Paradise
A few recent posts have been rather on the whine-y side. […]
Power
A saying I ran across in the nineties while I was participating in a Human Awareness workshop went like this: Real power is based on vulnerability.
It sounded good, but I don’t think I really understood what it meant.
It’s so hard for me to be vulnerable, and maybe the only shard of comfort is that many other people feel the same discomfort with vulnerability.
And, it’s such a good thing to be vulnerable. There is power in it because a person who is willing to own their weaknesses has nothing to cover up or resist. […]
Oh Happy Day!
What is it about sirsasana that lines people on opposing sides – mainly love-hate. I’m on the love side and I haven’t been able to do headstand for more than eight weeks. […]
Inside Job (2)
Incense and oriental bells are time-honoured instruments to nudge us back into the present if our minds have gone elsewhere. Meditators know that if they don’t have a strong focus they will drift, probably often.
An even more powerful device for making us aware in the moment is our breath. In the practice of pranayama, we can listen to our breath, identify such nuances as tone, pace, and depth, and even locate it in various areas of our bodies. […]
Inside Job
Attending classes are a tremendous way to be introduced to yoga and to enjoy the comraderie of others. I was completely hooked on classes when I learned Iyengar yoga in the early 80’s. I can’t believe it now, but I used to do more than one class a day. I think the cost of a class was $8 then, and the price went down to $5 if you were enrolled in the six-month teachers’ training course. Come to think of it, all the classes were two hours long! I don’t know if I was passionate or just obsessed. […]
Writer
I remember hearing from any number of yoga teacher trainees when I was working with them at Nature Care College that they would like to write articles on yoga topics. So far, I’m not aware of any of the grads of that course being published in any “trade” magazines I’ve come across. […]
Still working on it.
…it being the getting up from the floor.
Today in the yoga shed, I had Daniel demonstrate how he gets up from sitting on the floor. Everything he did was as expected: roll over on your side, use your hands to help you into a lunge-one-leg-forward position, push off the back foot and you’re up and at ’em.
Sigh.
The lunge is where my physiology gets short-circuited from my brain. I don’t feel frustrated or that I want to throw two year old tanties. Just incredibly challenged.
So many poses came easily to Miss Supple. […]
Reflection
The moon was exquisite tonight, shining over empty pastures, as we drove home from our community choir. More than half full, like a big bowl of cream, this moon was reflecting an unseen light source.
In my yoga practice this morning, my body – gradually awakening after weeks of dullness, grossness – began to shine a little, too. Intelligence applied conscientiously and continuously over time has the ability to clarify the body’s systems and make it luminous.
With a beginning yogi, at first, there are only intimations of the body reflecting this radiant intelligence. […]
Humble
My computer dictionary defines humility as: modesty, humbleness, meekness, diffidence, unassertiveness; lack of pride, lack of vanity; servility, submissiveness.
Well, maybe humility is not the right word (and I’m open to suggestions), because all those words above seem rather grovelling.
What I want to say is the feeling of humility has come knocking in recent months because certain circumstances have brought me low. Imagine Prince Charming (husband) fitting me with compression stockings every day and several times a day rather than a glass slipper. […]
Never Been Here Before
If you think about it philosophically, each moment presents us with a possible “never-been-here-before” view. This, of course, is the basis of meditation.
However, in our human condition, we don’t often have the experience of life being new, fresh. And, when we do have that experience, just because it is unusual, it can be disconcerting.
This morning as I entered the Yoga Shed to practice, I realised I had no idea what to do. […]
Best Practices No. 7
Everyone can benefit from giving your overworked liver a mini-holiday. I notice what a beating mine got because of major surgery and subsequent medications.
So, here goes:
Liver Balancing
Adho mukha svanasana, supported on ropes
Urdhva mukha svanasana
Supta baddha konasana
Supta virasana
Prasarita paddottanasana, 1 Min. concave back, 1 Min. Hands supporting under legs
Dwi Pada Viparita Dandasana, on chair, head supported on bolsters or blocks
Sarvangasana
Halasana, supported on chair
Viparita Karani
Ardha Jatara parvatanasana x 2
Supta Padangusthasna 1 & 2, 1 Min. […]
Best Sequences – No. 6
Okay, you might not be a woman or you’re not in this age bracket, but you know women, you have aunties or mums….So here’s a practice inspired by The Woman’s Book of Yoga by Linda Sparrowe and Patricia Walden. If you are a woman, the book is a must have!
Sequence for Perimenopause
Supported Adho Mukha Svanasana – head on upright block (ropes, optional) 1 min. […]