We make it easy to relax

By Frank Jesse Over 1700 years ago, the ancient Indian sage, Patanjali, listed the obstacles or impediments to developing a regular yoga practice in the yoga sutras, sutra 1.28: "disease, inertia, doubt, heedlessness, laziness, indiscipline of the senses, erroneous views, lack of perseverance and backsliding." Not much has changed. For a beginner student, and even some more experienced students, s...

As a group of poses, backbends seem to stir strong emotions. Some people absolutely love them. For others, a class focusing on backbends triggers fear and uncertainty. With preparation and guidance, backbends are uplifting and energising. They give us back the energy we put into them, leaving us feeling invigorated and happy. " ….. emotionally there is no chance for a person who does backbends to ...

You know you are an Iyengar Yoga student if you find yourself refolding blankets that have been folded incorrectly, or if you notice and rectify messy ends. You find yourself doing this quietly, while you are waiting for other instructions or while you are preparing to enter a pose. You know you are practicing Iyengar Yoga because you care about the blankets. You care about the blocks, the bolster...

Women often report pelvic floor problems after childbirth. But men have a pelvic floor too (of course) and sometimes it needs special attention in yoga.   My friend John, a regular guest at Griffins Hill, was diagnosed with prostate cancer shortly after his Easter holidays a year or two ago. John's a private person, but he kindly agreed for me to write about his experience so he could help ot...

We all have our favourite yoga poses, don't we? But how many of us make a favourite of a particularly challenging posture, one that makes us feel uncomfortable, uncertain and, well, not very good at yoga?Making friends with the postures that are difficult for us to do is an integral part of yoga because it delivers us straight to the heart of the real purpose of yoga: awareness or mindfulness. Whe...

Swamps recover well from environmental damage. For example, a project to regenerate Scale Swamp, which covers about 100 hectares just south of Dunkeld, has had an incredible impact. Since 2014, the swamp has regained enough water to start attracting the brolgas and swans back. There is a lovely series of photos showing the change here.  And it's not only birds that return; frogs and waterbugs...

Second, Frank is offering a fabulous teacher training program. We've had a terrific first intake of outstanding students and are currently taking expressions of interest for a second intake. Click here to find out more.  And, last but not least, we are planning professional development retreats for accredited Iyengar Yoga teachers to reinvigorate their personal practice and share teaching (an...

As you know, I am a kangaroo advocate, and several of these wonderful creatures seek refuge on my property from the local shooters. But who knew the word was spreading through the emu population that I love all animals and not just kangas. One of our guests, Andrea*, popped outside early one morning in June to take photos. Standing with the camera glued to her eye, she was astonished to see an emu...

Like most people, I became a yoga teacher because I love the practice. I love its impact on my physical and mental health and the way it benefits my students. I still love that. However, I have become more and more aware of the need to include care of the environment in the way we manage our retreat here at Griffins Hill. We have always done that, but it feels more urgent than ever before. And all...

A couple of years ago, she dropped a big dead branch and I noticed a hollow start to form in her trunk where the branch used to be. For ages now, her branches have been home to a pair of kookaburras, who love to sit and cackle on her branches. Sometimes, when they start up, I wander down the hill to listen to their laughter. A home in the hollows Recently, I noticed some downy feathers around the ...