Yoga practices

Summer Solstice Yoga: A Specialised Practice

Summer Solstice Yoga: A Specialised Practice

Chill out at the Summer SolsticeBecause the solstice occurs just twice a year, it is a special event. That means it deserves a specialised yoga practice.In the southern hemisphere, we’re approaching the summer solstice. The living is easy, breezy and expansive. You just naturally want to be out of doors. Even better if you can have an ocean dip.The other night the prospect of a beach picnic called to us. […]

Eveyoga: Yesteryear and Today

Eveyoga: Yesteryear and Today

Celebrate a birthday or two with meEve yoga is where you’ll find the Yoga Suits Her blog; on January 1st 2016, she will enjoy her sixth birthday. I want to share with you another birthday. Saturday I turned 71 years old. To celebrate, I thought I’d show you a few yoga pics from the distant past, not-so-distant past, and the present. I dug through stacks of old photos from 1980 to present day to find this selection. My albums include pics of some of my old students, as well. […]

Hot Weather Yoga: Do Flop-asanas!

Hot Weather Yoga: Do Flop-asanas!

In the heat, keep your brain cool
One of the definitions of the word ‘flop’ is to fail at an endeavour. Another meaning for the word is to crumble or collapse. Flop-asanas are not poses that you do and then you fail; nor are they done simple by flopping over soft props. Rather, they are supported poses that help you open up your chest and your breathing when the hot weather becomes stifling. […]

Too Many Yoga Teacher Trainings?

Too Many Yoga Teacher Trainings?

There’s a lot of controversy in the yoga world about the quality of yoga teacher trainings right now. It was inevitable. The explosion in the popularity of yoga has meant that not only do more people want to do yoga but more want to teach it. So, we see the proliferation of yoga brands with the various ‘styles’ offering their own spin on yoga teacher training. There are short courses, long courses, on-line courses, part-time, diplomas, advanced diplomas, and I don’t know what-all.For my part, I have a teaching certificate from Martyn Jackson (1980), another from B.K.S. […]

The Yoga Props Queen Gets a New Toy

The Yoga Props Queen Gets a New Toy

 To Prop or Not To PropCarrying the crown of Yoga Props Queen was heavy work when I began teaching in the 1980’s. There were various styles of yoga around but unless you were an Iyengar-trained teacher, you were likely to do your poses unpropped.Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga stood out as one of the styles which only required a willing body/mind and a non-skid mat. As this style became more popular and spin-offs were spawned, there was a period of time when yoga instructors looked down their noses at the use of props. […]

Introspection and Yoga

Introspection and Yoga

The Gold in SilenceIn August I did a weeklong course called POL which was conducted partially in silence. I didn’t feel constrained by not talking. Rather, I felt relieved. It was restful.Lately I’ve been thinking about my naturally extroverted personality. Is it really natural? It’s only late in life that I’ve been drawn to the reflective practices of yoga: savasana, yoga nidra, pranayama and meditation. […]

I Keep Asking Myself: What is Yoga?

I Keep Asking Myself: What is Yoga?

 Every day of the week except Sundays I do a yoga practice in The Shed from 7:30-9 am. You can pretty well set your clock by me.Lately, and in anticipation of a workshop I’m leading this next weekend, I’ve been mixing up the usual practices I do of a morning.Instead of a strict physical practice which I love–standing poses, inversions, backbends, forward bends–I’ve been doing more meditation and pranayama. […]

An Old Yoga Dog Learns New Tricks

An Old Yoga Dog Learns New Tricks

 I’ve been away for a couple of weeks, visiting family in the U.S. When I came back to Australia, I went on retreat for 8 days.I want to share with you a few things I learned on this hiatus. These are insights that I might even categorise as spiritual practice.Gifts From My FamilySpending time with my family is sometimes the toughest test of my life commitment to be kind and non-reactive. However, in the company of my family, when I reacted in a non-loving way, this is when I got to practice forgiving myself. […]

I'm Back! My First Sydney Yoga Workshop in 6 Years

I'm Back! My First Sydney Yoga Workshop in 6 Years

It’s been a long time, nearly six years; but I’m thrilled to let you know that I will be teaching a yoga workshop in the greater Sydney area on Sunday September 20th.The topic of my day-long workshop is the power of yoga — particularly relating to the practices that support us through all of our lives. The poses and practices that we do in yoga support us now and prepare us for the yoga we do in the future.I’ll be leading two full sessions that include vinyasa flow, inversions, pranayama, meditation, and special needs sequences. […]

No Yoga Mat, Will Travel

No Yoga Mat, Will Travel

I don’t have to tell you it’s winter in Australia. On the east coast we’ve experienced mild weather, then bitter cold, and even snowfall where there isn’t meant to be any. No matter what the winter weather is like, Australians have a habit of fleeing our island continent for tropical paradises as the chilly temperatures bite.In a short time, I’m leaving for a sojourn in the U.S. […]

Forty Plus Years of Personal Yoga Practice

Forty Plus Years of Personal Yoga Practice

 Fitting in Personal Yoga PracticeI had a stimulating conversation with my friend and student, Alexa Nehter last week. We discussed an age-old problem: how do yoga students and teachers fit in a regular yoga practice? We are all so busy! I’m semi-retired, and even though I don’t have a job to go to each morning, I’m too busy, too.Sadly, busy is a cliche. So is the expression, ‘Everyone has the same twenty-four hours in the day.’ While it is undoubtedly true, we have careers, kids, relationships, mortgages, and HOUSEWORK. […]

The Art of Yoga Practice: Guidelines and Props

The Art of Yoga Practice: Guidelines and Props

Tools for Yoga PracticeFour years ago, Gretta Kool and I hatched the idea of producing an aid for yoga practitioners/teachers.We researched what was available in the way of tools to help practitioners do their yoga practice at home. It seemed that we could fill a missing link by supplying simple yoga sequences for beginners, as well as for ‘special needs’ students.Our YogaAnywhere practice cards were born – two different packets of 10 cards each – easy to use and portable. […]

Your Yoga Practice Gets Derailed: It Happens

Your Yoga Practice Gets Derailed: It Happens

I’m heading north to Byron Bay this week to teach for the sixth consecutive year in a yoga therapy course. My friends and students think I am blessed to spend time in this warm, sunny paradise of northern NSW. But the truth is, Byron has had miserable weather each time I’ve been there – rainy and cold (apologies to Byronshire Tourism).What difference should weather make to an equanimous yogini such as myself? Well, gloomy, chilly days can be depressing and even put some of us off our yoga practice. […]

Yoga + Influence: A Good Combination?

Yoga + Influence: A Good Combination?

‘Be great, none of this humble stuff!’, said friend Heather to me as I trundled off to teach an out-of-town yoga workshop. I can see why she would advise me thus.
I probably come across as not overly ambitious when I teach. I don’t mean to be blasé. I do a lot of planning for any seminars I teach. If anything, I over-plan. When I do that, I end up more worried about my plan than being present to workshop participants. […]

A Love Affair With Headstand – Is It Possible?

A Love Affair With Headstand – Is It Possible?

Headstand preparation
Do you love doing headstand (sirsasana)? Or, does it strike fear into your heart? Maybe you like the idea of headstand, but only for other people?
Without meaning to ‘big note’ myself, I did a headstand in my first yoga class in 1971. How crazy is that? First of all, what was the teacher thinking in letting me go up into such an advanced pose?! She didn’t know me or my body, but I guess headstand was in her lesson plan. […]

A Yoga Intensive Country-Style

A Yoga Intensive Country-Style

What is a yoga intensive?
We teachers often call yoga courses which run over several days ‘intensives’, but what does that mean? Are they really intense? Is that a contradiction in terms?
Another word that’s used these days for this type of course is ‘immersion’. I think that’s a better expression. Intensive brings up the sense of extreme or severe effort. Immersion is more like plunging in and steeping yourself in the content.
We’ve just completed a week of early morning classes at the Yoga Shed for 15 students. […]

2015: The Beginning Sets the Tone

2015: The Beginning Sets the Tone

Beginnings and Another Birthday
This blog, ‘Yoga Suits Her’, has a birthday and it’s New Year’s Eve 2009. That makes her five years old.
I think you’ll agree that the expression ‘time flies’ is a truism. But as a septuagenarian, I have to say time gallops. With age, I feel slower, but the tempo of time beats faster. You’ll see!

One thousand eighty posts into ‘Yoga Suits Her’, I can still remember sitting down to write my first one. That old post seems so tentative, almost shy, compared to what I write now. […]

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