How happy am I to be home again from our week away up north? Completely!
I’ve loved the connections with dear friends and a whole new crop of yoga students. […]
Philosophy
A Sutra a Day: I-20 Opening to Yoga
I saw a wonderful video presented as a Ted Talk with Brené Brown speaking on “The Power of Vulnerability”. I ‘d seen it before and loved the vulnerability Brene Brown demonstrates. It held me completely on second viewing, as Brown’s talk is entertaining as well as inspiring.
In the spirit of being open with you, watching this video encouraged me to share a bit of writing I did a while back in a life stories course. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-19 – Perplexing Patanjali
It’s late and I’ve delayed posting tonight, not sure whether I should go east, west, north or south with my writing. I’ve looked into Patanjali and tried to scry the meaning of a sutra that seems as elusive as the track Venus will make across the sun in a day or two.
I suppose this is all right…to not have it figured out. This sutra is in the first chapter which is about samadhi, a state I have not experienced. This sutra references re- incarnation which I can’t quite align with. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-18 – Busy Doing Nothing
Sitting by the fire on a wet Sunday afternoon, I’m glad for the portability of this iPad that lets me communicate to the world in comfort wherever I like.
It’s a quiet winter day here on our Mitchells Island property. Perhaps as a consequence of the peace all around – i.e., the phone hasn’t rung, there’s no music playing, Daniel is at his desk doing our books – my head is empty of anecdotes or wisdom to share.
Part of me is mentally leaning towards Byron Bay where the Yoga Therapy course is just kicking off today. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-17 – Music of the Mat
In 1979, the incomparable violinist, Isaac Stern, travelled to China to give concerts and master classes. The Academy Award-winning film – From Mao to Mozart – is based on Stern’s experience of performing and teaching in China.
For Stern the biggest disappointment of the his visit to China was that the musicians, while technically adept, played mechanically and without feeling. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-13 – What Matters
A friend and colleague has said that, rather than practising yoga to achieve a perfect posture, we should be aiming to be nicer people.
As simplistic as that sounds, it’s not simple.
The loftiest goal that I have for myself is to live life in love, i.e., to be a loving person. The trouble with having a high aim is that it makes an annoying foil for all opposing qualities. […]
Good/Bad Thinking – Sutra I-5
Sometimes I think that minds were originally designed so we could be entertained by watching the play of our thoughts. But, then, a bug, a virus, a mutation somehow got in and corrupted the system. […]
Big Questions Sutra – I-4
I have a friend who is doing SEO research relating to the topic of meditation; she was surprised to discover that huge numbers of people google “Why am I here?”
I get that. It’s a pretty fundamental question, but probably not one that arises often, unless one is of a philosophical bent, depressed, a spiritual seeker, or at a crossroads in life.
Another friend of mine has been searching for how to express his purpose in life and not been altogether successful to date. […]
A Sutra a Day: Sutra I-3 New Directions
The Inner World
There’s a moment at the end of a yoga class when the students have placed themselves in savasana and have settled down to relax. Stillness gradually begins to fill the space. It doesn’t always happen. But when it does, it’s like a tumbler clicking in a lock, and the door to an inner world may begin to open.
Finding Balance With the Outer World
Of course, there is plenty of evidence for the opposite happening in savasana: noise. I used to teach lunchtime classes in the soundproof radio studio at SBS in Sydney. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-2 The Power of Mind
Some people think that just because my job title is yoga teacher that I have awesome power over my mind. It’s what makes me self-disciplined. In psychology, this is supposition is called projection. “It’s easy for you,” is what they say. My husband, Daniel, emailed me the above image with the subject heading, “I saw this and thought of you.”
This is what I mean. To be fair, I project onto Daniel; he is my computer guru. If he doesn’t know the answer, either no one does, or he will find out.
We humans are funny beings. […]
A Sutra a Day: Sutra I-1 Blessings on a Beginning
If Patanjali were alive during this age of the internet, would he have succumbed to blogging?
And, if so, would he have ended up being as pithy in his writing?
Would readers want to spend days/weeks/months unraveling each of his sutra?
Or, would readers, sensing it would be hard work, just want to move on to a YouTube video or MP3 file?
These questions are uppermost in my mind because today I am introducing a new format into “Yoga Suits Her”: a look at The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali.
Perhaps I can be like blogger Julie Powell of “Julie and […]
The Old Sage (Patanjali) Delivers Prosperity
I was inspired by a talk given by Michael de Manicor of the Yoga Institute at the Yoga Australia conference yesterday. Michael is very enthusiastic about Ph.D. research he is doing in the field of psychology and this came across in his speaking. He presented his topic- “Mental Health & Flourishing” – and compared what we modern yogis think yoga to be vs. the classical teachings of Patanjali. […]
A Yogic Easter
Easter is an autumnal holiday in the Southern Hemisphere, but in the north, Easter is the harbinger of spring. The name Easter is likely derived from the word for the goddess of spring.
Christian religions have taken the season where rebirth and renewal are in the spring air as the time for celebrating the resurrection of Jesus – and all that that event signifies about the redemption of human beings.
I’d say the necessity of redemption would not sit well with Patanjali. The notion implies a need for salvation from sin or evil. […]
Generosity
As good yogis we are meant to practice the precepts set forth by Patanjali in the Yama and Niyama. One of the “thou shalts” that I needed to work with today is called Aparigraha – the practice of non-greed.
I’ll just say that I fall from yoga grace not infrequently. When I do, I try to remember two things.
1. The reason it’s called yoga practice is because I’m still working on it.
2. […]
You Don't Belong
For the last five nights we’ve had one or more visitors to our kitchen while we’re sleeping. I suspect these are of the rodent variety and that they have decided our house is dry, while the out of door is rainy and sodden. These creatures seem to have a healthy appetite for anything in our fruit bowl, and when these treats were removed, overnight they got stuck into a bowl of tomatoes instead.
Let me say, we are none of us are Buddhists or Jains. “It’s them or us” would fairly accurately sum up our approach. […]
Envisioning Your Life: How Yoga Helps
Yoga practice is all-important, as the tapas – the discipline – will shape your vision and make it real.
Attraction
What is it about yoga that attracts so many people to it?
When I moved to the country, I wasn’t sure if I would garner an audience for the kind of yoga I teach. Building up class numbers has taken time, but now students are coming from far distances to the humble Yoga Shed.
I don’t take all the credit. I think people want to learn yoga for a variety of reasons, some of which are:
1. Physical well-being. This is a biggie. Dynamic yoga can get you into a pretty buffed condition, with more-than-inner glow. […]
A Life Well Lived
I was privileged today to read a eulogy that appeared in the NY Times, a sibling writing about her famous and influential brother, Steve Jobs.
The piece reminded me how precious life is, and death too. You know this very well if you have gently paced a relative in the process of dying. This is what we do with our elderly parents in aged care facilities, but also sometimes with someone younger, like Jobs was. […]
Specks and Beams
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?
In the yoga spirit of self-study or svadhyaya, I’ve been thinking about the above quote in relation to a couple of judgments I’ve been harbouring.
Sigh.
I notice I get super critical about how much screen time my hubby spends between iPad, iPhone, Mac and a little episodic t.v. watching. When I finally took my attention off vetting his activities, I realised I do a lot of that stuff too. […]
Trouble in Paradise
Anyone who regularly reads “Yoga Suits Her” will know that I speak glowingly about my life in the beautiful surroundings of Mitchells Island.You can also read the story of the small, intentional community we’ve set up here.) Usually I’m a pretty positive and happy person, I think, in the midst of our island paradise. But last night I sorely tested myself and the merits of all my wonderful yoga philosophy when I was at a cocktail party (yes, alcohol does pass my lips) and spoke my mind, revealing a provocative personal opinion. […]