Yesterday it was eye pillow-eating mice in the Yoga Shed (two of which have now been dispatched to that big granary in the sky) and this morning my right knee went.
That’s a layperson’s term for what happens when walking down a flight of stairs, and suddenly, a knee decides not to do the flex thing that it’s been successfully performing for 65 years.
How could this happen? My knees have been one of the most steadfast bits of my body. […]
Healing
Grooming, etc.
I started today – Sunday – with a proposition to hubby Daniel (men love to be propositioned) that we give each other massages. He accepted.
Actually, this is an activity we often share on a Sunday morning…a way of connecting physically, in the spirit of giving. […]
Wonder
I always wondered why people who visited Kakadu went on raving about it so much. Now I understand a little more, having had two and a half days there, introduced to the park by my friend, Carole Baillargeon.
Kakadu is Darwin’s backyard, so to speak, if a yard can be as big as a small country. The fortunate Darwinians can go there for a weekend, and do.
These photos are from the 2-hr. […]
Is Yoga Enough?
I want to set the record straight.
The choice is not yoga or Pilates. I’d like to have a Lindt chocolate for every time that someone says when asked if they do yoga, “No, I do Pilates.”
Don’t get me wrong, I like Pilates. Feeling the awakening of transverse abdominus (TA) after years of neglect or abuse is a wonderful experience. I think there’s plenty of evidence that strengthening TA can help heal all kinds of back problems.
But really…! Yoga is a holistic system that offers gifts on all the levels a human is comprised of. […]
Dare I? (Y.T.A.P.T.)
I guess not. I’m not game to put it right up there in the title.
Nevertheless, I would like to talk about sex. In the spirit of Yoga Teachers Are People Too.
The ancient sage Patanjali comments on the topic of sexual energy in the Yoga Sutra and his writing has been variously interpreted as Don’t Do It (Brahmacharya). […]
I'm back!
As of today, I’m announcing to the world I’m back on deck teaching – in the Yoga Shed at Mitchells Island.
Yesterday was exactly 3 months since my surgery, and I’m fit and well. Certainly beach walks, fresh air, green vistas, and daily yoga practice have gone a long way towards my feeling reconstituted. Life is good. […]
Rather Than Wrestle with Stress, Do Restful Yoga
It’s not news to anyone that many of us suffer from a frenetic pace of life these days. Life gets fired at us point blank and we just have to deal with what comes up – often in a way that doesn’t let us take care of our bodies and minds. At the same time, we are fortunate that the popularity of restorative and therapeutic yoga has co-arisen with what seems like an increasingly complicated and stressful world. I live in the country and, as much as I love it, it is not a problem-free lifestyle. […]
Lettuce
I’ve never been properly appreciative of growers, being basically a city girl for most of my life. Produce was always something that you bought at the grocery store. These days you get designer or heritage or organic produce and it tastes like the real deal. […]
Heaven
What makes for heaven on earth for you? Reading the SMH at your favourite cafe early in the morning before the brunch crowd arrives? Sleeping in on Sunday morning – I mean all morning – with your darling? Seeing a five star movie that really deserves all of its rating? Maybe your kid gets his first paid work doing something he/she really likes? […]
Tired
So unsexy to be tired. It’s something to get over as quickly as possible but how?
A band-aid yoga pose is viparta karani (legs-up-the-wall), which can include Supta Upavistha Konasana (5 min.), Supta Baddha Konasana (5min.), Supta Sukhasana (3 min. each side) for a little more than 20 min. […]
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. […]
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. […]
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 Practices No. 4
You may have been overlooked one of the really beautiful practices that I’ve encountered if you don’t follow the Iyengar method. This sequence was buried in the last pages of B.K.S. Iyengar’s marvellous book, Light on Life. […]
"Best of…" No. 3
Post-Travel Sequence
Australians are inveterate travellers, so this sequence is a handy one to have tucked into your tool box for your return. Notice the interesting mixture of seated poses and backbends.
Supta Baddha Konasana (10-15 Min.)
Virasana (3 Min.)
Upavistha Konasana, hands behind (3 Min.)
Baddha Konasana, head supported on chair, then move chair to left, then right for a lateral forward bend (1 Min. each side)
Bharadavajasana 1, 3 x (1 Min. each side)
Paschimottanasana, head supported, feet apart 30 cm. (3 Min.)
Janu Sirsasana (3 Min. […]
Best Practices No. 2
Yoga Sequence for Boosting the Immune System
Yoga practitioners are human and subject to illness, despite following the most conscientious lifestyle. So when in recovery from any nasties, this practice based on one of B.K.S. Iyengar’s sequences is an invaluable practice. […]
Great Yoga Sequences – No. 1
Over the years, I have archived yoga sequences that I found really made a difference to my students. Some of these date all the way back to the eighties! And, some of them are from just last year.
This week my blog will feature “The Best Of”, starting with:
Asana and Pranayama Sequence for Anxiety
Note: These poses are based on the Iyengar approach of using props for some of them. […]