Mindful Living

In modern life, where overstimulation is the norm and burnout is common, brahmacharya invites a deeper inquiry into how we direct and honour our vital energy (prana) in daily life. 

Rather than repressing desire, brahmacharya encourages conscious choice. Ultimately, brahmacharya is not about denial, but devotion - to what truly matters.

Brahma is the Sanskrit for God (in particular Creation God), and charya means path. Brahmacharya means to walk along the path of God - in other words walking with the divine.

Through the practice of brahmacharya we learn to release attachment to temporary sources of pleasure, in honour of unveiling a more potent power that leads to true contentment and genuine happiness.

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2003.148

Francesco - one of our current Yoga Teacher Training 200hr program trainees - recently wrote an article on brahmacharya, which further articulates what this Yama is about . With his blessing, please read on!

Big love,

Erin Lee
Founder, The ...

Jo-Anne, a Yoga Teacher Trainee (now graduate!) wrote an article on Svadhyaya (self-study/study of the texts) during her 200hr studies or the Yoga Teacher Training 200hr program with The Mindful Yoga School.

She covers an important topic that often brings about separation: can you be Christian and practice yoga at the same time? Jo-Anne's approach in this article is with CONNECTION, as she realises crossovers of Christian and yogic philosophies through reading one of the provided books in the course, Light on Life by BKS Iyengar.

Thank you Jo-Anne for sharing this piece with us - see below for the full article.

Big love,

Erin Lee
Founder, The Mindful Yoga School

I have  'done' yoga for almost twenty years.

However I now realise that I have only just started to 'practice' yoga. Even then, my efforts are fledgling at best.

Until enrolling at The Mindful Yoga School, I had no understanding of the philosophy that sits behind the practice: the eight limbs, the Koshas and the connectio...

By Erin Lee, Founder of The Mindful Yoga School & Author, The Little Book of Big Intentions.

Meditation.

We already know how beneficial it is - if not from the plethora of evidence-based studies around now, then definitely through our own experience with it.

Why is it then, that so many of us experience a block with practicing it consistently?

Meditation is an ancient practice that dates back thousands of years (likely well in train before that too). It’s used to understand the workings of our own mind, through:

• Recognising and reducing the qualities that get in the way of concentration (single-pointed awareness); and
• Cultivating skilful qualities that promote concentration and insight.

Why do we want to promote concentration and insight? 

Because it’s a pathway to liberating ourselves from all those obstacles that get in the way of a freer, lighter and happier life. 

Simple, right?

Well….if you’re like the 99.9% of meditation students I spend time with - and even meditat...

When Jane - a Yoga Teacher Trainee with The Mindful Yoga School (now graduate!) was asked to submit a paper on Ahimsa for the Yoga Teacher Training 200hr program, she wrote about 'minding my own business' as a practice of Self-Compassion.

Her message is one that I know will deeply resonate, because Compassion can easily slip into attachment IF we are motivated by wanting to fix or change something or someone. When attachment creeps in, we can find ourselves consumed with 'other peoples' business', and expecting a result. It can easily lead to resentment, disappointment and dependent (and toxic!) relationships.

Thank you Jane for sharing this piece with us - see below for the full article.

Big love,

Erin Lee
Founder, The Mindful Yoga School

The first Yama translates from Sanskrit as non-violence, but I prefer the meaning of Compassion.

I’d like to talk about Compassion for Self.

It’s only recently that I can see the full merit in questioning whose business I’m in in life. My bus...

Change.

It has always been part of your life.

Right now there may be more of it around than usual. Yet you've navigated change before, and I know you can do it now too.

The biggest step in managing any kind of change smoothly is to NOTICE any resistance you have to it. This resistance part is what often gets missed. When it's missed, we become prone to regrettable reactivity, and unnecessary fear, anger and grief.  

We come to navigate change when we can ACCEPT it has arrived. 

This doesn't mean we have to like it. It's just that we first acknowledge that change has occurred.

It is what it is.

Any resistance to what is will feel constrictive. It might present in your body as tension or as shallow breathing, for example.

Resistance to change may also present in the form of a tense thought or judgement, or perhaps in the rising energy of an emotion like fear or anger.

Sometimes the first sign that we're in resistance to the change that's around, is noticing feedback from th...