In my life, I have nothing really to complain about. I would have to overlook that fact that I live in a brand new house in the country, not too far from the beach. I am the envy of my girlfriends because I have such an incredibly wonderful husband. I live with him in our beautiful house, and also with Heather & Rick who are the nicest, most supportive people you could know. My health is improving every day because I don’t have arthritis anymore. […]
These are terms that a keen student or teacher might run across with increasing frequency these days. They represent a specialised area of yoga that offers a holistic approach to treating chronic or acute ailments.
What sort of treatment? A range of approaches: asanas, breath work, meditation, perhaps Ayurvedic remedies, all may be used for the purpose of creating symmetry in the body and harmony in the mind. […]
I joined an on-line yoga forum yesterday, thinking I could add an interesting thread on yoga and hip surgery. I guess I think I know a thing or two now đ
I didn’t get quite the reply I expected when a respondent asked whether yoga had contributed to the hip osteoarthritis, as she/he knew of other experienced yoga practitioners who had hip problems. This isn’t the first person who has questioned the helpfulness of yoga. Here’s my answer:
“Thank you. […]
Have you ever overdone?
Do you have the definitive solution for keeping balance in your life? If you do, then you are likely to be a rich person.
Needing to find balance is one reason people sign up for yoga. IMHO, sadly, yoga teachers are a group whose lives get seriously out of whack. Isn’t it so? “You teach what you most need to learn.”
Sometimes I subscribe to my own way of finding where my limits lie: Go over them!
That was what I did yesterday. […]
The small ruby everyone wants has fallen out on the road.
Some think it is east of us, others west of us.
Some say, “among primitive earth rocks,” others, “in the deep waters.”
A-Bud-in-a-Bloom
Kabir’s instinct told him it was inside and what it was worth,
and he wrapped it up carefully in his heart cloth.
Kabir (The Kabir Book)
About six weeks ago, and on the auspicious first day of the new year, even a new decade, I kicked off this blog with the topic “New Year’s Resolutions”. […]
Babies learn to walk after crawling (for the majority of them) and this is a very cute stage that usually involves much falling down and much parental encouragement. […]
My own bed, walking (unaided ) on a country road, pranayama, Roibos tea, sitting at a cafe drinking a flat white, making dinner, a long hot shower, being naked, touching and being touched, frequent hugs, feeling warm, soft sand through my toes and soles (indescribably sensual), salt water spray, sunshine on my skin and scars, naps at anytime, and believe it or not, my computer!
I was nervous about getting into the sea apart from up to my thighs as the surf is rough and full of rip tides. […]
Having cast off from Rehab yesterday, I’m the one now entirely responsible for my new hips. Like taking a perfectly healthy plant home from the nursery or a puppy from the pet shop, one hopes that it hasn’t just had it’s best period of its young existence.
I admit I probably overdid it yesterday. I was so excited to be home that I did my version of laps around the property (without a walking stick), admiring all the work Rick and Heather had done over the last 3 weeks. […]
Today spelled good bye to the Rehab Centre and Hello to Mitchells Island. I never dreamed I would be able to walk out of the place with no aids just 18 days after hip surgery – no pain, no limp, and great posture. I have this pretty bronze stick but don’t need to use it. (Actually, carrying it makes people very deferential which is kind of fun.) I managed the 4 hour trip north from Sydney, with Daniel driving; I won’t be cleared to drive until 6 weeks post-op. […]
So far , I’ve had an expeditious and successful rehabilitation. It will go on for some weeks and months, but I now only have one more full day in rehab before heading to my northerly home.
People have remarked on what a great job I’ve done, but the network of support I’ve had has been phenomenal.
All the staff at the excellent Mater Hospital, for instance, with a special nod to Nurse Fiona of the red eye shift. […]
“Four Walls”, if memory serves. Is a Cold Chisel song, maybe spawned from one of the band members who did time?
I’ve been spending time between four walls, one week in hospital, one week here in Rehab, with one more to go.
It’s not like I’m in prison. I’m grateful for the remarkably cheerful staff. All the facilities are clean and my small room is comfortable for my needs. […]
Eighteen years ago, when I was first diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the hips, my ego got crushed like a stepped-on grape. I was convinced the diagnosis spelled career suicide for me as a yoga teacher. […]
I watched a movie last night that had a scene with two small kids playing on a beach, seabirds flying around. I realized that was the first time I’d seen birds since the end of January.
I’m sure there’s birdlife out there, but I’ve been inside – a week at Mater Hospital, now nearly a week at Hunters Hill Rehab, and one more to go.
I’m not complaining; this is what I’m here for. I’m not even close to going outside. […]
The wise ancient, Patanjali, identified certain human frailities and offered ways of correcting them in his “Yoga Sutra”.
One of them is particularly relevant to the above topic and in Sanskrit is called “aparigraha”, the practice of non-greed.
Greed is spectacularly obvious when we read about excessive Goldman Sachs’ executive bonuses or Bernie Madoff’s financial blood-sucking.
But greed presents with much more of a slippery edge when it plays out in yoga practice.
You might decide to go that little bit further in Uttanasana because you felt you didn’t do enough yesterday. […]
I’m sure I could become the next guru if I could explain to people how to do “portion control”. These two words didn’t fall together so often until relatively recently, until the “obesity epidemic” started mushrooming.
I can imagine my sensible Midwestern-born 90 yr.-old mother-in-law saying, “You just push your plate away when you’re full. That’s all.”
I’m a member of that camp – stop eating when you’re full. Scientists link this ability with something called an “appestat”, like a thermostat for central air control on the wall, only appetite control is in your brain. […]
Miracles of modern times. I’m sitting here in my chair, with my 6 day old happy hips and sending my words out across the globe. Trishna and Krishna, twins conjoined at the back of their brains, are separated and live to tell about it. Faces are transplanted. Eight children are born in one labour.
This is only possible through advances in medical technology, surgery and drugs. […]
 Yesterday I had quite a few tears. Happily sadness doesn’t scare me. To the contrary, I consider it to be cleansing and revealing. The emotion that was coming up each time I cried was associated with a certain feeling I’d been stuffing down and not allowing myself to experience. I was surprised when I realised that part of the blues was caused by the fact that  I hadn’t told people I love how much they meant to me.It’s not unusual to misinterpret or ignore strong emotion. […]