An impromptu retreat

In the midst of this week's frustrations, I got to escape for a night to an impromptu yoga retreat at one of my favourite retreat centers (see my other trips here and here). It felt a bit irresponsible to run away to the bush when I had so much to do in the city, but I decided that it was more important to pause. To just be. However briefly.

It was amazing to me to think about just how different it was last time I was there. Just a couple of months ago I was bundled up in scarves and boots, drinking tea and sitting by the fire.

This time I spent most of my time melting in my swimsuit, drinking cold water and going for swims in the billabong. Just as good, but in a very different way. There was also some yoga, but not a whole lot to be totally honest. Relaxing, staying cool and playing with the kids took up much of our time.

Practicing my adjustments with another yoga teacher.

Eating alfresco.

Sunlight hitting the outdoor living area.

This billabong was our saviour!

p.s. Happy 11/11/11 everyone! I'm heading off to a chanting extravaganza to celebrate. Any other yogis have any plans for the day?

My Creative Space: a yoga gift

what am I doing with my face here?

So I've noticed something... I seem to make the same 2 things over and over again: clutches and yoga mat bags. The only possible conclusion that we can draw from this is that I'm boring as hell. At least as far as crafting goes :)

Next week I swear to you I will attempt to make something different. Maybe even something I've never made before! But for now, you're stuck looking at another yoga mat bag. Sorry. This is one I made for my friend and amazing photographer, Sonja Sipala, to thank her for taking my yoga pictures. It's made from some gorgeous Anna Maria Horner fabric (you can see a skirt I made from the same fabric here) and I even found a yoga mat that matches it perfectly. Yay me.

For more creative spaces go here. Happy crafting!

Yoga love

Source: ihavenoideawhatiamdoing.com via Gabriela on Pinterest

Last week in one of my night classes I had a guy who brought his girlfriend to class. She's fairly new and so when I started to explain that it was time for savasana (final relaxation) he went over to her, grabbed her an eye pillow and a blanket and tucked her in. It was kind of the cutest thing ever.

AND THEN on Sunday I was teaching a morning class and when I was wandering around the room at the end doing savasana adjustments (a.k.a. head massages) there was a couple who were holding hands. Their fingers were just lightly interlaced in that casual, intimate way of real couples. It was really lovely. And it made me think about love and yoga, and how sweet it is when the two meet.

Yoga photo shoot

A couple of weeks ago I woke up at the crack of dawn and made my way over to Balmoral Beach (which is, incidentally, my favourite Sydney beach) to meet my wonderful friend, Sonja. Over the course of a couple of hours I played model and pranced around the beach doing yoga, and Sonja followed and captured me doing my thing.

I'm not particularly comfortable in front of the camera; I don't think I'm very photogenic and I always feel self conscious. But Sonja made me feel so at ease, and assured me that I was doing a great job. And I must say that I'm so happy with what she captured. Now that I have yoga photos, I feel like a real yoga teacher :)

Sonja's just finishing photography school, but if you want her info drop me a line and I'll put you in touch. Or you can email her directly at: liljely@hotmail.com. She's the best.

Sneak peak

Tomorrow I'll be posting a whole bunch of photos from my first yoga photo shoot, but for today, just this one of me on the beach. Consider it a teaser for tomorrow... ♥

* Giveaway - The Yoga of Birth *

I'm so excited today to share this giveaway with you all and talk a little bit about my dear friend, Katie. She has been my boss since I started working at the studio, my teacher since she led my teacher training and my friend since we've had our unofficial two person sewing club. Katie constantly inspires me with her wisdom, playfulness, dedication to her family and the way she manages to live a yogic life in a busy city while being a business owner, freelance journalist, author, yoga teacher and mother to two small children!

I was delighted when she asked me to help her out with her latest book, 'The Yoga of Birth,' and I took over the job of editing and now helping her get it out there in the big, wide world. I've read it a couple of times now, and it is a truly wonderful book. I don't even have kids yet and yet I've found so many bits and pieces in this book that have inspired me and made me think about what I want my own pregnancy, labour and early days of parenting to look like.

This is not a yoga asana (poses) book; rather, it details how the practices of yoga and ayurveda can help women throughout conception, pregnancy, birth and all the way through to toddlerhood. Even if you're not into yoga, I'm sure you'll learn something from this book.

The book is available to buy on lulu, and you can find more info about upcoming events here. The book website isn't live yet, but it will be soon and you can find it here.

Finally, the official book launch is tomorrow at Jivamukti Yoga Sydney at 10 am. It's a family friendly event with gifts galore, games, snacks, and copies of the book will only be $15! Katie will, of course, be there signing books and talking a bit about The Yoga of Birth.

To enter to win a copy of the book, just leave a comment on this post. I'll leave comments open for 1 week. Good luck to you all!

Laughing Lotus Yoga

This weekend I was blessed to do three 3 hour workshops with Jasmine Tarkeshi, co-founder of Laughing Lotus Yoga. It was, in every way, extraordinary. Jasmine is such a wealth of knowledge, but more than that, she's funny and down to earth. Qualities I value very much in yoga teachers. I learned SO much from her and got to try lots of asanas (poses) that I've never done before.

I can't wait for her to come back, and next time I'm in North America, I'm definitely going to drive down to San Francisco to check out her studio. And if you happen to live in San Francisco or New York, I'm jealous. But what I'm really trying to say is that if you live in either of those cities, you should get yourself to a Laughing Lotus studio as fast as you can!

Variety is the spice of life

Source: yogamassala.com via Gabriela on Pinterest

I've definitely taken this little idiom to heart over the last week, spreading my wings in the yoga world. In the last week I've done kundalini, jivamukti, anusara, yin and hatha classes. I've gone to two different studios that I've never been to, and at the studio where I work and teach I've done two classes with new to me teachers. I also taught at a different studio for the very first time, in a suburb that I don't often go to.

It feels so nice to branch out and try new things. Every time I try a new style, or do a class with a new teacher I learn something new. And I think this makes me a better student, and a better teacher. Tell me, what's your very favourite style of yoga? Or if you've never done yoga, what would you like to try? ♥

p.s. yesterday in class the teacher played this song, and it was awesome to practice to...

Prenatal Yoga

Source: flickr.com via Pearl on Pinterest

This weekend I came together with 11 other women to learn how to teach prenatal yoga. We had such wonderful teachers including: my yoga teacher/dear friend, a doula, a childbirth educator and an anatomy and physiology specialist.

I have always found the topic of pregnancy and birth fascinating, ever since a midwife came to give us a lecture in a class I took during my undergrad. I think what piqued my interest during that lecture was how little I knew about the choices that we have surrounding birth, and how most women don't realize there are choices. Editing a book about yoga and birth recently just confirmed that for me. I wish women knew that you can have a midwife instead of an obstetrician, that you can have a homebirth, that you can be "overdue" since due dates are so very arbitrary etc. etc...

And while I'm far from having my own children, I'm grateful for what I learned this weekend and I hope that I can be of service as a prenatal yoga teacher. As our teacher explained, a yoga class may be the only positive space in which pregnant women gather, and as such, I think it's a pretty important thing. xx

My creative Space: another yoga mat bag

This week I finally got around to finishing something I had been promising my friend for ages: her very own handmade yoga mat bag.

I had made one before for myself, and one to give away so this time around I melded a couple of patterns. I used the pattern in Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing as well as the pattern in One-Yard Wonders. Both are wonderful books. Though I must say that I find it nearly impossible to sew a circle onto a fabric tube, anyone else have this problem?

After photographing it, I popped the yoga mat bag into an envelope and mailed it off to my friend with a card that said "it's not perfect but it is handmade with lots of love," my crafting philosophy in a nutshell. xx

A weekend at a billabong

I just got back from another wonderful weekend yoga retreat. I was there as the assistant, which means that I did have some work to do, but mostly I was free to savour the yoga classes, the wonderful kirtan (devotional chanting), the delicious ayurvedic vegan meals, and the bush (i.e. forest).

I so badly needed a weekend away from the city. In fact, when I uploaded my photos to my computer I noticed that most of the photos I took were of nature, great and small. And even though it was cold, I spent a lot of time curled up on the couches outside by the fire, drinking tea and reading my book. Sometimes you just need to get outside, know what I mean?