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.
Sad/Happy
While I was practising with Heather in the Yoga Shed this morning, she told me this story which follows on my post yesterday about our choir’s concert at the Wingham nursing home.
Eve, your post reminded me of a time when my father first went into a nursing home, at age 87, in the final stages of Parkinsons disease. Parkinsons is especially nasty because it often gives people what’s called a mask or frozen face, resulting in the inability to show any expression or even to speak. […]
Overwhelmed
One of the communities I belong to is my choir. I attend the practices on Thursday nights, and always feel happier at the end of the 90 minutes. The same joyful experience as practising yoga in the Shed each morning.
A dearly beloved choir member, Leo, asked us to perform at his retirement home, which about 30 of us did tonight. There were about 35 or so in the audience in the dining room, including some staff.
I was surprised the acoustics were so good, and our choir sang so beautifully. […]
Home Again
Don’t get me wrong. I loved being in Melbourne. The Conference was terrific. I especially enjoyed socialising with old and new friends before the Conference started. I even saw a new release art house movie, something that is impossible to do on Mitchells Island.
But I was homesick almost before I left Sydney. I found the pace of the cities took me away from a quiet, peaceful, internal space I’ve come to cultivate here in the country. […]
Conference Take Two
It occurred to me that I could put my conference keynote address on this blog and that the section on community building techniques might be helpful for some yoga teachers.
Yoga Australia “Spirit of Union” Conference Keynote Address
Opening
About 25 years ago, I saw a movie that crystallised a deep longing I’d had for many years, perhaps all my life. […]
Australian Yoga Teachers Conference
I feel very proud to have participated as a delegate and as a presenter at Yoga Australia’s inaugural conference this last weekend in Melbourne.
Twenty-six panel members, workshop presenters, and keynote speakers provided an incredibly rich smorgasbord of knowledge, skills, experience and inspiration. […]
Be Here Now
In the same year I started yoga, a book was published called Be Here Now, written by Ram Dass. He became a famous author and inspiring speaker, traveling the world spreading the good words of his Indian guru.
The message of Be Here Now was very much that – about being in the moment – which what yoga is about. Why is it so hard to be present?
For some weeks, I’ve been practising a speech I’m presenting at Yoga Australia’s inaugural conference in Melbourne this weekend. […]
The Locals
Roll Call of Mitchells Island Birdlife:
The kookas are the first order of the day and wake me way earlier than I want, especially when one lands on our deck, right outside my window.
Still early in the morning, as I do my practice in the Yoga Shed, I can hear one lone owl in the pine forest.
Then, while I’m up-side down in headstand, I can see out the sliding glass doors to where a couple of families of king parrots are hanging right-side up around the bird feeder.
The maggies are out and about most of the day […]
A New Broom
Today while cleaning out the Yoga Shed, I thought of Henry David Thoreau, the 19th century writer/philosopher, a man for all seasons who wrote “Walden”.
Walden Pond was part of an idyllic forest setting where Thoreau experimented with living simply and frugally for some years.
What made me think of him was the way Heather and I copied how he would clean his little cabin in the woods. On a fine day, he would take all of his furniture and furnishings out to give a completely clean broom to the interior. Which is what we did. […]
A Rainy Afternoon in Forster
Today I attended a classical concert being held to raise funds for and spark interest in “LinC” – a not for profit association that helps the poor, the needy and the disadvantaged.
The bill of fare was quite an eclectic mixture of music with a standard of performing that was very uneven. Daniel was one of 8 in a chorus singing “churchy” music. There were also two Asian boy pianists, Eistedford winners, as they were introduced. An ensemble played Handel, Mozart and Beethoven, not always in tune or harmony, but bravely nevertheless. […]
Shed in Name Only
Ten months ago I took my maiden flight into teaching yoga in the Yoga Shed. My wings were somewhat under-used as a result of having had double hip replacement surgery in Feb. 2010, followed by three months’ rehabilitation.
I didn’t know what to expect as my Yoga Shed advertising was typically minimalist. So I was chuffed when some students came along (and are still coming).
The old Shed needed some rehabilitating too, and today you can see the results in these photos – our own version of “Grand Designs”. […]
Message from The Sponsor
There’s a knack to marketing oneself, a too-flabby muscle I’m sorry to say I don’t even try to develop.
The yoga students yesterday laughed when I prefaced showing them the article in which “Yoga Suits Her” was listed as one of 10 great yoga blogs, by saying, “In the spirit of self-aggrandisement….” See, I had to make a little joke of it.
So, here’s another attempt at letting you know what I’m up to out in the wide world. I will be a keynote speaker at the inaugural Yoga Australia Conference in Melbourne the weekend of April 2-3. […]
Cultivating Calm
This is a simple, effective version for restoring balance to the mind and body. I recommend that you record it to listen to. The Voice Memo Ap in an iPhone works very well for this purpose.
Lie down for Savasana with your head supported on a blanket, and a block longways between your shoulder blades. Your forehead should be slightly higher than your chin, and your chin a little higher than your chest.
Relax your eyes and let them look downward and inward. Let the movement of your eyes gradually come to a standstill. […]
Feelings
I’ve had times over the last fortnight when I’ve been overcome with feelings of sadness. I think my mother-in-law’s recent death has precipitated my tears, but then some memories of my parents’ deaths have gotten into the mix. […]
God-speed
Tonight, after class, I farewelled a couple of my students who have round-Australia trips planned. One, who is traveling with her partner, will be gone indefinitely. The other will be journeying with her partner and daughter for 3 months.
There were seven of us having drinks (soft) and nibblies (healthy) after class. […]
Equipoise
As the numbers of dead and missing in Japan rise each day, I find my thoughts turn to this ill-fated nation, undone so quickly by earthquake, tsunami and radiation leaking into the environment.
What would it be like to wake up into a normal day and by the end of it, your world turned upside down?
It happens every time that someone sits down with a medico and gets a terminal prognosis. […]
Befriending Backbends
A number of years ago, I ran a series of workshops by the above title. So many people have a love-hate relationship with backbends that I thought it good to teach some anatomy, practice simple backbends first and then work up to more advanced back arches over several sessions.
Ironically, while developing the workshop and doing lots of backbends prior to it, I made my back sore. […]
Still Standing
I don’t know how you’re travelling these days, but I’m still feeling buffeted by the news from Japan. Do you wonder sometimes how the world is going to make it through with so many things going wrong? I do.
Moreover, recently I’ve had some feelings of grief about my family come to the surface. Maybe they were precipitated by my mother-in-law’s recent death, possibly by the tragedies in Japan, Christchurch, Queensland.
I feel okay about being sad. I’ve been watching my mind come up with a lot of…what? It can only be called crap. […]
What's Really Going On?
Organise your yoga program to allow for a cool down in the 15 or 20 minute period just before savasana. This will give the most satisfactory relaxation.
An artfully designed sequence will segue from inversions to twists to forward stretches, then savasana. Along this carefully planned course of action, the practitioner releases any residual niggling or agitated sensations from the body to create a smooth transition into savasana.
You use the relaxation period to set your metabolism on an even keel. […]
High Praise
I’ve been included in a listing of top yoga blogs, so if you have been a loyal subscriber to “Yoga Suits Her”, you have discerning taste 🙂
Have a look: BestBlogs […]
Komyuniti
I can’t shake the images from the Japanese earthquake/tsunami. I was having a glass of wine tonight, watching the SBS news, and thinking, “Here, I’m so secure and comfortable, how is it possible that this has happened over there?” Countless Japanese have no heating now in the cold climate, worse still, no homes. They have little food and clean water, have lost loved ones, and are under the threat of radiation poisoning.
The natural disaster may soon have passed but the tragedy remains. […]