The Class of 2015
The happy group of seniors pictured above are the latest crop of palliative care volunteers to have completed an inspired training on the mid-north coast of NSW. The photo includes facilitators Karen Rudge and Rob Crombie. You might notice yours truly in the front row.
While pride is not always an admirable trait, I can’t help but feel proud to have trained over the last eight weeks with such a genuine and generous group of people. […]
Here’s a little look-in at our home and gardens and us.
In this film excerpt below we are being interviewed about our inspiring communal lifestyle by Australian comedian Judith Lucy. It’s part of a six-episode series called Judith Lucy is All Woman. You can view all of this episode or even the whole series on the ABC’s iView. […]
See the Shedders
We ‘Shedders’ were privileged to be filmed for the ABC series Judith Lucy is All Woman. The last episode which went to air tonight featured all six of us living our communal lifestyle on Mitchells Island.
Listen to the Best
As part of that final episode, Lucy organised a collaboration of some of Australia’s most recognisable female voices to sing a rendition of the Helen Reddy classic, “I Am Woman.”
The collaboration comprised Ella Hooper, Deborah Conway, Vika and Linda Bull, Bertie Blackman, Liz Stringer, Lisa Miller and more.
Listening to this might just make you […]
I attended the Divine Feminine conference this last weekend, as a participant and a presenter. As a result, I feel filled up from the experience of hanging out with wonderful, powerful women (an oestrogen high?)
The Sunday program coincided with Internatiional Women’s Day. As I taught my yoga session, I pictured myself as part of a gigantic web of global solidarity with many the events happening around the planet in support and celebration of women.
What I think makes women special is sometimes what we are criticised for: our caring, emotive side. […]
I love love love this time of year! Especially today – the summer solstice. For you northerners, you may be experiencing the type of climate you love and I’m happy for you. But, as a girl who grew up in the icy winters of Chicago, I can tell you I’m done with snow and freezing temperatures. This semi-tropical weather we’ve been enjoying on the mid-north coast of NSW suits me to the ground. As I write to you, dear reader, I’m wearing shorts and a tank top and looking out on verdant forest and lawns. […]
“I can’t believe Eve Grzybowski is 70. She’s a walking advertisement for the benefits of yoga to combat ageing.”
When I read the above Facebook comment, which is obviously meant to be a compliment, I smiled. It brought up images of me in battle gear, all manner of weapons in hand, throwing myself against the cruel onslaught of Time.
Nothing could be further from the truth. My seventy years have shown me that time marches inevitably foreward. Fighting its effects, I’ve noticed, is not only futile but exhausting.
BTW, I don’t do yoga to thwart ageing. […]
In the lead-up to my 70th birthday in December, I’ve been playing with the idea of declaring myself old. This is my way of getting used to the idea. After all, at some point I have to own my age, and ‘old’ is just a word, isn’t it?
I know there are many people of advanced years who don’t want to own up to their age. For the most part in our society, old has a pejorative connotation. Middle aged isn’t so bad. Being called a senior is still on the soft side. […]
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I admire older individuals who put aside their fears and considerations and come to yoga for the first time. These 50 to 80 year olds are what I call the ‘grey warriors’. By joining a class at this late stage, they are setting off on the adventure of a lifetime. […]
From the above title, you might think I’m going to be writing about a tennis match or a disagreement with my spouse.
But no, this is much more serious. I’m talking about losing memory, losing faculties, and losing muscle strength. I’m talking about The March of Time.
I came across an excellent blog post this week from Eve Johnson, another tribute to yoga guru, B.K.S. Iyengar. She got me thinking about the process of ageing. I know, I know, I’m getting obsessed with this topic.
I think I’m doing ageing reasonably well. […]
In 1978 I fell under the spell of a yoga teacher named Martyn Jackson. Martyn taught a kind of yoga that he’d learned in Pune, India from his teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar.He alleged that, in the sixties, he was one of few western students to study with Mr. Iyengar.
Martyn went to Pune from New Zealand to undertake one-to-one lessons with Mr. Iyengar. He had a story about arriving on Mr. […]
We yogis are a force worldwide. Those who practice yoga represent about 3% of the adult population in Australia. The numbers in the United States are likely to be even higher. We who do yoga can do good and we do.
It makes me happy that we yogis want to give back after having received so much from our practice. We join organisations with a social conscience like Yoga Off the Mat and Into the World and Care2Causes. […]
image via Pinterest
Yoga is elastic. It stretches to fit you now, and then, miraculously, it will give you a perfect fit in the future. All you have to do is jump on for the ride and stay on.
The best thing about yoga for me is the very way it is defined: union. And also that it so naturally cultivates community and connection.
Yesterday I had breakfast with three old students of mine. I don’t mean they are old. They are younger than I am. Actually, we’ve all grown older since we started on the yoga path. […]
In a world where yoga is practiced everywhere and at all times, global travelers who want to sample different schools and styles are fortunate to have countless classes at the tips of their fingers.
This last week I experienced an unimaginable contrast in the two yoga classes I attended, one in Boston, the other in New York City.
Jamaica Plain (Boston) is a lively neighborhood where ethnic assimilation is still going on. Eateries include African, Asian and European cuisines. […]
As a writer, I’ve attempted to follow the advice of Mark Twain: When you catch adjectives in your writing, kill them…. Well, not all, but most, so that any you use will be valuable.
But what’s a writer to do when she’s been part of a most remarkable and memorable week. I must remark and memorialize, and I fear I must even adopt a hyperbolic style. And so, here goes my account, no modifying words barred.
This last week I observed and participated in my niece Christa’s wedding. […]
I’ve just finished my stint of teaching in the Byron Bay Yoga Therapy Course, which will continue until next week.
My contribution to the course is in the area of “Working with the Older Client”, i.e., what are the complaints of the Aged and how can yoga help.
Even though the above photo of the group shows us behaving like silly mugs, these trainees are very inspiring. Yogis decide to train as teachers because of a huge love of yoga. […]
Tomorrow I’m heading off to the yoga capital of Australia, Byron Bay.
I’m part of the faculty of a Yoga Therapy course that is run annually at this time of year over the course of 12 days.
My particular contribution to the course is in the area of Yoga for the Aged, which it would seem I am qualified to teach by dint of my advanced years and experience!
I thought it fitting to contribute a-therapy-pose-a-day to “Yoga Suits Her” this week in case you are interested in seeing what some of these poses look like. […]
I’m a tribal person, an extrovert who likes being around people I like, many of whom are women.
For the last eight years, I’ve lived with my husband and two other couples in a co-housing situation. This means that I am blessed to have two other women at my fingertips, who offer female fun, understanding and life skills.
Over 34 years of directing yoga schools, teaching classes, and training teachers, women have formed the majority of my students. That’s yoga for you. I asked a male swami one time why he thought yoga attracted more women than men. […]
What kind of person would enrol for a course called, ‘Midwifeing Death’*?
As it turns out, I am that sort of person.
Not only did I not hesitate to sign up for the course, but I did so without fully comprehending what it might involve.
I do know that death and dying are happening all around us every moment of every day, but as I live my busy life, I scarcely notice. […]
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My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last week. For many people this milestone could be considered an improbable achievement, given that the median duration of marriage was 12.2 years in 2012.
Twenty years of marriage is almost time enough to experience three seven year itches. It’s time enough to fall into dull routines and think that you’ve said everything there is to say to each other. […]
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I’ve been entertaining the notion for a while of relaunching my Yoga Suits Her blog with the above title, ‘Old Dog, New Tricks’. What I want to convey is the idea that I’m the Old Dog, and I’m still mentally and physically flexible enough to learn new skills.
After surveying a few friends and not meeting with resounding enthusiasm regarding my clever title, I abandoned the new name. […]