Communal Life

Communal Life

Part of my rhapsodic descriptions of Mitchells Island living are coloured rosy by the great people who I share our property with. We’ve known each other for decades.
Five of the six of us are yoga practitioners, and it’s pretty cool when we’re out in the yoga shed together for pranayama or asana practice.
A few years ago when we were still in the planning stage of our communal experiment, we hit a barrier, not surprisingly financial. It looked like our vision of living together was fast going down the gurgler. One of us had a great idea. […]

A New Day, Year, and Blog Are Coming…

A New Day, Year, and Blog Are Coming…

…and, I would very much like your input as to what you would like to see in Eve’s Yoga Suits Her.
I’m planning on -relaunching my blog on January 1st 2011, which is exactly one year from when this incarnation of my blog appeared.
What a great opportunity to put in your suggestions. I aims to please (even though sometimes it may seem I’m here for my own e-musement, only partly true!). […]

You Never Know

You Never Know

Six years ago I and my communal accomplices began planning our retirement. At that time we had no idea exactly what it would look like, but we started talking it over, bouncing ideas, and found enough of a common vision to take some concrete steps….Steps that ultimately led to living on Mitchells Island, with some of us retired, some semi-retired, and some still working.
That’s how it goes. Create a vision, make a plan, and then it turns out more or less.
Friends of mine in the U.S. […]

Discomfort

Any teacher worth their salt – it doesn’t matter if the subject matter is yoga or biology – will be learning from their students as well as teaching them. That’s how teaching becomes an art, and it’s what makes teaching a great profession.
One of the things I had to learn about some students is that they either cannot, or have a great deal of trouble, distinguishing between discomfort and pain.
I believe most pain, especially when it is acute and extremely intense is to be avoided. […]

Dec. 25th in Oceana

Dec. 25th in Oceana

With a bit of cajoling and a bit of coercing, my housemates and Daniel have agreed to make “guest appearances” on my blog today. (Their views are coloured by their North American origins.)
Here’s what Daniel has to say:
DXmas
Rick  describes the antipodal sort of Christmas Day we’ve been experiencing for his Canadian family and friends:
RXmas
And, here’s Heather’s spin on this exquisite day we’ve been enjoying:
HXmas

As for me, today has been the quietest day of the year. […]

What's so Spiritual about Christmas?

What's so Spiritual about Christmas?

Loosely speaking, I do celebrate Christmas. But, to be honest with you, I don’t believe in Christ.
Notwithstanding, the birth of Christ is a great story – just the very idea that a child could be born unto a virgin, for one thing.
And then the image of this humble couple having to lodge in a stables where they are soon sought out by kings bearing rare and expensive gifts.
Even better, how about the power of an ancient messianic prophesy being fulfilled?
We saw the Mitchells Island school kids enact the nativity story recently. […]

Sharing

Sharing

Heather & Nick Singing Out

Steve on Piano & Daniel
In the spirit of the holiday season, last night we had a games-playing evening, followed by a songfest at our house.
Do people do this sort of thing anymore? Is it a dying amusement? Am I hopelessly old-fashioned?
You’ll have to tell me.
My relationship with games goes back to childhood, but also incorporates my yoga history.
I guess I was always a renegade yoga teacher. […]

Roller Coaster Time

Roller Coaster Time

What is it about this time of the year that sets us on a wild emotional ride? Well, maybe not you, but certainly I have been on one.
Some of it was self-inflicted, as in getting overtired and not communicating that important bit of information. Just becoming increasingly crabby until…there is an outburst…like an summer electrical storm – then a downpour, and finally clean air.
I find it’s so hard to stay conscious all the time. Being in a relationship, living in community, sets up extra challenges.
Yoga doesn’t solve all these problems, but the mindfulness we cultivate helps. […]

Treasure Trove

Treasure Trove

(The photo has nothing to do with the content of this post, but is redolent of my rural setting, so I wanted to share it with you.)
Many friends of mine have parents who are either moving into aged care facilities or, sadly, have moved on to Another Plane. As a result, family homes need to be cleaned up, put on the market and sold. My friends complain how much work it is to sort out possessions amassed over a long life, especially when the relative has been a serious hoarder.
I don’t save stuff. I’m the opposite. […]

To Blog or Not to Blog

To Blog or Not to Blog

I started this blogging habit a little less than 5 years ago. How many posts would I have done in that time? Maybe a thousand?
In those early days, because the setting in which we lived in Tambourine Bay  was so incredibly picturesque, I tried to do a daily photo of the view I had from my bedroom. The photos below are samples of my art. I didn’t write much text, then. I thought the images spoke for themselves.
Since starting “Yoga Suits Her”, I’ve let myself write pretty much what and as much as I wanted. […]

Rediscovering Yoga in a Rural Setting

Rediscovering Yoga in a Rural Setting

The above is the banner subtitle for “Yoga Suits Her”. I admit I have meandered from this theme occasionally, even writing from urban locales like Manhattan, San Francisco and Sydney. However, it is true that I have been on a journey of relocating my longtime yoga practice from city to country.
Hardly a day goes by when I don’t feel blessed to be in such a beautiful natural setting and to have the ease of practising yoga in a studio adjacent to our home.
I get distracted, though, sometimes. Like this morning. […]