By Kath Walters

Somewhere along the journey to the fast-paced world we now live in, we started to associate using time wisely with just being busy.

However, researchers are starting to discover that all work and no play is worse for “Jack” than making him “a dull boy” (as the old saying goes); it makes Jack despressed, forgetful and prone to getting ill!

According to research at the University of Washington: “Rest is an important part of a healthy lifestyle for all ages. It rejuvenates your body and mind, regulates your mood, and is linked to learning and memory function. On the other hand, not getting enough rest can negatively affect your mood, immune system, memory, and stress level.”

By Jane Gibb 

My walk begins by climbing over a fence. Having grown up in mountain country near Mansfield, I graduated in climbing over fences at a young age; with honours! I choose a point where the ground is elevated. On tiptoes, my feet can touch the ground on both sides of the fence. With a stretch, I step over the fence.

Crossing a field, keeping the steep fall of the escarpment on my left, I pass a mob of kangaroos grazing on the hillside. This mob has begun to recognise me on my regular ramblings, so instead of fleeing they lazily stand tall to watch me.

By Kath Walters

This morning, I rescued my first two hours from my relentless To-do list, kept them for myself and cherished them.

That’s a big change for me.

I’ve spent most of my adult life springing out of bed, slamming down some coffee, and launching into the To-do list.

Work is not the only thing on that list. There’s exercise, yoga, spiritual practices, relationships, reading newspapers and blogs, get-togethers, catch-ups, help-outs, chill-outs, films, reading and even TV.

By Kath Walters

When Sam Settle met and married a British woman, he needed to find a new occupation.

He had just spent three years as a Buddhist monk and development worker in Thailand. “That helped me tremendously and was a great experience,” Settle says. “In fact, that is a massive understatement! I came to understand the power of the mind, and my own mind in particular, and the power and mystery here in our hearts and minds.”

By Jane Gibb

Every so often, life really takes it out of you. There’s nothing that restores my spirits and my body as quickly as a bowl of soup.

This easy and aromatic lentil soup will warm and calm you, while giving you a shot of restoring protein and energy.

The secret to getting the most from this soup lies in how you make it.

By Kimina Lyall

Have you ever noticed when you hold your breath it is always with the air in? Have you ever “held your breath” after your out breath? It is possible to do for a few seconds, but not without conscious awareness and focus. Inevitably, the body fights for life. Yet holding your breath in is as easy as … well, breathing. For me, the practice is almost automatic. I especially do it when I am stressed, anxious, or stepping out of my comfort zone—in almost every difficult asana (and life situation), in other words.

By Jane Gibb

I had a terrible day recently that turned into a terrible week. A so-called “fuel reduction burn” got out of control right next to our retreat here at Griffins Hill, devastating the bush – and me, for a while.

My frustration with this totally ineffective, disproven strategy to protect the nearby town of Dunkeld from bush fire left me completely depleted at first. (It might have also been the smoke that choked our home for several days!)

But I’m not going to lie down and take it.

By Cecilia Morris

Yoga Retreat Dunkeld

sky cups bare and pointed mountains

sun sups on earth

By Frank Jesse

The handstand, or Adho Mukha Vrksasana (downward-facing tree pose), can be quite a scary and challenging pose for an inexperienced student. But this pose is also exhilarating and has many health benefits if approached and learned with thorough preparation and attention. Among the many benefits are improved circulation, respiration, concentration, and mental clarity. Through weight-bearing, it helps to strengthen the bones of the wrists, fingers, elbows, arms, and shoulders

Orient to the journey ...

The other day I found myself you-tubing instructions for learning how to free handstand. On the one hand, it was astounding that I was even thinking a free handstand would be within reach for me. On closer inspection, it demonstrated that I had lost the yoga plot.

Let me rewind for a bit. When I first started practicing yoga, I had little ambition for my own physicality, preferring to reside almost exclusively in my busy mind. It was a little over ten years ago, I was living a crazy life as a foreign correspondent based in Bangkok, driven by deadlines, competition and sheer determination to succeed. 

One of my favourite herbs is the celery plant (Apium Graveolens).

Celery plant is a flowering biennial plant that pre-dates the commonly available cultivated stringless celery varieties.

It makes my life happier in two ways: firstly, I avoid buying commercially produced vegetable stock, which I hate; and secondly I do not have to buy plastic-wrapped celery from the supermarket! In Griffins Hill garden, our celery is a striking plant growing about one metre high with large incised leaves similar to Italian parsley and thick green stems that are somewhat thinner that those of the supermarket varieties

How long is the ideal yoga retreat: Two days, five days or seven days?

By Frank Jesse 

A yoga retreat is a very different experience to yoga classes – even regular ones – both for students and for me as a teacher. 

On retreat, students are freed from the distractions of their daily lives. They forget about home, and work. They miss their families, of course, but they can simply focus on themselves while they are here, sharing meals and conversation with the other people on retreat and enjoying the Southern Grampians and organic gardens that surround us.

Yoga therapist Father Joe Pereira workshop and talk at Clifton Hill Yoga Studio

On April 4-6^th, the renowned yoga therapist and addiction recovery specialist, Father Joe Pereira, will give a talk and hold a weekend workshop.

Father Joe, the founder of the Kripa Centres, is a senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Catholic Archdiocesan Priest of Mumbai, India. Ordained in 1967, Father Joe started Iyengar Yoga in 1968, and became a certified Iyengar yoga teacher in 1975. He returns to Pune for intensive studies in yoga therapy with BKS Iyengar every year.

Friday evening talk: April 4

Father Joe will give a talk on Friday evening, 4 April between 7:30 – 9:30pm. There’s no need to book for this event.

Yoga workshops: April 5-6

Nothing can replace the presence, the voice, the assurance of one who has walked the path and can show us the way. In this workshop Father Joe will encourage you to develop your own wisdom and practice.

Booking are essential for the yoga weekend – which is $150 for both Saturday and Sunday and $100 for one day only. The timetable is as follows: 

• Saturday & Sunday 9 – 12noon Asana
• Saturday & Sunday 1 – 3pm Pranayama

All proceeds raised from the yoga workshop and the evening lecture goes to the Kripa Foundation

By Kath Walters

When Chloe Munro walks into the Canberra headquarters of the Clean Energy Regulator she wants to fill its floors with positive energy.

As chief executive, she believes part of her role is to set a high level of energy for her 350 staff to follow – and keep it there.

For the past year, however, that’s been a big ask. Last year, Munro was diagnosed with breast cancer and her treatment involved surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Remarkably, however, Munro managed to keep performing in her full-time leadership role throughout most of the treatment. “I powered through surgery and eight rounds of chemo and it was only right at the very end that the cumulative effects caught up with me,” she says.