebrating the wonders of the city’s architecture, clothing boutiques, eateries and human verve.
It was a slight jolt this morning to traverse from the chic of East Village Manhattan to the mundanity of Queens for our ride to LaGuardia. […]
by Eve Grzybowski | Jan 10, 2010 | Yoga Media, Yoga practices
A couple of years ago, I enjoyed viewing a calendar that had been put together by a group at a yoga retreat in New Zealand. It was designed to spoof the “cover girl” approach to yoga magazines and calendars. You know what I mean? Images like this:
Or even like this:
And, how about this:
The retreaters’ calendar was quite hilarious and included pics of yoga students doing lots of versions of savasana (the yoga relaxation pose). […]
