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. […]
Yoga practices
What Makes a Bad Day Bad?
photo by leena holmstrom via pinterest
I’ve been having a bad day. ‘Bad’ is such a puny little word to have to act as a bog umbrella over so many kinds of things: physical, emotional, spiritual, mental.
What do I mean by ‘bad’? Cold symptoms, a twinge of an old rotator cuff injury, feeling low in myself and out of relationship with my husband, and an extremely slow blog connection right at this moment. […]
Forward Bend Poses: Nice or Nasty?
This week, I have set as a loose theme for my classes, forward bend poses. I say ‘loose’ because I wouldn’t want to leave out important elements like: standing poses, inversions, backbends, twists, pranayama and meditation. […]
When Your Back Needs Rebooting – Restorative Yoga
Sometimes my body does my bidding without complaint, and other times she is just 68-years old cranky.
After 2-1/2 hours of weeding, shovelling, and mulching in the garden, my lower and upper back and hips were demanding some nice treatment.
Thank goodness I had a few of these restorative poses up my sleeve. […]
Arguing with Your Yoga Poses
yogashaktiravena.it via pinterest
When you do your yoga practice, either in class or at home, have you been paying attention to the ‘push-pull’ energy that certain poses have for you?
What I mean is that spontaneous feeling of contraction you experience mentally or physically when your teacher says that you are going to do chaturanga dandasana (the yogi’s push-up pose), for instance, or ardha chandrasana (half-moon pose, pictured above).
Sometimes the push feeling might register as strong aversion, like a tightening in your gut or a furrow between your brows.
On the other hand, at times, you […]
Yoga Practice: Being Durable and Vulnerable
As a blogger ensconced in my little Mitchells Island retreat, I walk a thin line between being open and revealing in my writing but not so much that I come across as neurotic and narcissistic.
Really, I do rein myself in at times. Also, I don’t want you to lose confidence in me because I don’t show up as the epitome of a strong, well-balanced yoga teacher (which I’m not, certainly not at all times…ask my husband). […]
Cultivating Pure Awareness – The Aim of Yoga
I started off my day listening to a mindfulness meditation recorded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. The time I put aside in the early morning is special because I meditate with my husband. […]
It’s All Yoga Practice: Disappointment vs. Depression
I came back five days early from an aborted holiday up north, defeated by fairly continuous rain. Daniel and I were going to venture into a camping adventure on Fraser Island, Queensland – a magnificent World Heritage site. […]
Persistent, Pushy or Plucky?
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. […]
Yoga and Wet, Windy, Wintery Weather
Like most people, we wanted real estate with a beautiful outlook. So, we had our home built on the top of a rise. We can see mountains to the west, wildlife in the forest, green pastures and distant water views.
What we also got as a result of being so elevated is full exposure to the blustery wet winds that have been hammering Mitchells Island today.
I wouldn’t trade our magnificent outlook for the windless quiet of a sheltered dell. I love being able to see broad horizons and big skies. […]
Do You Suffer from Yoga Teacher Burn-out?
I led a workshop a while back for the Yoga Australia Association to address the issue of ‘yoga teacher burn-out’. It was an experiential session. We had an energetic discussion about how stressed teachers get in their lives and we tried to get to the bottom of why we behave in such a driven way at times.
While we didn’t get to any handy solutions, it made a difference to hear individuals talk about burn-out. […]
Self-Care and Yoga Therapy
Next week I’ll be teaching in the Byron Yoga Therapy Course which I’ve had the honour of doing for the last four years.
What is yoga therapy? In one sense it’s a contradiction in terms because the basis of Patanjali’s meditation yoga is that an individual is whole and complete and doesn’t needing ‘fixing’. […]
How to Avoid 'Is-This-All-There-Is?' Syndrome
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. […]
Pawanmuktasana: Every Part of the Body/Mind is Nourished
I went back to school in the year 2000. I was definitely a mature age student, but about two-thirds of my class were too. We were enrolled in a yoga teacher training.
After having taught yoga for 15 years, I decided to learn some new things. […]
Something Lost, Something Found
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. […]
Do Muscles Have Memories?
I’ve been using the expression ‘muscle memory’ in my yoga classes to explain how students remember to do certain movements. People learn to embody certain movements over time. ‘Neuronal pathways’ is another term for what links the brain to the body’s ability to do activities.
I decided to check out my word use with Dr. Google. […]
Practice is not about being perfect. It’s about being you.
Kathy Cooper Yoga Mats via Pinterest
I’ve uncovered a new offence that I’m capable of. I’m calling it creation-envy. What occurs for me when I hear of a great idea or turn of phrase is that I find myself wishing I’d thought of it or said it first.
Occasionally, I’ll hear another yoga teacher say something in class that is so perfectly verbalised that I just have to ‘borrow’ it. […]
Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
(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. […]
"Good at Any Age"
I hope you will allow me a little whinge. I’ve been keeping it to myself for a while but I think it’s about time now to vent a bit.
This is my complaint: I’m tired of the media image of yoga that shows youngish, pretty women (and sometimes attractive youthful men) doing advanced poses in designer clothing.
There. It’s out. […]
Yoga Prepares You for Singing Out!
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. […]