NZ Yoga Centre – AOTEAROA

(Paintings by Ali)

An important part of yoga’s moral philosophy (yamas & niyamas) is ‘aparigraha’ – which collectively means non-wasting, non-hoarding, non-grasping and non-coveting.

Aparigraha means freedom from meanness and selfishness …

On a practical level, aparigraha also means sharing local produce and healthy home-made treats with special members of your yoga class, or local community. It means not allowing consumer urges to dupe you into purchasing more than you need, not coveting the latest yoga trends, or wearing ‘head-to-toe lulu everything’ just because you want to look fashionable during your asanas.

Yoga is about developing greedlessness … about leading a more simple life, being self-aware, and not giving in to selfish urges.

On a more social/ global scale,  aparigraha means sharing your wealth/ money/ earnings with others who are less advantaged and less privileged – not grasping onto every cent and spending it primarily on yourself. In real terms, giving between 1% – 10% of your earnings is wealth sharing and generosity, which helps create abundance and balanced prosperity.

In other words, we shouldn’t always be on the receiving end of other peoples’ generosity – not matter what the circumstance is: work, socially, or even at yoga. The practice of reciprocity is about balanced give and take. The practice of generosity means giving selflessly from the heart. Where do you stand?

 

Because it was such a beautiful evening, we did yoga last night on the point at Breaker Bay.  Perfect.

Thanks to Sarah for sharing these snaps.

It was great to be back teaching yoga and seeing many familiar faces. Also great to see some people who have been absent from the mat for a little while.

To celebrate being back in NZ, I painted a ‘tui kolum’ – inspired by the pavement ‘kolum’ art of Tamil Nadu (India), but incorporating a kiwi theme. This work depicts a tui eating red kowhai,  and symbolises life balance and taking time for inner reflection.

This work (gouache on paper) is now for sale to help pay my travel bills!

Don’t ask – “where will I fit yoga into my busy schedule?” Ask – “Can I really do without the fitness benefits of yoga in 2015?” 

Yoga combines fitness, movement, breath & mindfulness with health and well-being exercises. 2015 is about optimising time, energy, and managing life’s priorities by overcoming obstacles that fritter away time.

Simply drop into any of the 12 classes (minimum participants 5, maximum 18). Or, book a mat in advance to ensure your favourite place!

Also, think about starting meditation on Wednesdays at 7.30pm (this class promotes self-awareness and mindfulness). In addition, there is a great new self-development session called ‘The Guru Sessions’ – Sunday 4.00 – 5.30pm to help you define your optimised vision and creative planning for 2015.

Sadhana Yoga’s scheduled classes with kick off with the 6.00pm Hatha Flow class on Monday 5th January. We will be easing in over the first two weeks, so you don’t need to worry about being stiff and sore. Check out this website for session times and class descriptions.

Make the most of 2015 with the help of Yoga!

Here’s an excerpt of our 2014 viewership:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

It was kind of eerie standing on the beach at Mahabalipuram/ Mamallapuram (East coast -India) ten years to the day after the 2004 tsunami (26th December).

Today, this little seaside town is thriving and its laid back atmosphere reminded me of Koh-Samui, Thailand, before it became a popular tourist resort.

Every day, women of each household make kolam designs on the pavement outside the home for prosperity and good luck.

Mahabalipuram is also a famous national heritage site – the rock monuments of ‘Arjuna’s Penance'”are spectacular.

Definitely a place I will visit again and hopefully get to share it with a new group — its great place for yoga and meditation!

After a grueling bus trip from Madurai we landed in the most southern seaside town of Kanyakumari.

The goddess temple of Kanyakumari is a wish-fulfilling shakti-peeth (I plan to visit all 52 of them!), and is known for bestowing blessings and wishes upon the faithful.

We also took a ferry ride to the famous rock monument of Vivekananda.

On the island, we sat for about an hour in a really cool meditation hall dedicated to the soothing sound of ‘omkara’. It was the perfect end to a busy day.

Kanyakumari is a very popular Christmas holiday destination for the Indian masses. Our next stop is Ponducherry for Xmas day.

Wishing you all a merry Xmas & happy holidays!

From the soft silver sands of Ram Jula in Rishikesh (North India) we headed south to the beachers of Chennai (Madras), and then further south to Rameshwaram, a holy site at the end of a long sandy peninsula near Sri Lanka.

This southern region is tropical with coconut palms, bananas and tamarind. The weather has been overcast and warm.

Many pilgrims come to Rameshwaram to seek blessings and bath in the sea, which is thought of as sacred.

Our next journey will be to Madurai and then onward to Kanyekumari for Xmas at the bottom of India … follow us there!

We are back in Haridwar & Rishikesh for my friend’s (Mary) birthday. Winter has arrived and the days have cooled down. North India is a great place to visit in Winter – December is cooler and quieter.

Rishikesh is a shopping & yoga mecca – books, clothes, jewelry, great food and not to mention high speed internet!