I’ve never done a Power Yoga class even though one of the most popular expressions of this style is home-grown in Australia. Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga and Power Yoga have a well-deserved reputation of being physically demanding. There’s an emphasis on strong breathing, switching on the bandhas, and doing chataranga dandasanas (the yogi’s pushups) to link the flow of poses.
This appoach builds up strength, stamina, and a lot of heat in the body. […]
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. […]
Lots of people ask me what the best thing is about having moved to the country. Maybe they are trying to build a case for doing the same?
Every time I get this question, I make it up. I don’t have a pat answer. I also don’t remember what I said the last time.
I know that sounds strange. It’s because describing what’s good about being here is almost beyond words. […]
Loosely speaking, I do celebrate Christmas. But, to be honest with you, I don’t believe in Christ.
Notwithstanding, the birth of Christ is a great story – just the very idea that a child could be born unto a virgin, for one thing.
And then the image of this humble couple having to lodge in a stables where they are soon sought out by kings bearing rare and expensive gifts.
Even better, how about the power of an ancient messianic prophesy being fulfilled?
We saw the Mitchells Island school kids enact the nativity story recently. […]
Recently I’ve been in the throes of a new writing project. I was swept along in the early days by enthusiasm and euphoria. But today I noticed that I have a mountain of work ahead of me, and I started to procrastinate and figuratively shuffle papers.
A decade and a half ago, I wrote on the topic of developing the discipline to do regular yoga practice. I glibly said things like it’s not really that hard to do; it’s just that your mind trips you up. […]
I stumbled out to the Yoga Shed this morning having had fewer hours sleep than I wanted. The reason? I was up late racing to finish “Nomad”, this month’s selection of our book club, which was scheduled to meet this afternoon. I have to admit I didn’t finish the book in time. However, I highly recommend it, mainly because of the courage of the author, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She’s a feminist, writer, lecturer and fearless critic of Islam. I will finish the book as a vote of support.
Fortunately I had a Fatigue-fighting Yoga Sequence up my sleeve. […]
Last night I went to a celebration. A friend had just successfully completed a property settlement on the house she and her daughter live in, all part of the process of her husband becoming her “ex”.
She was staging a bonfire-lighting and had recommended to her guests that they bring along something that they would like to get rid of in the fire. Our neighbours just across Scotts Creek hauled over some old bamboo blinds that went up in flames pretty spectacularly. […]
Ever since returning from the U.S. last week, I’ve been happily ensconced in the Yoga Shed each morning around 6:30. My body is remembering the grooves it used to slip into with ease before holidays and even before major surgery through up barriers to progress. I am very blessed by having this studio to play in, Heather to practice with and the amazing green vistas we look out on.
You can hear things growing this time of year. […]
Nestled among four mountain ranges,
Tucson Arizona is beloved to me as I went to high school and university way back when.
I formed my tastes for the desert, country and western music and mouth-watering Mexican food here.
I misspent part of my younger years drinking pitcher beer and making out under fragrant lemon trees in full bloom.
Happily I have relatives here to visit or I might skip Tucson’s western charms in favor of alluring undiscovered regions.
And happily, the rellies thus far have been congenial.
My yoga mat is a bit dusty after a couple days or non-use. […]
…no. If anything my cold is worse (mucous, hard to write that without the “yuk”) and now something else is happening, a sort of southerly movement of scratchiness down into my chest. I found myself apologising to Daniel this morning for my libido suffering from this cold, too. Sigh. Talk about shooting oneself in the foot.
Nevertheless somethings are under control: my yoga practice, for one, and I even managed to teach a class tonight, for another.
Also, I have an unblunted appreciation for the signs of spring that appearing all around our garden and our neighbourhood…. […]
Incense and oriental bells are time-honoured instruments to nudge us back into the present if our minds have gone elsewhere. Meditators know that if they don’t have a strong focus they will drift, probably often.
An even more powerful device for making us aware in the moment is our breath. In the practice of pranayama, we can listen to our breath, identify such nuances as tone, pace, and depth, and even locate it in various areas of our bodies. […]
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. […]