Blog
Yoga is an Individual Sport, or is it?
Edited 17th March 2020 Update: We closed the studio doors after class on Wednesday 11th March and will not reopen until the risk to our community from COVID-19 has passed. Online classes are working well via Zoom meetings. Simply click on the online class style and date in the calendar and book and pay as usual, then you’ll receive a meeting ID to join the Zoom meeting. All you need …
Read moreAn Acid Trip Changed My Life
In my late teens and early twenties I was the classic neo-hippy spiritual seeker. Living in the coastal city of Fremantle, it was easy enough to find my fellow travellers and trippers. Part of the bohemian scene in the late 90s, I was a regular at bush doofs, full moon drumming circles, sweatlodges, satsangs, environmental protests, and feral gatherings, I’m sure you get the picture. Rainbow Festival I was also …
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Yoga for Pain
My recent experience of nerve pain was illuminating. I follow some of the leading pain researchers locally and internationally and find it a fascinating area of mind-body study. However all the theory in the world doesn’t feel very helpful when you are in so much pain you can barely crawl to the bathroom. So I tried to believe that movement was safe and helpful, even while I was thinking catastrophically …
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What it’s really like to have skin cancer
Background I’ve had a lot of time to reflect recently and I would like to share my story of skin cancer. While this recent surgery is the most intense, I’ve been having minor surgery for the removal of skin cancers since I was 25, including a scary melanoma in 2006 when I was 30. Most of my skin cancers have been basal cell carcinoma, the relatively benign, and most common …
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Be Your Own Wellness Coach
It’s the season for making changes, setting health, fitness and nutrition goals, and stepping out of the winter ‘Fitness protection program’. Seems timely to revisit a blog first published back in 2013 on https://sunonmyparade.com/2013/soul-food/be-your-own-wellness-coach/, but pretty relevant every change of season. As we mature we figure out for ourselves what works for us and what doesn’t. We also have some deeply ingrained habits that may or may not be helpful …
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5 Reasons NOT to do yoga teacher training
You hate change If you are utterly content with the way your life is currently, that’s a very yogic state known as santosha. However if you’re not so much content, as you are stuck, stagnant, blocked, unable to take action – that’s influenced by the tamaguna, or inertia. It can make your thinking clouded, and lead you into a deep funk. Making decisions that reflect your values, and choosing to take action …
Read moreWhat do you mean ‘evidence based’?
Out there on the interwebs it’s a polarised planet. People are shouting in echo chambers about their distinct world views on politics, religion, and science. In the seemingly lovely land of yoga and natural health, there’s just as much argy bargy between factions as elsewhere. One of the main issues centres around what we mean when we say something ‘lacks evidence’ or conversely that something is ‘evidence based’. The truth …
Read moreGuest Post: Katie Carter from WomenKind – 5 Steps To Create Wellbeing Amidst The Rush
5 Steps To Create Well-being Amidst The Rush Lets face it. It’s a rat race out there. The only way to create balance in your life is to be completely committed to creating it. I know this sounds hard-core but it is just too easy to put everything else first. When we are stuck in this pattern, it is so hard to remove ourselves from and some pretty radical action …
Read moreWhy you need more Yin in your Life
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) yin deficiency is associated with the signs of aging such as dry hair and skin, stiff joints, and weak lower backs and knees. I don’t know about you, but this cold winter weather has me really identifying with that description! You’re probably familiar with the concept of yin and yang, the balancing of polarities in ourselves and the universe. Modern life is overtly yang …
Read moreDharma Bums
Every so often I reflect on my work in the world and wonder if I’m on the right path. When big challenges arise and progress stalls, I fantasise about escaping it all, hitting the road beat poet style, and living in a way that has less duty and obligation, more dreaming than doing. Yet I keep deciding to stay in suburbia, do my practice, love my family, go to work, …
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