After twenty years of yoga, I have studied Patanjali with different teachers probably six or seven times. As a yoga teacher I've always preferred the non dual philosophies of vedanta and tantra, but for the first time this year in yogaphysio meditation classes we have started to explore Patanjali and I have come to a new appreciation of this view of mind. Read on to gain insight into the simplicity of the first four sutras.
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I've noticed in my own practice and in teaching that we are sometimes mistaken in thinking that we are being mindful, when in actual fact we are being cautious. The state of caution is a mind state that sometimes limits us from exploring our edges. And I'm not talking about the 'fancy pants' poses; sometimes it's just returning to a normal practice after an injury. So how do we get out of our mind and more into our body. Maybe this blog will guide you into a little self enquiry that will guide you back into listening to and trusting your body, and letting go of some of the stories that limit you..
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Medicine has known for a long time now that pain does not always mean there is damage. Experience of pain is complex and multifactorial. When you are sick with the flu do you notice the onset of old pains. You might like to read of my recent experience.
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What is the right position for the spine in yoga and for everyday posture and other sporting activities. Read on to find more and above all explore the full range of spinal movement to determine what is right for your body.
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Ever had a blinder of a headache after a seemingly relieving traps stretch. I approach neck stretches cautiously. Many of the neck muscles are small and we are not always sensitive to the force we can generate through them, particularly if tension is more the problem, not tightness.
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Muscles that feel tight might actually allow normal joint range of movement. Muscles that are a little bit tight might be weak. Muscles that feel tight, might actually be tense which requires a different approach to stretching a tight muscle. And even when a muscle is tight good movement and fitness in other areas may determine it is not a problem. The prescription of an individualized yoga program is determined by a skilled practitioner assessing the entire body; a practitioner that knows what the normal range of movement and muscle length is and can assess strength balance around the relevant areas of the body.
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Devotion is a touchy subject that people often shy away from because of religious connotations. Early in my life I had an interest in religion. I enjoyed the ritual and concepts of God, but the church didn't provide the answers I sought as I matured. With a growing interest in psychology for many years a moved towards less devotional forms of spirituality and psychology which seemed to make more sense to my mind. After many years though and much yoga experience there is still some draw to the mystery of the divine. Allow me to share more thoughts.
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The sleeping Vishnu represents the time between the manifest universe's, pre- Big Bang if you like. He slumbers on the snake Ananta, endless time, in the cosmic ocean, infinite space. At some abitrary point, I'm sure there is a crazy algebraic equation that would detail it, he is roused and as he awakes a lotus sprouts from his navel and seated upon the blossum is the creator of the universe Brahma.
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I wanted to write about something that became the theme of our last retreat and by many reports was very helfpul, judgement. Judgement has been something that I've worked with a lot in my meditation and in my life. Despite being intellectually aware of it for some time, it's only in the last year, particularly, I have become very intimate with it and aware of the confusion and suffering it was causing me and probably those close to me also.
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Reflections.... by Libbie Nelson... another snapshot of Saturdays workshops...
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Twenty years ago and more many of us were working in a way that destroyed our central base. This may sound harsh but ask us what happening to our backs and hips now after doing yoga poses too strongly and forcing ourselves into spaces predetermined by our teachers and holding there interminably while we were all adjusted into those spaces.
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I have been itching to continue to share some of the conversations started at the yoga australia conference. Last newsletter I shared from the panel I was part of Power abuses. I hope you managed to hear the interview on the spirit of things on Radio National. Yoga has been getting a lot of good press lately, not just on RN, but generally. And another very hot topic has been the health benefits of yoga and meditation, but there are some things we need to be aware of when pursuing these practices deeply.
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The number of scandals in the church has been met in recent years by revelations of sexual abuse by self acclaimed yoga Guru's In India and the west. The damaging side of human nature is not prevented by codes of conduct nor testaments of awakened being, it seems. So this was the background that gave impetus to the panel I was invited to participate in at this years yoga conference on the Gold Coast - Is Power a dirty word in Yoga?
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India is so different from here. Over the years of traveling between here and there the culture shock has become less. Or perhaps it's reversed; that even though I spend less time in India the culture shock happens on my return to the west.
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Why don't we think we'll get better?
I want to discuss something that is very complex around pain and healing.
There are a few things that really go against us in terms of managing our health, particularly musculo-skeletal injury and pain. They are based on few general confusions and mistaken assumptions.
There are two misconceptions that I think we need to examine.
1. We think pain always means there is physical damage or something wrong in the body.
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So, again and again as I try to sell people the idea of our 7 day retreat I meet with the response.. "oh I couldn't be possibly be quiet for 7 days" or "why would you want to be quiet for 7 days"...... Some of you probably can't imagine how I could be quiet for 7 days... Anyway, I thought I'd write a little about silence.. to demystify it a little.
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