Cultivating Pure Awareness – The Aim of Yoga
I started off my day listening to a mindfulness meditation recorded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The time I put aside in the early morning is special because I meditate with my husband. […]
It’s All Yoga Practice: Disappointment vs. Depression
I came back five days early from an aborted holiday up north, defeated by fairly continuous rain. Daniel and I were going to venture into a camping adventure on Fraser Island, Queensland – a magnificent World Heritage site. […]
Time Out or Time In?
I’ve been enjoying a break from our routine life on Mitchell’s Island this week, visiting such varied places as Uki, inner city Brisbane, and Sunshine Beach, Queensland. I’ve also had downtime from sitting at my computer, and as a result had some insights.
Out of necessity from being on the road, I’ve begun disconnecting from some of the social media and blog sites that send me regular updates through my email.
I hear people say that they don’t have time to keep up with the plethora of information, advice, marketing and entertainment that shows up in their inbox. […]
Context for Yoga Teaching
After I completed two long days of teaching yoga therapy in Byron Bay, I had pause to stop and reflect on my efforts.
The night before my 14-hour teaching day, I typically had sleep difficulties, culminating in just three hours of sleep. It’s not the first time this sort of pre-teaching insomnia has occurred. Part of it has to do with what a quiet lifestyle I ordinarily have in the country contrasted with suddenly meeting 13 new students in a new venue. But I also admit to being somewhat of a perfectionist, still, after all these years. […]
Gone Fishing….
Gone fishing…. No, not really. Not quite.
I’m heading north for a couple of days of teaching, and then a week of driving around in Queensland with Daniel. It’s his 65th birthday on Saturday and he deserves to be celebrated — perhaps by finding some undiscovered bit of paradise.
What’s different about this holiday is that we have not made a single booking or any real plans. […]
Guts
Am I a bad yoga teacher? Sometimes I think it’s just stupid to be teaching triangle pose to a student who has a physical complaint that’s causing them mental distress.
Sometimes I just want to say, Whoa, let’s just sit down for a minute and see what’s up. In this moment, what’s going on? Instead of glossing over what appears to be a strong feeling or a difficult attitude.
What’s the point of doing a lateral stretch when someone’s dog just died or they’re in pain in their body or they’ve been depressed for some time. […]
Persistent, Pushy or Plucky?
Why do people try to keep it together? And, sometimes they have to work very hard at it, too.
I do it myself. I was reminiscing tonight about how I took up bicycle riding again eight months after I’d had hip replacement surgery. I hadn’t ridden a bike for 20 years. I was using the bike at the Burning Man Festival, covering miles of desert on and off over several days. […]
Yoga and Wet, Windy, Wintery Weather
Like most people, we wanted real estate with a beautiful outlook. So, we had our home built on the top of a rise. We can see mountains to the west, wildlife in the forest, green pastures and distant water views.
What we also got as a result of being so elevated is full exposure to the blustery wet winds that have been hammering Mitchells Island today.
I wouldn’t trade our magnificent outlook for the windless quiet of a sheltered dell. I love being able to see broad horizons and big skies. […]
Do You Suffer from Yoga Teacher Burn-out?
I led a workshop a while back for the Yoga Australia Association to address the issue of ‘yoga teacher burn-out’. It was an experiential session. We had an energetic discussion about how stressed teachers get in their lives and we tried to get to the bottom of why we behave in such a driven way at times.
While we didn’t get to any handy solutions, it made a difference to hear individuals talk about burn-out. […]
Self-Care and Yoga Therapy
Next week I’ll be teaching in the Byron Yoga Therapy Course which I’ve had the honour of doing for the last four years.
What is yoga therapy? In one sense it’s a contradiction in terms because the basis of Patanjali’s meditation yoga is that an individual is whole and complete and doesn’t needing ‘fixing’. […]
How to Avoid 'Is-This-All-There-Is?' Syndrome
You might be aware that I live in a little community of three couples on five acres in the country. When we located to this rural setting after having lived for decades in the city, we met our new neighbours and joined a choir, a book club and other groups.
I felt that I had to let our new acquaintances know very gently that my living situation was unusual, to say the least, at my age and stage in life: six people living under one roof. […]
Pawanmuktasana: Every Part of the Body/Mind is Nourished
I went back to school in the year 2000. I was definitely a mature age student, but about two-thirds of my class were too. We were enrolled in a yoga teacher training.
After having taught yoga for 15 years, I decided to learn some new things. […]