A Sutra a Day
Between 14 May 2012 and 22 February 2013 I worked my way through the 196 Sutra of Patanjali. I called the project "A Sutra a Day". I tried to relate each of the Sutra to my life in a personal way. Here are the results.
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Eve Grzybowski
Yoga Suits Her
I've been teaching yoga since 1980. A lot of my identity is tied up with being a yoga teacher. What does that mean? What should that mean? On this site I explore my personal journey and provide commentary on the state of yoga in the twenty-first century. I invite you to have a look and see what may be here for you.
Photo by: Julie Slavin Photography, Old Bar
Featured videos from my YouTube channel
I've been adding meditations, short instructional video and an ever-growing selection of complete yoga classes. Click on any of these below videos to view them directly. Or click on the button below to explore the entire channel.
If you would like to make a donation to my continuing to create my videos and recordings, please click HERE.
All of my videos are also available on this website.
Current Post
Yoga Practices Can Help With Grief, Dying and Death
Willingness to be with grief, dying and death
The depth you can go within yourself corresponds directly to the depth at which you can connect intimately with another.
Practices for carers and patients
- Savasana (Corpse Pose) - Yoga relaxation is the ultimate teacher of surrender. The yoga practitioner when in deep relaxation is 'dying' to all that is experienced in everyday life. Joseph Campbell, the American mythologist in A Joseph Campbell Companion says that this state is 'where you don't know what was in the newspapers this morning, you don't know who your friends are, you don't know what you owe anybody, you don't know what anybody owes you. This is a place where you can simply experience and bring forth what you are....'
- Yoga Nidra (Psychic Sleep) - This is a practice that has the practitioner cultivate a state of being awake, aware and still able to plumb the subconscious. It gives access to healing on levels that are not accessible in a fully conscious state. Yoga Nidra is designed to help us acknowledge and ultimately welcome all experiences, even grief, dying and death. The sort of freedom that this sort of surrender offers, according to Dr. Richard C. Miller, a leader in promoting Yoga Nidra, allows people to come home to themselves. 'You know yourself, all others and every thing as the unititive Presence that everything is: that you are.'
- Mindfulness Meditation - In mindfulness meditation practice, life becomes simpler. It is as it occurs in this moment. And this moment. And this moment. There's nothing to push away or try to change because whatever it is is already here. For the individual who is dying, this practice may be helpful in letting go at the end of life.
The simple practice of following the out-breath into the silence and then watching the in-breath arise from the silent space is calming and peace-inducing.
Whether you are a yoga teacher or a person close to the end of life, this sounds exactly like the pathway home to our essential selves–our homecoming.
Yoga Practices Can Help With Grief, Dying and Death
Grief is likely to be present for us at the end of life. But before then, we experience so many other losses. Some of them are small, no more than transitions: moving house, changing schools, different working hours or conditions. Some are major, as in the death of a spouse or child, a divorce or a bankruptcy. No matter big or small, for the most part, we don’t fully experience these losses. Our lives are so busy and grief is potentially so painful.
The Previous 4 Posts
Stuff Happens: My Tooth Fell Out!
I like to think that some wisdom has been born of age. I recognise that for most of the time, like you, I’m doing the best I can. Mistakes happen and they always will. Sometimes the more we do to have mistakes not happen just creates more painful experiences when they do.
Yoga for Exhaustion
Who hates being exhausted? Me!It’s not sexy to find oneself in a state of exhaustion. It could even be viewed as decidedly unattractive. Worse, exhaustion is often accompanied by low spirits, including a whole lot of resistance to feeling this way.My dictionary defines exhaustion as extreme tiredness, great fatigue, weariness, and burnout. So, we’re not just talking about feeling a little tired after housecleaning or gardening.Okay, I’m going to dob myself in. I’m not here only to write an exposition on exhaustion or to merely define it. I’m here to tell you that I am exhausted. […]
Balance and Sustainability: Yoga Helps
A human body cannot continually be pushed, with the pendulum swinging widely between extreme behaviours. Maintaining a sense of well-being for as long as possible is only really likely if we can opt as much as possible for the middle ground during our lives and seek balance in all things.
Is There a Fountain of Youth? Yoga and Longevity
When I was 27, I discovered yoga. I thought that this ancient system would help me defeat disease and old age. Of course, I now know this view was terribly naive and ultimately fallacious. But because both of my parents had died young from heart problems, I wanted to find a guaranteed way to live a long, healthy life.
It's been out of print for 15 or more years but now it's back. It's available as a paperback as well as a range of digital formats for different devices. The design of this edition is modelled as closely as possible on the original release from 1997.
Electronic versions:
Paperback version:
(Note: Book retailers set their own prices that are all different and constantly change. It's worth shopping around for the best price.)
Any bookshop, whether online or bricks and mortar, can order copies of Teach Yourself Yoga. Just ask and quote ISBN: 978-0-6487945-0-9.
Please send me feedback about the book. I'd love to hear about any errors or problems with eBooks on various devices. And please review the book wherever you get it. Reviews will help more people discover the book.
Yoga Basics Pack. $24.95
10-week beginners Yoga course.
Specially designed for beginners, Yoga Basics is an easy to follow program for better health, flexibility and peace of mind. This pack contains 10 beautifully illustrated cards, one for each week of a ten-week course that tie a clear, practical and portable guide to getting started in yoga.
Yoga Tool Kit. $24.95
10 beautifully illustrated cards that give clear, practical and portable programs to meet a variety of needs. The customised sequences help provide holistic healthcare – better health, flexibility and peace of mind – so you can stay on top of your daily requirements with a safe and effective regime. Practices for boosting the immune system, insomnia, menstruation, post travel, low backache, stress and anxiety relief, fatigue, encouraging mental balance, managing menopause and regenerating.
Classes and Workshops
I'm currently teaching two weekly classes on the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales where I live. I also lead workshops here and in other parts of Australia.
Visit the Vault!
I've been regularly contributing to this blog since 2009. There are now over 1250 posts about a very wide range of topics. Click here to explore.
Yoga Resources
Books, videos, teachers, websites, places to buy really hot yoga clothes (kidding), and generally anything I find that I think others might find useful.
A Bit About Eve
I've been teaching since I was 35. I'm now 76. In that time there have been a few changes. Click here if you want to find out a bit about my life.
Shop
No, I'm not selling yoga mats or clothing. I don't even have a t-shirt... yet. But from time to time I find myself with something that someone may want. Have a look, I'm never sure what you'll find.