7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

We ♥ Our Yoga Bolsters

Years ago when I opened my north shore yoga studio, I ran a couple of beginners courses so I could start the slow process of developing a whole new core of students.
I’ve done this a few times, starting all over in a new location – training up a new crop. After Beginners 1, the students graduate to Beginners 2, and eventually may go on to intermediate, advanced, and even teacher training.
For some students, their first contact with yoga is a revelation. […]

7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

Should We Be Left to Our Devices?

How  much is life passing us by because of our love affair with screens and devices? Probably more than we want to know, and it’s a question that Google can’t actually answer.
The classic cartoon above, created by Micheal Leunig with great prescience, sums up the situation. And it was published even before iPads and such were a glimmer in Apple’s eye.
Here’s an interesting statistic from this week’s SMH Good Weekend Magazine: On average a US household includes five internet-connected devices (smartphones, tablets, TVs, etc.). […]

7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

Yoga: When the Phone is Ringing, It Helps You Connect

Judy is in a rehabilitation centre at the moment ‘finding her legs’, as she is 15 days out from double hip replacement surgery. She is a veteran yogi and also trained as a yoga teacher, and probably has about 35 years of Iyengar yoga under her belt.
Judy’s doing another kind of training now with the physiotherapists at Hunters Hill Private Hospital. […]

7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

Yoga Manifesto and Absolution

I love it when students tell me that because of attending yoga classes they’ve become inspired to do some practice on their own at home. We’ve designed the yoga anywhere practice cards for that ex press reason.
I love it when yoga clicks with people and they want to attend yoga classes regularly and often.
And I love it when a keen student decides they want to teach yoga and embarks on yoga teacher training to get qualified.
But I also don’t mind if you have no interest in any of the above. […]

Cutting Back Those Tiny Twinges

Cutting Back Those Tiny Twinges

 

 
Out of all the thousands of poses in the world, how do you know which of them to practice.
Or, if you’re a yoga teacher, how do you know what to teach?
Of course, it depends on many of variables, the most important one being, read your body. Another indicator is read the seasons.
At the moment we’ve been doing summer gardening – especially cutting back weeds and hauling full wheelbarrows of them for disposal. […]

7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

What You See is What You Get

At the optometrist today, I caught myself wanting to cheat. If I squinted I could just about see one line more on the eye chart, and that would have kept me at the same vision reading as 18 months ago.
What is that kind of behaviour? In the end, I didn’t fudge my exam, thank goodness. But, after I left the optometrist, I had to reflect on the feelings that came up for me.

I noticed that I was competing with myself so I would get at least as good a score as last time. […]

Do You Do Yoga as Exercise?

Do You Do Yoga as Exercise?

I hear countless conversations, read articles and hear lectures about how yoga is not just a physical exercise system. We’ve all heard them. We’ve even said such things ourselves.
Still, it’s a hard habit to break, that is, considering yoga as a way to improve fitness, flexibility, and strength. Of course, those are great benefits that asana practice (postures) can provide.
However, it’s far easier for me to go into the Yoga Shed to do an asana practice  than sit down and do pranayama (yoga breathing) and meditation. Sometimes I even have to make myself do savasana. […]

7 Habits – Just Good Yoga Practice

How Elders Thrive and Not Just Survive

Ten years ago, almost to the date, we six seniors held a meeting with flip chart and textas with the intention of generating a vision of another way of doing retirement and old age. Let’s face it – prospects of living in retirement villages or moving to the country sans old friends are less than appealing.
So, today is a very auspicious anniversary because our dream has been realised.
Not that we are old yet. Oldish. […]

Remedial Yoga in a Holistic Context

Remedial Yoga in a Holistic Context

In this morning’s yoga class there were six students: one with a pinched neck nerve, one with a strained rotator cuff, one with dodgy knees, one with an arthritic ankle and elbow tendonitis, one with a sore back, and one ‘normal’ (at least for the time being).
In looking at a group ‘remedially’, I saw a collection of ailments. Looking through the holistic lens of yoga, I saw students who are totally fit to practice yoga according to their ability.
For my money, I believe everyone should adapt yoga according to their individual needs and constitution. […]