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Take Your Yoga Off the Mat: An Introduction to ...

During this uncertain time, more than ever, our yoga practice has a LOT to offer us. The challenges we’re facing are various and different people will, of course, be suffering in different ways and to different degrees.

But if you practice yoga, or are interested in it, now is a really good time to find new ways of taking your yoga off the mat and integrating it into your way of life. Really, that’s what yoga is — it’s never just postures on a mat. Sometimes, we need the motivation of new challenges to make us see that.

Take Your Yoga Off the Mat: An Introduction to the Itties

The Power Of A Sankalpa (A Resolve)

The Power Of A Sankalpa (A Resolve)

In the practice of Yoga Nidra, you are asked to mentally repeat a resolution known as a Sankalpa. 

This happens at the beginning and towards the end of the practice and is the ‘cherry on top of the cake’ that makes the practice of Yoga Nidra so special.

Your Sankalpa is a powerful tool to harness the mind. 

It is perfect for achieving your goals, changing behaviours or habits, and directing your life in a more positive direction.

Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word, and the meaning is broken down like this:

  • San is an idea formed in the heart
     
  • Kalpa is “the rule that I will follow above all other rules”
     

NEWS FLASH ~ download your FREE YOGA NIDRA at the bottom of the page... 

How it works

Yoga Nidra begins with deep relaxation in the first four stages, moving into a full meditative state in the last four stages. 

This takes us to a place where we can release pain and stress at the unconscious level, and also reinforce positive thoughts and beliefs.

SWAN Meditation ~ Gaining Clarity

SWAN Meditation ~ Gaining Clarity

Do you feel a pull to deepen your understanding of yourself, and by extension, the way you interact with the world?

Perhaps you have a sense of disconnect; your internal world and your external life aren’t quite in harmony.


If so, SWAN meditation is a wonderful practice to work with.
 

If you came along to my New Year’s Yoga and Meditation Immersion at South Narrabeen Surf Club, you’ll already have a solid grounding in the SWAN technique, and I hope you’re starting to feel the benefits.
 

For those of you who weren’t there, I wanted to offer a brief introduction so that you might be inspired to try it, too.
 

SWAN is an acronym for Strengths; Weaknesses; Ambitions; and Needs.
 

SWAN meditation concentrates on these elements of the self, providing an opportunity to take a close look at what’s   

The Science Behind The Mantra Aum

The Science Behind The Mantra Aum

Chanting the mantra Aum or Om is a sublime process and, the word is said to express the threefold division of time, which is the waking state, dreaming state and the deep sleep state.
 
Om is considered to be one of the most significant sounds in the universe as it is said to the Source or Universal Consciousness.
  
You must understand that there are things your eyes cannot see, but your innate awareness can sense.

And going after these things provides the highest of knowledge, bliss, and self-realisation.
 
Om is considered to be the sound of creation and said to represent all creation, obtaining the energy that flows through this medium yields boundless benefits.


 Let me guess, this is a bit overwhelming, and you're wondering if any of this is even valid.


Well, although the mantra Om has been chanted for thousands of years, you will be amazed to know that our modern science has agreed with all the therapeutic, psychological and even spiritual benefits that can be derived from this yoga practice...

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Empowering The Young Girls Of Nepal

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Empowering The Young Girls Of Nepal

When my feet landed on the cold cement floor I could hear the familiar sound of chanting and the smell of incense on the breeze…

 

4 am was the new 6 am, where I’d make my way to the Gompa room for my early morning yoga practice…

 

For the past eight months the Ganden Yoga Chozin Buddhist Meditation Centre,

Pokhara, Nepal had become my home as the resident yoga and meditation teacher. 

 

This small cabin… Well, it really was nothing more than a cement slab, four sheets of fibro and a tin roof, but it was my place of solitude.  Yes, freezing in winter!!

Paying It Forward: How Your Yoga Retreat Will Change The Lives Of Two Sisters In Bali

Paying It Forward: How Your Yoga Retreat Will Change The Lives Of Two Sisters In Bali

As I approached the simple thatch hut the two sisters greeted me with warm, welcoming smiles.

Bunter and Kunning live in a basic shelter on the edge of a fruit orchard where they once worked, it’s a mere 1-km walk from the comfort of Gaia Oasis resort.

Their home, made of banana leaves and bamboo, covers little more than a dirt floor, with a wood fire for cooking and hard bed to share.

Rain and wind could easily tear down the flimsy walls and roof, and I couldn’t imagine how these women would survive here in Bali’s heavy monsoons.

In addition, the two sisters have an undiagnosed degenerative condition similar to Parkinson’s disease, and lost their other sister to this condition in March this year. 

7 Things Your Travel Agent Can't Tell You About A Yoga Retreat In Bali

7 Things Your Travel Agent Can't Tell You About A Yoga Retreat In Bali

A yoga retreat in Bali may conjure up images of practising Sun Salutations as the sun rises over the ocean, accompanied by the sweet sound of waves and morning birdsong.

However, it can also be so much more…

Having spent August teaching at Gaia Oasis in northeast Bali, I want to share with you some of my experiences that are not in the travel brochures.

Bali is known for its outstanding natural beauty but it is also a place of integrity, and serenity, where the pace of life naturally slows you down and sends you home with a sense of peace and thankfulness.
 

What Nepal taught me about Yoga

What Nepal taught me about Yoga

A deep sense of returning home enveloped me as I stepped across the Indian/Nepalese border; this sense only magnified as I wound through the majestic mountain ranges heading for Kathmandu.

 

My intention was to be in and out of Nepal within the month, then return to the ashram in Munger, India. However, the cosmos had other plans for me…. and what wonderful plans they turned out to be. Nepal quickly became one of my greatest teachers!!!

For the best part of seven years I’d lived within an ashram environment, both in India