Manaia Wellbeing

Yoga, Health and Wellbeing in Rangiora, North Canterbury

Returning to my Roots

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~ A Reminder to find Balance between Structure and Fluidity

View of Pitt IslandOur flights were booked for Tuesday July 10th to fly to Pitt Island. However, the plane was unable to get out to New Zealand, from the Chathams, due to bad weather. I made the most of being at home and finished laying newspaper and straw in the garden. This is part 1 of an 8-part mission cutting out blackberry, pruning bushes back to waist height, and replanting in my attempts to tame the wilderness along the hill face directly below our house. Tuesday night I was feeling excited about returning home to my roots. However, I also noticed a part of me that was wanting to stay and use this time, whilst I’m not teaching, to continue working through my ‘to-do’ list. We live on a 15-acre property that needs loads of tender loving care and my extensive and ever-changing to-do list reflects this.

We arrived on the Chatham Islands one hour and forty minutes after leaving Christchurch Airport on the Wednesday. It was a real treat the next morning to practice Yoga and be able to hear the sea lapping on the shore just outside our bedroom window. I enjoyed a late shower, followed by a windy walk along the beach. Plenty of time to rest… the body and mind slowly unwinding… my extensive to-do list moving to the back of my mind.

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Our Deepest Fear

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“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.

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Almond Milk Recipe

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Almond milk is a yummy alternative to cows milk, and is great for building up the Ojas (essential energy) in the body. It contains good amounts of vitamin E and calcium, has no cholesterol or saturated fats and is great for strong bones and glowing skin! [Read more…]

An Introduction to Yoga

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By Lorna-Jean Paulot

I am an ordinary 50+ woman with the standard too busy hectic life style that has become routine, so I decided to try Yoga to find a little balance and went along to Melissa at Manaia Yoga & Wellbeing.

I had no expectations and Melissa’s classes gave me much more than balance… it gave me equilibrium and served as the catalyst to start the process of change that previously I did not have the courage to make. Each week I eagerly waited for Monday to come round to engage and experience this inner sanctuary and the joys that come from within. [Read more…]

Coming to Stillness

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Head-to-Knee Pose

(Variations on Janu Sirsasana)

By Donna Farhi

Many years ago during a particularly intense period of asana practice I asked one of my teachers what she thought I needed to work on. I expected to receive another list of advanced postures, but after a long pause she said, “You need to learn how to be simple.” This was not the answer I had hoped for! I could certainly work my way through an exhausting regimen of postures, but could I be still for ten minutes? Could I take pleasure in the simple act of sitting, standing, or lying down? I had already begun to notice that my natural inclination in asana practice was drawing me toward stillness and into meditation. But unable to discern the difference between complacency and containment, after sitting quietly for a few minutes I would rally myself once again into action. On to the next posture! Gradually, as I began to trust my own inner prompting, my practice did indeed become more simple and I began to spend as much time in meditation as in asana. [Read more…]

My Experience at a Recent Yoga Intensive

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I felt blessed to be a student at Donna Farhi’s recent Yoga Intensive in Christchurch – The Heart Aroused. This was an amazing experience… an opportunity to sit quietly, to connect with my body, to hear the soft whisperings of my heart, to bring the attention back to my belly center and the intelligence that resides there. The intensive was a lovely combination of informative powerpoint presentations, joyful Kirtan, active, therapeutic and restorative Yoga, iRest Yoga Nidra sessions, meditation and throughout the Intensive live music by the very talented and conscious Prahbu. It really was something and the feeling in the room was so very warm, safe and loving, providing the perfect container to look deeply within.

I learned many things and have chosen a few to share with you. [Read more…]

Ghee Recipe

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Regular use of ghee is among the best rejuvenating and longevity promoting foods.
~ Charaka Samhita

10 Golden Rules of Ghee

1. Sterilize all utensils, pot and storage container in a pot of boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Make sure your container is dry
2. Start slowly and try not to boil
3. Resist the temptation to stir
4. Do not cover the pot
5. Do not abandon the cooking ghee
6. Do not under cook (or ghee will mold) and do not overcook (or ghee will burn)
7. Save the top, discard the bottom
8. Keep ghee away from sunlight
9. Refrain from ‘double dipping’ into the ghee or it can go rancid
10. Consume only what you can digest

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Ayurvedic Energy Balls

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1 cup pitted dates                         
1 cup walnuts
Juice of 1 orange
1/4 cup boiled water
2 tbsps black chia seeds
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cardamon
1 tbsp of melted ghee
Dessicated coconut

Donna Farhi shared this recipe with me. Put pitted dates in a small deep bowl. Add orange juice and boiled water. Stir and cover. Leave overnight or at least for several hours, lifting and turning the dates and liquid occasionally to soften and macerate the fruit. Now tip in the chia seeds. These absorb a considerable amount of the liquid.

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Virabhadrasana II (Warrior Pose II) – by Donna Farhi

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  By gracefully yielding to gravity, you can meet challenging poses with efficiency and ease.

 At the heart of all yoga philosophy lies the premise that suffering arises from a mistaken perception that we are separate. Whether we feel separate from other human beings, or separate from the trees we walk under, the rocks we walk upon, or the creatures that walk, fly, swim, and crawl around us, yoga insists that this separation is an illusion. The life force is intrinsic to all things, and any separation we feel from anything is a separation from that ever-renewing source of sustenance. Almost all of us have felt the veil of this false notion lift at some time in our lives and experienced the feeling of goodness and wholesomeness that comes when we feel ourselves to be a part of everything. And most of us have found that this feeling of wellness and happiness rarely arrives through pushing and pulling and molding ourselves into who we think we ought to be. Instead, this feeling of oneness, of being happy for no particular reason, seems to arise when we simply accept the moment and ourselves just as we are. As Swami Venkatesananda tells us in his translation of the second verse of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, “Yoga happens . . . .” Of course, Venkatesananda goes on to name the conditions in which yoga occurs, but I think “happens” is the key word in his translation. It implies that the state we call yoga can’t be forced. [Read more…]

Introducing ‘Manaia Yoga & Wellbeing’

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 This is the right time, and this is the right thing. -Thomas Moore

Exciting things are happening in my world at the moment and I am very excited to share it with you all!

As many of you will already know, I have been searching for a space to set up a Yoga Studio and Wellbeing Centre in the Rangiora area. I am very pleased and excited to announce that this space has been found! It is just perfect with a spacious teaching studio, changing and storage areas, and clinic rooms for bodyworkers and wellness experts to operate from. It is just 3 minutes drive from Rangiora in a quiet country setting, perfect for getting away from it all for a little while, to come and practice some Yoga! It took awhile, but the right space has come along and I am so glad it has. [Read more…]