Where we live

Yoga-Free Day

Yoga-Free Day

I recommend a day of the week that is yoga-free. It helps one’s mental flexibility and makes you look forward to picking up your mat again later. For the last month, I’ve been working hard on promoting  YogaAnywhere practice cards as Mother’s Day gifts. Then today, with the brunt of the toil behind me, Daniel and I headed off for a coastal drive. I felt totally like I’d been let out of school. Away from my computer and with no time constraints, we just drove south. […]

This Moment

This Moment

My housemates have gone off to our community choir practice. I opted to stay home. I’m tired and didn’t think I could generate upbeat energy this evening, despite the general cheeriness of the group.
I thought I’d listen to a new download of an MSIA meditation practice and that might help me rebound. Instead I was seduced by the sunset occurring as I write, so I’m sitting on our deck with my iPad and a drink. I’m telling myself this is just a different sort of spiritual activity. […]

Breathe It In

Breathe It In

      Everywhere you look in the Manning Valley these days, you’ll see the signs of the most luscious growth of many seasons – the culmination of several years of good rains without overheating. The low rolling hills west of the Pacific Highway are full of luxuriant pastures with fat cows and horses. The rivers and streams are fully flowing and oyster farming has started up again. We bought our property on Mitchells Island during the drought. And then we watched our wetland dry out, our lawns growing brown, and most of the planting we did dying off. […]

Yoga & Yakka*

Yoga & Yakka*

Over the last two days, we’ve been working our bums off on our little rural spread on lush Mitchells Island. We’ve had fantastic professional help from Peter Nixon, Paradisus Garden Design and our local builder, Matt Peters. But we decided that, to save money, we would do some of the labouring work ourselves. I don’t know that this is necessarily a good idea. […]

Emergency!

Emergency!

Do you perform well in emergencies? I’ve flattered myself that I do handle myself well when things go wrong.
After all, I just completed my senior 1st aid recertification last weekend. It’s a course that heightens your state of readiness for all kinds of disasters that can happen – especially living in the country.
I certainly didn’t expect what happened this evening, and worse, I didn’t expect to be as shaken by it as I was. […]

Yoga and the Silly Season

Yoga and the Silly Season

It’s the height of Australian summer and I’m convinced that this is such a crazy time because the end of year vibe is so expansive. The morning daylight wakes us up earlier and earlier each day. The evenings, even with rainy, cloudy, cool conditions we’ve experienced recently, still feel compellingly summery. We want to get out and socialise and clink glasses with friends.
It’s part of Nature’s estival conspiracy of abundance which we see illustrated everywhere we look by lush vegetation. […]

The Great Aussie Philosopher

The Great Aussie Philosopher

For inspiration, I have a copy of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra by Chip Hartranft in the stack of books by the side of my bed. We all need a slug of encouragement from the written word from time to time. That’s why svadhyaya -self-study – is one of the indispensable niyama.
There have been philosophers from every part of the globe and from all ages. The Greeks had Socrates and Aristotle…Germans had Nietzsche…Americans Emerson and Thoreau. […]

Unity in Everything

Unity in Everything

I’m going to be in Sydney for the next 4 days, mainly to present at and participate in the Divine Feminine Conference.
More and more I now find it difficult to leave the beauty and peace of our country place for the city. […]

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato….

One Potato, Two Potato, Three Potato….

I was so excited today by the output of our potato patch that I wanted to write something about it on this blog. However I couldn’t think of any relationship between growing potatoes and yoga.
So now, we’re going to make a leap and talk about couch potatoes.
Some people are attracted to yoga because they are not particularly athletic. They believe that yoga is an activity that will give them a soft landing when they finally get off the couch and onto the mat.
Don’t be fooled, though. […]

Today

Today

Sometimes Nature is right in your face.
This morning at seven o’clock, the forest, meadows and garden were all saturated wet earth.
Visually lush green growing before your very eyes. Viscerally the atmosphere heavy, thickened , where you can only breath in so much richness before getting overwhelmed. […]

A Walk on the Wild Side

A Walk on the Wild Side

If you read “Yoga Suits Her” for inspiration, I hope I’m not letting you down by saying there was no yoga practice happening for me today.
This is because yesterday Daniel and I headed off for Barrington Tops National Park and here I am – with miracle of WiFi in our lodging – still connected to you.
I’ve heard about this part of the world ever since I moved to Australia from the US 35 years ago, so it’s a thrill to be here for the first time. […]

An Anniversary of a Vision Fulfilled

An Anniversary of a Vision Fulfilled

It’s been two years this week since we moved to Mitchell’s Island from Sydney.
More than the typical sea/tree change, we three couples were realised a six-year plan of buying a property, building a house on it and living together.
It’s worked better than I could have ever imagined:
*We’ve been accepted into the local community.
*Living in Nature is all it’s cracked to be.
*We’re growing our own vegetables!
*I teach in the Yoga Shed on our property, and I just roll out bed in the morning to do my yoga practice there.
*My housemates are a delight to […]

One of Those Best Kept Secrets

One of Those Best Kept Secrets

Do you have a favourite beach? Enjoying the seaside assumes the proportions of a fanatical religion in Australia. We cling to the coast, human barnacles as we are, even when we know we’re going to get washed over by storm surges and buffeted by cyclones.
I discovered Saltwater Beach nestled in the National Park of the same name when we moved to the mid-north coast two years ago. […]

Mulching the Message

Mulching the Message

For me, the process of sitting down to write an almost-daily blog depends completely on my tuning in to the everyday experiences of life on Mitchells Island. This is partly why I do the writing, to share more or less ordinary stuff that goes on here that can be extrapolated, with any luck, into universal experience.
It’s why I do yoga too. […]

Cattleroo

Cattleroo

I may have just tipped the balance towards being a true country girl as I noticed this weekend on our trip to Sydney that I couldn’t get my heart into the city lifestyle at all.
Well-distracted by seeing the musical, “Jersey Boys”, taking in a excellently reviewed film, and dining on artisan breads and barista coffees, I still felt homesick for our forest and gardens. More so, for the simple life.
And, the surprises Nature dishes up here. […]

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part Three

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part Three

Be prepared!
In leading a retreat, a yoga teacher has duty of care for any number of people. Most retreats will proceed from beginning to end with no hiccoughs, but you still, as the leader, need to be mentally and physically prepared for different situations.
On one retreat I ran, a participant became gravely ill and I had to arrange for her to be driven home in the middle of the event. […]

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part Two

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part Two

Advertising and Promotion
Once you’ve gotten the basic information you need for advertising your yoga retreat, make up a flier. Here’s what pioneer advertising executive Leo Burnett says your promotional material should do:

“Say to people: ‘Here’s what we’ve got. Here’s what it will do for you. And, here’s how to get it.'”
Along with your text, you’ll want to include an enticing photo of your venue. Then, get your flier out to the relevant people in your data base, onto “Events” on your Facebook, and create a Twitter link. […]

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part One

How to Put on a Yoga Retreat: Part One

Falls Forest Retreat
So, you think you want to give a yoga retreat?
Putting on a retreat is a matter of having all the right ingredients and then just following the recipe.
The first crucial stage is having a vision – the intention for what you want to accomplish. This can be as simple as wanting to get students together in a natural setting to deepen their experience of yoga.
My intention for holding the recent retreat at Falls Forest was to support Dr. Mary White in showcasing her stunning property at Johns River, New South Wales. […]

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