The Yoga with Eve Grzybowski Blog
I’ve been blogging for 15 years now. At first, I was quite nervous about publishing my thoughts. Because I was shy about writing, my old posts were almost exclusively photos of the view from our bedroom in our Tambourine Bay house.
Remarkably, my original Ville Blog still exists. Does anything on the internet ever go away? It ran from November 05, 2006 to January 12, 2010 and it’s still just where I left it. If you’d like to have a look, the address is http://thevilleblog.blogspot.com.au/.
These days, because there are way too many YSH posts to browse through-over 1200-I’ve put some major themes together in The Vault. I hope this makes it easier to find exactly what you want.
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?
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. […]
Breathing is Everything (so bolster your breath!)
Long ago, I was inspired by a younger yogi when I observed the graceful way she practiced her postures. […]
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
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. […]
Inconvenient Convenience
I was talking on skype today to my sister who’s about 10 years older than I. There are any number of things in her life that she’s have trouble dealing with, one of them being bureaucracy. At her advanced age, she has to have more and more of these sorts of bureaucratic transactions, with health funds and inconvenient government departments.
I’m willing to listen to her complaints up to a certain point because I imagine myself in her place. […]
Work Begets Work
Source: time-warp-wife.blogspot.ca via Emily on Pinterest
I was forced to be off-line through the day today (Monday), when I usually write two blog posts.
I didn’t know what to do with myself.
I could have gone for a swim at the beach. Or phoned a friend to have coffee. Or, pulled out this month’s book club selection and curled up for a good read.
But I did none of the above. […]
One for Your "Back Saver" File
Several years ago I did a workshop with a well-known Sydney physiotherapist who was a practitioner of Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. She schooled us in how to assess ourselves for any back problems we might be suffering. […]
Side Wise
Source: etsy.com via Alison on Pinterest
This week I came up with a sequence I enjoy doing and teaching. The theme is all about stretching the sides of your body, particularly hips, waist, rib cage, shoulder blades and arms.
Somewhere along my yoga travels, I heard an expression that I like: ” the sides of our bodies are the lonely parts”. I get that. If you think of all the ways a body can move – bending forward, backward, rotating – then, sideways bends are most unfamiliar movements. […]
What’s the Invisible Ingredient That Yoga Schools Offer?
Source: blogs.yogajournal.com via LINDA on Pinterest
I think yoga schools miss the crucial bit of information in their advertising that explains why yoga class attendance can be so enticing. It’s not because of building a body beautiful. And not because all stresses will be dissolved in the arms of savasana (yoga relaxation) at the end of each class. And, it’s not even because any annoying ailments or injuries with which you arrived will miraculously be cured by doing yoga postures.
The thing that is so enrolling about good yoga schools is invisible, in a way. […]
Practice Makes Pleasure
Source: yoga.in via Allied on Pinterest
I can tell when students in my classes have taken up doing home practice. I’m such an old hand at figuring this out that I can even guess at how many practices a week they do.
What is it that gives them away? Well, these students are continuously improving in their poses. How quickly they evolve is in direct relationship to how much personal practice they do.
Another thing is the high level of attention these yoga practitioners have when they attend classes. […]
Child's Pose For Breathing Space!
I’ve been rather grumpy for the last little while as I’ve been experiencing blogging woes this evening. […]
A Friend for Life: Yoga
Source: Uploaded by user via Aviella on Pinterest
Forty-three years ago, a friend dragged me along to a yoga class. […]
If You Can’t Say Something Nice
Source: levoleague.com via Tiffany on Pinterest
I felt like not posting tonight. I thought I didn’t really have anything to say. I went on the internet to find some inspiration (above), but it wasn’t quite it.
Then, I realised there were things I didn’t want to say… in a public forum.
Sometimes it has to be all right not to say important things. It might end up like serving an underdone meal.
So, I’m letting this stuff cook a little more until it’s ready. […]
What Qualifies as Advanced Yoga?
I’ve been asked by a couple of yoga students to teach them some ‘advanced’ asanas in a private session. These days I teach so cautiously that I rarely give advanced poses. […]
Do You Have a Guru?
I have a guru. One who I didn’t actively seek out as a teacher.
He happens to be my husband. He’s a perfect guru, too. You know someone who throws you back on your own resources and holds a mirror up to you so you can see your own reflection.
Most people don’t like to look in the mirror and I’m no exception. However, how else are you going to see how beautiful you are?
In December last year Daniel suggested a sponto* trip to South Island, New Zealand. […]
The Ups and Downs of Urdhva Dhanuasana
People keep asking me whether I can do everything I used to be able to do before I had my double hip replacement. What a hard question!
Here’s a shot of me in 1990 doing a backbend, pre-hip arthritis.
And, here I am 22 years later teaching my bionic hips how to extend.
Those of you out there with your perfecto-meters will note that as a 68-year old, my shoulders are stiffish, but, hey, I used to be overly flexible.
It’s a funny thing. […]
Here Today, Maybe Not Tomorrow
I’m getting far too good at stopping and smelling the roses. That’s the price I pay to be semi-retired, living in the country. What does semi mean anyway?
I took a small detour on my way to yoga practice this morning to admire and photograph the heavy mists hanging all around our property.
And then, I found myself attracted to the tibouchina that was just bloomin’ its heart out.
Of course, the brugmansia stopped me in my tracks, too.
Finally, just when I thought I was going to get into the Yoga Shed, the butcher bird caught my attention. […]
Short and Sweet Yoga Routine for Travellers
In a few days I’ll be heading north to Byron Bay for the Bluesfest – five days of listening to the likes of Joan Armatrading, Ben Harper, Taj Mahal, Santana, Rufus Wainwright… and more… […]
Know Any Everyday Heroes?
Source: confessionsofapropjunkie.com via Lauren on Pinterest
Sometimes I hear about a person in my circle of friends and acquaintances who is doing it hard and doing it quietly and uncomplainingly. It crosses my mind that these people are really everyday heroes, in their own sphere.
We don’t often recognise these stalwarts for their contributions because we think of heroes as being those who lead forces in battle, tie themselves to trees in old-growth forests, or save lives. I’ll never forget the faces pictured on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald after the Port Arthur massacre. […]