In the land where I was born, the U.S.A., the word fancy is not often used to mean imagination – as in “flights of fancy”. We would be more likely to say imagination or whim. […]
Yoga teaching
When More Yoga is Not Better – Sutra I-8
“How do we know where our limits are? By going over them.”
How Do We Know What We Know? – Sutra I-7
Today I read what I consider to be a good post on a good blog site called Chaos Central. The writer is funny, thoughtful and thought-provoking. I might add that I agree with his point of view most times. On the topic of conspiracy theory, he wrote:
…I realised that the idea of writing something that might sway a conspiracy theorist is pointless. […]
Saturday Night Yoga Practice – Sutra I-6
What are you doing on tonight, Saturday night? Going out for dinner, dancing, partying, at home recovering from the week, watching one screen or another?
Obviously, I’m seated at my mac, writing a post. I imagine I hear you murmuring to yourself , my god, she needs a life.
I used to have the life of an oftentimes wilder version of myself. In my thirties, I lived in New York, worked as a flight attendant, and par-teed. […]
Good/Bad Thinking – Sutra I-5
Sometimes I think that minds were originally designed so we could be entertained by watching the play of our thoughts. But, then, a bug, a virus, a mutation somehow got in and corrupted the system. […]
Big Questions Sutra – I-4
I have a friend who is doing SEO research relating to the topic of meditation; she was surprised to discover that huge numbers of people google “Why am I here?”
I get that. It’s a pretty fundamental question, but probably not one that arises often, unless one is of a philosophical bent, depressed, a spiritual seeker, or at a crossroads in life.
Another friend of mine has been searching for how to express his purpose in life and not been altogether successful to date. […]
A Sutra a Day: Sutra I-3 New Directions
The Inner World
There’s a moment at the end of a yoga class when the students have placed themselves in savasana and have settled down to relax. Stillness gradually begins to fill the space. It doesn’t always happen. But when it does, it’s like a tumbler clicking in a lock, and the door to an inner world may begin to open.
Finding Balance With the Outer World
Of course, there is plenty of evidence for the opposite happening in savasana: noise. I used to teach lunchtime classes in the soundproof radio studio at SBS in Sydney. […]
A Sutra a Day: I-2 The Power of Mind
Some people think that just because my job title is yoga teacher that I have awesome power over my mind. It’s what makes me self-disciplined. In psychology, this is supposition is called projection. “It’s easy for you,” is what they say. My husband, Daniel, emailed me the above image with the subject heading, “I saw this and thought of you.”
This is what I mean. To be fair, I project onto Daniel; he is my computer guru. If he doesn’t know the answer, either no one does, or he will find out.
We humans are funny beings. […]
Adaptive Yoga
I subscribe to an on-line discussion group for the International Association of Yoga Therapists that comes to me via LinkedIn. It’s a useful site. In one thread of discussion on osteoporosis, I found a wealth of information for a workshop I’ll be presenting at the Byron Yoga Therapy course in June.
Tonight I came across a video interview with Matthew Sanford that I found riveting. Matthew has explored yoga in a way that few people have. He became a paraplegic at the age of 13 as a result of a motor accident. […]
A Little Applause for Yoga Props
I jokingly call myself the Prop Queen. Partly I started using these yoga tools because my teacher did. […]
Friending
I’ve been thinking about friends today as I farewelled Heather and Rick this morning, heading off to Canada for 3.5 months.
I have a relatively small family of blood relations, and they are all in the U.S. This makes friends I have in Australia precious to me.
If you are blessed to pursue the vocation of yoga teacher, you make many friends. The line between student and friend gets blurred easily and, to mind, fortunately. I’ve befriended students and they have me for 35 years. There’s something special about relationships that develop out of the yoga connection. […]
Yoga by Accidental Candelight
I’ve been struggling today with getting things done on my computer. The problem is, to paraphrase Winnie the Pooh, I’m a girl of very little computer brain.
I couldn’t figure out why, suddenly, postage wasn’t getting charged in the YogaAnywhere on-line shop. I couldn’t get the high resolution photos I needed to email to a magazine editor to send. And, I don’t like to keep asking the Computer Guru who shares office space with me for help. […]
Finding Your Yoga Funny Bone
The saying – “You can catch more flies with honey” – is true, and by extension so is, “You can catch more flies with humour”. That’s why we see as many humorous messages in emails and Facebook these days as we do inspiring ones.
People who do a great deal of public speaking know enough to have a funny anecdote or joke up their sleeves to warm up their audiences. It’s no less important for yoga teachers to be able to inject humour into their classes to help students feel at ease and create a warm environment. […]
Swings and Roundabouts
I’ve been on a gentle roller coaster ride.Early in the morning, I cleaned the Yoga Shed and it sparkled with sunny energy. Then, I did my yoga practice in the shimmering space.I don’t know why it happened; I just got caught in the ruminating jaws of my mind, and became grumpy thinking of too many tasks to do and not enough time. After a practice that was supposed to make me peaceful, I then took my grumpiness into our office and tried to deposit it in my husband’s lap. He’s too smart for that, though. […]
Yoga Babies
Tonight, as I taught Kirby who is six weeks away from her due date, I was reminded of one of the great privileges a yoga teacher has, that is, teaching a mother-to-be.
A yoga teacher creates special class time for a pregnant woman to be totally in her body and with her baby.
There are movements and tools given that help prepare for labour: breathing, of course; learning to modulate control and surrender; practising pelvic floor exercises; toning legs; releasing tension; […]
The Old Sage (Patanjali) Delivers Prosperity
I was inspired by a talk given by Michael de Manicor of the Yoga Institute at the Yoga Australia conference yesterday. Michael is very enthusiastic about Ph.D. research he is doing in the field of psychology and this came across in his speaking. He presented his topic- “Mental Health & Flourishing” – and compared what we modern yogis think yoga to be vs. the classical teachings of Patanjali. […]
Fill Your Boots
What a rich day at Yoga Australia’s Unity in Diversity 2012 conference in Manly. Almost 200 delegates, and an amazing kickoff by Mary Keizer, Desikachar teacher of more than 30 years.
Mary spoke about the simple of unfolding of wisdom within each person that occurs when we are aware of the influence of mind and can bring it to stillness. […]
Tasmania on the way to Yoga Australia Conference
All right, it’s not on the way to Sydney…. It’s a lot further. Our little Aussie island state is on the way to Antarctica. I just had to have a holiday. I’m not a native born citizen, but I’m a naturalised citizen, and I’ve embraced many of the local customs. Especially the way Australians cherish weekends and holidays. This month, while kids and parents were enjoying school holidays, I worked away at my several projects: writing, YogaAnywhere cards, landscaping, and teaching. Now it’s our turn. […]
Yoga With Seasoning
Half way through autumn and we’re feeling the kind of cold snap that wakes us up out of summer dreaming. As proof, the fireplace is stoked tonight, and I’m comfy on my iPad in front of it.
It never occurred to me when I first started doing yoga that regions, weather and seasons might have such a big impact on how, when and what practice you do. […]
A Whole Lot of Bloggin' Going On
Over five years ago, a friend said, “You should write a blog about what you are creating as your vision”, i.e. living in community. I took her advice.
Not knowing the first thing about creating a blog, about what content to put on it, or even what the heck I was doing it for, nevertheless I carried on…and on. “Yoga Suits Her and “The Ville” blogs probably comprise nearly 1,000 posts by now.
I used to be so shy about revealing myself that most of my early posts displayed only photos. […]