Years ago I had the bright idea of doing a yoga demonstration at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. I think that asana practice is a beautiful art form and people enjoy viewing it. I was too shy to pull off this caper on my own, so I talked Annie Cocksedge of Centennial Yoga into joining me.
Off we trundled on a sunny but chilly spring day with our yoga mats. I wish I had a photo of us from back then, but here’s a pic of the Art Gallery. […]
indulgy.com via pinterest
Do you make to-do lists? If you do, one item currently near the top of your list might be getting your tax information together so you can lodge this year’s return.
That’s what’s going on in our household at the moment. It’s been a perfectly beautiful winter Sunday and instead of going out for a picnic or a bicycle ride in the country, two of the couples in our house are slaving away filing receipts and working in their computer financial programs.
Nobody here is thrilled about doing their taxes. […]
I went to Trent, the hairdresser, in town today, and he gave me a pretty ‘do’. In my old life as a city girl, my hairdresser would say, ‘I hope your husband is taking you some place special for dinner tonight.’
Instead of a glamorous outing, in my current incarnation as a country girl, I took myself and my new hairdo home to work in the garden. Specifically to muck around in the compost, a job that’s needed doing for some time. […]
I was on skype call with my sister today, and she said, ‘You’re getting old.” It was in relation to my complaining about a cold that’s been hanging around for about two weeks now.
Why is it that people so readily say that sort of thing? […]
I read a great article this week in which the author asserted that yoga teachers should be teaching their students to do personal practice – not encouraging them to come classes on-goingly.
That notion resonated with me so completely that it stopped me in my tracks. Despite the fact that I agree with the idea that students should practice yoga outside of classes, I haven’t been teaching them to do this. I’ve been in a state of resignation.
I’ve been teaching in the Yoga Shed on Mitchells Island for over three years now. […]
I did a meditation this morning to the voice recording of Jon Kabat-Zin in which I was able to practice accepting my busy mind.
I know that meditation is supposed to be about stilling a chattering mind, but I think I’ve discovered a precondition to having a quiet mind, which is having a good look at what the mind is really up to.
In the case of moi, at the times when I’m sitting for meditation, my mind is most often planning, and especially busy creating new projects. […]
It’s so much more satisfying to have the luxury of a whole weekend to spend with friends instead of trying to fit in a meal together in the city. City people should probably be having more sleep-overs.
I thought that, since Daniel and I didn’t have a winter holiday planned this year, we would be feeling the weight of the winter season – and a wet one at that. But no… […]
I came across a great post on The Elephant Journal entitled: “Exercise & Opportunity: Why You Should Throw Away Your Bucket List & Stop Wasting Your Life” by Jennifer S. White.
The author reminded me of two things that people of a certain age like me should consider – get plenty of exercise. The Victorian Government Better Health Channel says:
“Only 1 in 10 Australians over 50 exercises enough to gain any cardiovascular benefit. […]
For any of you non-native Australian people out there, a Shed (with a capital “S”) is an Aussie institution. In the country, Sheds act as primary residences for people until they can afford the time, energy and money to build a house. If all of those things don’t fall in place, living in a shed might be a long-term proposition.
More often than not, the Shed is the place that a bloke can get away from his missus and the kids for a bit of peace and mind. […]
I’ve been enjoying a break from our routine life on Mitchell’s Island this week, visiting such varied places as Uki, inner city Brisbane, and Sunshine Beach, Queensland. I’ve also had downtime from sitting at my computer, and as a result had some insights.
Out of necessity from being on the road, I’ve begun disconnecting from some of the social media and blog sites that send me regular updates through my email.
I hear people say that they don’t have time to keep up with the plethora of information, advice, marketing and entertainment that shows up in their inbox. […]
Why do people try to keep it together? And, sometimes they have to work very hard at it, too.
I do it myself. I was reminiscing tonight about how I took up bicycle riding again eight months after I’d had hip replacement surgery. I hadn’t ridden a bike for 20 years. I was using the bike at the Burning Man Festival, covering miles of desert on and off over several days. […]
You might be aware that I live in a little community of three couples on five acres in the country. When we located to this rural setting after having lived for decades in the city, we met our new neighbours and joined a choir, a book club and other groups.
I felt that I had to let our new acquaintances know very gently that my living situation was unusual, to say the least, at my age and stage in life: six people living under one roof. […]
ilovefunnypics.com via pinterest
Years ago I saw a movie called “Something’s Got to Give”, starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton as seniors who were experiencing a bumpy road in dealing with the process of ageing.
One of the sight gags that ran through the movie was the both of them, sequentially, misplacing their reading glasses. The audience, an older crowd, laughed out loud each time the actors lost their glasses.
I’ve just spend 20 minutes today looking for my reading glasses and they haven’t turned up as yet. […]
(via Pinterest)
Having just completed teaching one workshop, I’m now mentally preparing for teaching in the Yoga Therapy Intensive in Byron Bay.
However, I’m following my own advice to the driven, stressed-out people who take up yoga to relax: chill a little. You may have had the experience of being so intensely productive that you use up all your reserves and end up flat on your back, unable to do anything.
So, for the time being I’m dawdling. […]
I’ve extolled the virtues of community in these blog posts over the years, and I’m sure to keep doing it, as I think that the way kindred spirits come together is a magical thing.
What is it that we humans find so enticing about the experience of joining for a common purpose? I think it is that we have an opportunity to let down our defences a little, and in the process of doing just that, we are immediately closer to others. […]
I’m looking forward to teaching a workshop in Corlette in beautiful Port Stephens (NSW) on Sunday sponsored by Nikki Schilling of Yoga Sphere.
I tend to be well-prepared for a seminar that I’m leading. […]
I joined a choir when I moved to the country three and a half years ago. I don’t think of myself as a singer. I don’t sing in the shower. I don’t remember lyrics or which band recorded what album. However, I love music.
Now I’ve discovered that when I’m carried along on the wings of my choir, I can sing. I’m probably not going to do any solos soon, and I still don’t sing in the shower, but with our regular weekly choir practice, I’ve become better. […]
We’ve just celebrated Mother’s Day this last Sunday, and I believe it was for me one of the most satisfying I’ve experienced.
First of all, I was on Kangaroo Island, spending 4 days in the company of 6 other women who are known for their wisdom, spunkiness and joie de vie. Our ages range from 40’s to late 70’s, so there are grandmothers and grandmothers-to-be in the mix.
Secondly, we women like to set up meaningful rituals, and on this Mother’s Day occasion, sitting around after dinner, we each shared about our mothers. […]
My husband and I share the same office, a rather small one at that. Our desks face in different directions, but it’s easy for me to toss questions over my shoulder at him. […]
How much is life passing us by because of our love affair with screens and devices? Probably more than we want to know, and it’s a question that Google can’t actually answer.
The classic cartoon above, created by Micheal Leunig with great prescience, sums up the situation. And it was published even before iPads and such were a glimmer in Apple’s eye.
Here’s an interesting statistic from this week’s SMH Good Weekend Magazine: On average a US household includes five internet-connected devices (smartphones, tablets, TVs, etc.). […]