The yoga shed was well-used this weekend. The lovely Liz and the stalwart Bart visited us, along with Mike and Judy. […]
The Life we Lead
Not Sexy
Being tired is definitely not sexy. It’s not even a good look.
It’s the pits waking up in the morning, feeling fatigued, and then fretting that this is the best you’re going to feel all day.
That was me at 6 am. Even viewing the dawn’s pink cotton candy clouds couldn’t help. […]
Friends
One of the benefits of doing yoga is that it opens the door to beautiful friendships, ones that can last for decades. It’s easy to find like-minded people in classes, retreats and workshops, and yoga becomes the matrix that reinforces relationships.
I received a phone call from an old friend last week- we’re talking more than 30 years – who asked if he could come for a visit and an overnight stay.
Trevor Tangye and I did yoga teacher training with Martyn Jackson in the late seventies and early eighties. […]
Party Time
Sydney yoga community gathered to celebrate Simon Borg-Olivier on the occasion of his 50th birthday last night.
There were gorgeous stilt walkers, singing, techno dancing, wholesome food, body painting, and everyone in costume.
For instance:
I met Simon when he was 24 and a grad student working on his masters at Sydney Uni. I was the director of Sydney Yoga Centre, one of the early schools. We had a wonderful program of 6 am two – hour classes and Simon was a lively, natural yogi, attending those sessions faithfully.
One of the funny stories re. […]
Nature Trip
Today we were a sightseeing party of four, driving out to the very beautiful attraction ellenborough Falls, out past the hills villages of Bobin and Elands.
Never heard of those places? Neither had we till we became immigres to Mitchells Island. Which may be another area unfamiliar to you.
Located on the Bulga Plateau, about an hours drive north-west of Taree, Ellenborough Falls are a spectacular site. […]
Defining Moments (Take Two)
Defining Moments (Take Two)
We usually think of defining moments as peak experiences or monumental decisions that change our lives forever.
A less common but equally justifiable view is that we are defined by many tiny moments occurring over time. Like the way stalactites or stalagmites are formed – little droplets of water doing their thing over perhaps eons.
I think you know where I’m heading here. Ah, yes, the yoga mat, or, if you will, the meditation cushion. […]
Defining Moments
I was enjoying listening to the Dixie Chicks this morning on my iPhone while working out with some free weights (yes, I do weights sometimes and yoga). If you haven’t heard of the Dixie Chicks, I’d be very surprised because, as of 2010, they were rated the top selling female group in the U.S.
They also had one heck of a defining moment in their music careers – one of those “S” bends that shows who you are and possibly spins you off in unforeseen directions.
In 2003, on the cusp of U.S. […]
The Yoga Circle
When I left Sydney in November of last year, I had a niggling concern that I was going to lose contact with my yoga community there. So, I instigated this almost-daily cyber writing, sending missives off into the ether, like homing pigeons with little messages attached to them. […]
Red Birds
The other day, writing on this blog, I was trying to explain a yoga concept called vinyamaya kosha – not entirely successfully done, judging by a couple of comments I received.
I always put the responsibility for communications which the readers finds are abstruse back on the communicator. […]
The Mind
Have you ever done a ten-day Vipassana course? I attended a couple of these meditation courses in the 80’s with some of my yoga friends. The courses are conducted completely in silence.
I didn’t think the sitting/walking meditation would be very challenging for me because, hey, I’m a yogi!
It’s true that I didn’t suffer as much as some people did from the hour-long sitting sessions. What I wasn’t expecting was that when the room was quiet and my body was motionless, my mind went into overdrive. […]
Out There
I was patting myself on the back – a good yoga exercise 😉 for having no trouble writing a post each day. Then, last night nothing came.
But I felt guilty. My blog guru says the way to keep my public profile is to post every day.
But what if my muse doesn’t speak to me?
Writing is a discipline like placing yourself on the yoga mat each day, but blog writing can also overlap with marketing. I don’t want to write just to keep my face in front of you. […]
Dag
I made more of an effort to dress up when we lived in the city. Of course there were more people to impress.
I’ve already confessed to you that these days I mostly do my early morning yoga practice in my p.j’s.
My next admission probably won’t surprise anyone, particularly if you live in the country. I love my blue gum boots. (Actually they are Judy’s boots but she doesn’t have much use for them in Sydney in her CEO job.)
I used to envy little kids when I saw them sporting patterned, bright-coloured gum boots. […]
Renunciation
If there is such a thing as a natural renunciate, I would be one. I don’t have to work hard at saying no to temptations, whether it’s dessert orbiting a new pair of shoes.
I’m not saying this is a good thing.
When I recently wrote about the ages of a person’s life, I mentioned there is an optimum time for everything. Ideally renunciation is timed for the winter season of life. It naturally coincides when many pleasures are off limits anyway.
Me, I just keep saying no, even when pleasure is in the offing.
Here’s an example. […]
Performers
Saturday night Daniel and I stuck our necks out and joined some other locals as part of a burlesque cabaret being held in the riverside town of Wingham.
Daniel’s neck was further out than mine, which you might discern, from the attached photo. […]
So Happy!
First of all, this post has nothing whatsoever to do with Kookaburras, but they are so darn cute that I thought you would like to see them. There were 5 of them hanging around in the trees back of the house, not making a sound. Perhaps all the wet weather dampened their intrinsic mirth.
What I really wanted to say today is how happy I am to be back in the saddle, that is, teaching. I have a really lovely group of people coming along already. […]
Discipline?
How’s your yoga practice going since the colder weather has arrived?
Sometimes yoga students think their teachers bounce out of bed, raring to get to their yoga practice.
I’m not bad, but I notice since recent holiday disruptions of my practice routine that now that I’m home again, I’m not bouncing back.
In fact, the last two mornings, I was very happy to practice in the late afternoon – when my body is more warmed up, when the weather has warmed up. […]
Lineage
I have been quiet on my blog for the last several days because I’ve been completely absorbed by Darwin and one of it’s great emissaries, Carole Baillargeon.
This a pretty charming place. I shouldn’t be surprised because I’ve been hearing about it for years. The city is little by most standards – just 100,000 and very friendly because lots of people are newcomers.
We had the most amazing experience in Kakadu, going in on the cusp of wet season transition to dry. On the Saturday night big storms kept campers from getting to one region. […]
Gifts Keep Giving
The other night I was honoured with an invitation to a Buddhist meditation led by an ex-pat, Rio Helmi, an amazing international photographer – www.riohelmi.com.
He’s a “civilian” rather than a lama, who has set up an amazing sangha space in his Ubud home. […]
One Student
Do you as a yoga teacher resent having small numbers of students in your classes?
Amazing Grace
Tonight I became all choked up while singing “Amazing Grace”, as our community choir was using it for our warm-up.
What was that about? I don’t follow any faith so it wasn’t a religious experience, but the group singing was palpably moving. It just caught me in the throat and that was it.
Many years ago at Sydney’s Circular Quay, I was waiting for a ferry when I found myself drawn to a young man positioned right in the middle of the pedestrian traffic singing show tunes, of all things. […]