Sitting at a blank blog screen tonight, wracking my brain for inspiration, I saw my computer and all things powered by electricity in our house shut down, flicker on, then off, and finally just off. So, how am I writing this post? On the iPad, tethered in some way I don’t understand, to Daniel’s iPhone. (And, while on the subject, what is a dongle?)
See, my problem is I don’t really care enough about electronic devices to learn to understand them. As Daniel says about his relationship to yoga, I’m just a consumer. […]
Yoga teaching
The Art of Yoga Adjustments
A couple of years ago, I wrote an e-book with accompanied with an audio c.d. called The Art of Adjustment. It’s basically a manual for yoga teachers, trainees and keen students. I’m sorry to say the book has languished on the Live Yoga Life site where it is for sale, possibly because I retired from teaching in Sydney not long after it was launched. Well, launched is a rather grand word for what happened. Appeared might better describe its debut. […]
Refreshing Your Savasana
When I teach the yoga relaxation in winter’s chilly temperatures, I see students getting into their lying down positions, pulling socks and jumpers on, and wrapping themselves up in blankets as tight as mummies. Of course we want to keep warm but not at the risk of creating a tense and resistant position.
Here’s some guidelines for teachers to follow in giving their students the optimum set-up for a deep relaxation:
1. Use a folded blanket like a pillow to support the neck and head. Especially with lower backache or sciatica, use a bolster under the knees.
2. […]
Steering by Starlight
The idea of creating our Mitchells Island community of three couples, living in a beautiful home of our design, was hatched about 7-1/2 yrs. ago. The six of us were fairly accomplished at creating a vision and then fulfilling it. I think our project was successful, in some measure, because we harnessed the powerful synergistic energy of the group.
I taught vision-making as part of The Professional Yoga Teacher course at Nature Care College for 10 years. I still hear from trainees who created their 5 year plan and then manifested it. […]
The Purpose of Yama and Niyama
When I first learned yoga and for many years, I knew nothing of the yama and niyama. I didn’t know that they are actually stepping stones in the practice of yoga.
With the popularity of hatha yoga these days, it’s common for students to do asanas hoping to make their bodies strong. However, hatha yoga is just one of the eight limbs of the tree, which includes yama and niyama.
The point I made in yesterday’s post is that progress is futile if one’s inner life isn’t evolving. […]
Kid's Yoga
Back when I was a girl – 27 yrs. old – I was lucky to find a yoga class of any kind. Yoga was a very fringe happening in those days of hootenannies and the Beatles’ magical tour with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
These days we can find a yoga program for every season and reason – one of the most popular niches being yoga for children.
At a recent yoga conference I attended, a panelist whose topic was “Yoga of the Future” brought out a group of kids to do a demonstration of their poses for us. […]
Good Bearing
One of the things yogis can congratulate themselves on is good posture. I’ve been singled out in crowds because of my straight back – a good signature for a yoga teacher….
No matter how hard you’ve worked your forward and backward bends, there comes a time when you have to work that much harder just because of advancing years. […]
The "D" Word
Doing yoga practice is one of the most beautiful activities I do. […]
Connections
This weekend I have a Sydney visitor, Lesley, staying with us. She and I go way back to the mid-nineties days of Sydney Yoga Centre. I learned something about living in community from seeing how Lesley enjoyed being part of a communal household with Sue Biggs and Alan Lovell. I taught all of them, plus a few others, at their home for several years. […]
You Never Know When the Penny Will Drop
Yoga teachers try and try by any means possible to get their students to do home practice.
It seems counterproductive, in a way to, to encourage students to practice outside of class attendance. After all, it’s by students paying for classes that the teacher earns his/her livelihood. […]
We Had A Dream…Fulfilled
Eight years or so ago, Daniel and I got together with two other couples – Rick & Heather, Mike & Judy – and gave birth to the dream of forming our own small community. We bought a four acre property with a shed on Mitchells Island, NSW, in 2004. […]
Mighty Words
If you are a yoga teacher – any teacher, really – be very careful what you say to your students because it may come back to haunt you. You are a sort of god/goddess in the classroom and your words go in and may just happen to stay there.
I know this happened to me with my teacher. I still have some of that programming although it was more than 30 years ago. […]
Conference Take Two
It occurred to me that I could put my conference keynote address on this blog and that the section on community building techniques might be helpful for some yoga teachers.
Yoga Australia “Spirit of Union” Conference Keynote Address
Opening
About 25 years ago, I saw a movie that crystallised a deep longing I’d had for many years, perhaps all my life. […]
Australian Yoga Teachers Conference
I feel very proud to have participated as a delegate and as a presenter at Yoga Australia’s inaugural conference this last weekend in Melbourne.
Twenty-six panel members, workshop presenters, and keynote speakers provided an incredibly rich smorgasbord of knowledge, skills, experience and inspiration. […]
Shed in Name Only
Ten months ago I took my maiden flight into teaching yoga in the Yoga Shed. My wings were somewhat under-used as a result of having had double hip replacement surgery in Feb. 2010, followed by three months’ rehabilitation.
I didn’t know what to expect as my Yoga Shed advertising was typically minimalist. So I was chuffed when some students came along (and are still coming).
The old Shed needed some rehabilitating too, and today you can see the results in these photos – our own version of “Grand Designs”. […]
Cultivating Calm
This is a simple, effective version for restoring balance to the mind and body. I recommend that you record it to listen to. The Voice Memo Ap in an iPhone works very well for this purpose.
Lie down for Savasana with your head supported on a blanket, and a block longways between your shoulder blades. Your forehead should be slightly higher than your chin, and your chin a little higher than your chest.
Relax your eyes and let them look downward and inward. Let the movement of your eyes gradually come to a standstill. […]
Befriending Backbends
A number of years ago, I ran a series of workshops by the above title. So many people have a love-hate relationship with backbends that I thought it good to teach some anatomy, practice simple backbends first and then work up to more advanced back arches over several sessions.
Ironically, while developing the workshop and doing lots of backbends prior to it, I made my back sore. […]
What's Really Going On?
Organise your yoga program to allow for a cool down in the 15 or 20 minute period just before savasana. This will give the most satisfactory relaxation.
An artfully designed sequence will segue from inversions to twists to forward stretches, then savasana. Along this carefully planned course of action, the practitioner releases any residual niggling or agitated sensations from the body to create a smooth transition into savasana.
You use the relaxation period to set your metabolism on an even keel. […]
Stillness
I gave the group in this morning’s class a good physical workout. Towards the end of the 90 min. session, they lay down and relaxed. Sometimes I lead them through a progressive relaxation of their bodies, but today I thought I would be completely silent and give the students time to relax on their own.
Often what shows up against the background of quietude is how busy one’s mind is. […]
Restful and Therapeutic
Have you had a hard week and need to recharge your batteries? Or, maybe you’re recovering from poor health? Or, just feeling weekend lazy? Here’s a simple sequence for when you’re feeling sooky.
Supta Badda Konasana Bound-angle pose Equipment: blanket and a bolster.
Lie back on a bolster or several blankets folded lengthwise to support your back and head.Bend your knees out sideways and bring the soles of your feet together, with your heels as close to the pelvis as possible. Let your back settle and your chest open. […]