Manaia Wellbeing

Yoga, Health and Wellbeing in Rangiora, North Canterbury

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For a New Beginning – by John O’Donohue

September 24, 2013 By Melissa Gardiner


In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.

For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Poems

The Window In: Following the Breath – by Donna Farhi

September 22, 2013 By Melissa Gardiner

“Everything that moves, breathes, opens and closes Lives in the Self.”
Mundaka Upanishad 2.1. Translated by Eknath Easwaran

It begins when we are still in the womb – an expanding, condensing rhythm, threaded together by moments of pause. It is the pulse of the universe, and from the moment of conception we are that. While we are in our mother’s body, the breath is an interior movement, a process of shimmering cellular respiration. At the moment of birth, when we first breathe into the lungs, we are initiated into the family of things. Suddenly the world is in us and we are in the world. We draw the breath inside the body, for a moment it becomes us, and we exhale a part of what has become us back into the world. While we are young we tend to breathe with the kind of complete freedom and ease that is an expression of our innocence and fearlessness. As we age and lose some of that innocence, rubbing up against life’s challenges, we unconsciously shut down, and we do this first and foremost by constricting our breath.

For the most part the process of breathing is an unconscious one, which is just as well. None of us would like to stay up all night reminding ourselves to breathe in and out, nor would we have much room for creative thought during the day if we did. But when our breath becomes unconsciously restricted and held, then it can be useful to make this involuntary process conscious. In yoga practice we do this so we can become aware of our most basic level of aliveness, and as our practice progresses we use a heightened awareness of the breath to train the mind to remain steady with our immediate experience.

Unconsciously restricting the breath indicates that we are out of kilter with life itself.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Articles

Excerpt from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying – by Sogyal Rinpoche

June 29, 2013 By Melissa Gardiner


I walk down the street.                                                                                
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost…. I am hopeless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out…

I walk down the same street.
There is a hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it.
I fall in again….
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Poems

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Latest Blog Posts

  • Returning to my Roots
  • Our Deepest Fear
  • Almond Milk Recipe
  • An Introduction to Yoga
  • Coming to Stillness

 

 

 

Contact Details

Manaia Yoga & Wellbeing
Email: yoga@manaiawellbeing.co.nz
Phone: 027 461 2000. There is no cellphone coverage at home so there may be a delay in replying to phone calls and text messages.

Testimonial

"The Beginners Course was fantastic!
My wife says, I float through the door on Tuesday evenings and that I am so much more relaxed having Yoga in my week.”
~ Matt Rowley

Testimonial

"Manaia is a space of safety, sanctuary, deep relaxation and consequence growth and replenishment. Become acquainted with your body and the wisdom it holds."
~ Jill Montgomery

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