Vulnerability = Aliveness

Vulnerability = Aliveness

by | Mar 20, 2012 | Wisdom, Yoga practices

It’s probably no wonder that people are wary of allowing themselves to be seen as vulnerable. The dictionary defines being vulnerable as “susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm.” According to that way of looking at vulnerability, you’d have to be mad or masochistic to practice it. Perhaps I am somewhat crazy then, as I do try to cultivate vulnerability and openness. Why? I’ve discovered over time that the effort it takes to keep up defences only serves to make me isolated, inauthentic, and not fully self-expressed. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

User-friendly Yoga for Beginners

by | Mar 19, 2012 | XPoses, Yoga teaching 

A yoga teacher who is a reader of “Yoga Suits Her” asked a very good question regarding progressing beginner-ish student through their postures when they are challenged by injuries or other restrictions.
Say, for instance, the pose you ultimately wanted to teach to students or learn yourself is the backbend Urdhva Dhanurasana (pictured above), you would start by understanding what sort of flexibility or strength is required of you. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

A Delightful Yogi's Salad

by | Mar 16, 2012 | Health

This is a first for me. Perhaps a never-to-be-repeated event. I’m publishing a recipe I found on the Internet (Food Network); I prepared it as a main meal this week for dinner.
My, my…. Was it ever delicious!
I may be the last wholesomely-oriented person on the planet to discover the superb grain, quinoa, but I am completely enrolled in its taste now that we’ve become acquainted.
It’s a perfect grain for the Australian summer. Even lighter than rice and couscous, it’s full of protein, I’m told. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

Auditory, Visual, and Kinesthetic Yoga Learning Styles

by | Mar 15, 2012 | Yoga teaching 

Anybody in the education game should know about ways of learning. They should also know their preferred way.

These styles of learning can roughly be presented in three categories: auditory, visual and kinaesthetic.

Sometimes the styles overlap. It’s possible to be an auditory/visual learner, or any other combination.

Vulnerability = Aliveness

Generosity

by | Mar 13, 2012 | Philosophy, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching 

As good yogis we are meant to practice the precepts set forth by Patanjali in the Yama and Niyama. One of the “thou shalts” that I needed to work with today is called Aparigraha – the practice of non-greed.
I’ll just say that I fall from yoga grace not infrequently. When I do, I try to remember two things.
1. The reason it’s called yoga practice is because I’m still working on it.
2. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

Breathe It In

by | Mar 12, 2012 | Gardening, Healing, Nature

      Everywhere you look in the Manning Valley these days, you’ll see the signs of the most luscious growth of many seasons – the culmination of several years of good rains without overheating. The low rolling hills west of the Pacific Highway are full of luxuriant pastures with fat cows and horses. The rivers and streams are fully flowing and oyster farming has started up again. We bought our property on Mitchells Island during the drought. And then we watched our wetland dry out, our lawns growing brown, and most of the planting we did dying off. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

The Image of Yoga

by | Mar 9, 2012 | Healing, Health, Yoga practices, Yoga Therapy

Recently I’ve become enamoured of a social media site called Pinterest. It does two things for me: 1) connects me with other lovers of images, and also (2) with lots of interesting, striking images. When I look at the Pinterest section devoted to yoga images, I see a majority of perfect bodies doing perfect poses. The practitioners’ postures are truly works of art. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

Yoga for the Choir (and Everyone Else)

by | Mar 8, 2012 | Healing, Upper back & shoulders, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching , Yoga Therapy

Thursday night I attend my community choir. It makes me happy to go along and sing with a whole group of people who enjoy joining together in harmonies.
The dedicated choir director, Telly, lets me lead some yoga stretches at the beginning of the 1.5 hr. session, so the group follows along as I demonstrate and instruct.
I think about what will prepare us best for singing, so we do stretches that open up the lungs, loosen the rib cage and release tension from shoulders. […]

Vulnerability = Aliveness

Yoga & Yakka*

by | Mar 7, 2012 | Gardening, Health, Nature, Yoga practices, Yoga Sequences

Over the last two days, we’ve been working our bums off on our little rural spread on lush Mitchells Island. We’ve had fantastic professional help from Peter Nixon, Paradisus Garden Design and our local builder, Matt Peters. But we decided that, to save money, we would do some of the labouring work ourselves. I don’t know that this is necessarily a good idea. […]

Hard work. It's not getting any easier.

by | Mar 5, 2012 | Health, Yoga practices, Yoga teaching 

Sometimes on our communal property we have big jobs to do…like this one today. The excavator dug out a long swale with the turf left thrown up on the side for us to unroll and replace it. Simple but backbreaking work, made for stocky and stalwart labourers, not for sexagenarians whose exercise mainly consists of clicking away at keyboards. We survived. Heather and Rick came to yoga class tonight, not needing standing poses, but rather inversions and restorative poses. Fortunately I have those in my teacher’s tool box and they were utilised. […]