Blogs, broccoli & broads! I love a bit of alliteration and I reckon this could be a great name for a movie! Can't you see it? "A thoroughly modern Mz who lives in the inner city with her veggie patch, her chooks, her gourmet cooking and her best friend Mr I-Pad..."
"I have great faith in fools - self-confidence, my friends call it"~ Edgar Allan Poe.
I couldn't resist revisiting this quote again this year. It's funny and delights in self-mirth! I am at my worst when I get all caught up in self importance, taking myself way too seriously. I'm at my best when I'm clowning around, being risky, having fun and poking my tongue out at the ivory towers of dogma and decrees.
How about you? Do you have occasional "holier than thou" tendencies? At times it's quite useful to have an air of authority & superiority but mostly it keeps us separate from others and removed from a richer experience of our silly, funny, naughty, ridiculous selves.
So my vote is for more fun & frivolity! Stepping out with a twinkle in your eye and a skip in your heart...
There's a lot going on down here in sunny Sunshine and we invite you to get in on the action... Movies, new people, retreats... Scroll down to the news & events section for all the hot goss & don't forget to check out the foolish, delightful dancers in and one more thing.
Belinda has some blooming blogging news for us, and she shares with us her story of how she overcame her fear of - perhaps looking foolish?
And lastly, apologies to those who turned up last Saturday for yoga at the wrong time. We tried our best to let everyone know that the time had changed. Please remember that the yoga class on the Saturday after Easter is also starting at 9am. After that we're back to normal.
Happy Easter to you, and remember that chocolate is good for you, (as long as you enjoy every mouthful!),
Love Claire xx
ContentsApril 2012
Belinda's Banter
Belinda's got a brand new blog! " A few weeks ago I found myself suddenly very strongly driven to take action..." Read More ›
Student of the Month
Check out the lovely Lee and her broccoli! Read More ›
News & Updates
Movie nights, Reiki in the studio, a new teacher, timetable updates, retreats, workshops... It's all happening baby! Read More ›
And one more thing...
"Dance little lady, dance. You know you only get one cha- a-a ance..."
I have often daydreamed about having my own website or blog, where I can put information about myself, my classes, my yoga journey and other relevant inspiring thoughts or events.
For those less technically minded a blog is simply a website which is updated regularly with entries similar to a diary or journal. You can subscribe and be automatically emailed new entries as they are posted by me or just visit from time to time to see what’s new. The best part for me is that it is interactive, you can leave comments regarding anything on the website – questions, suggestions, requests or whatever else and I can then respond so we can have discussions and share thoughts and experiences.
A few weeks ago I found myself suddenly very strongly driven to take action to make this daydream a reality. I don’t know why it suddenly became a priority but I have faith in these things happening for a reason so I went with the energy and started researching. One of the reasons it has taken me so long is that I have absolutely no experience in this department, the unfamiliarity of this medium scared me and it was way beyond the boundaries of my comfort zone. So when I started researching I found myself in a world of unfamiliar terms and jargon. Rather than giving up however I asked my sister Kat and her partner Ben for help, they both speak the language and know the terrain of all things cyberspace and they came to my rescue, translating, helping to set it up and best of all letting me know what I didn’t need to concern myself with. I want to officially thank Kat and Ben for their time, shared wisdom and endless patience with me and my questions.
Before I knew it Yoga Tinted Glasses was a blank canvas awaiting my input. I chose this title as it reflects how I like to live my life, looking at everything through the wisdom of yoga. I have been feeling my way around it and adding content, photos, widgets (an unfamiliar term a month ago!) and more, and now I finally see my daydream as a reality and am ready to share it with you. As with many things it will evolve and grow and I’m hoping you will assist me with this process by visiting yogatogrow.com.au, exploring and leaving me a comment or some feedback.
I still don’t know what the driving force was behind my sudden motivation to make this a reality but I am very glad I went with it and have a wonderful sense of pride and achievement in having risen to the challenge. All things happen in their own time and sometimes you just need to go with the flow – it is much easier than going against it!
I met Lee when she (as she puts it) gate crashed my seniors’ classes about 2 years ago in Ascot Vale. Lee is a wonderfully generous and empathetic soul. I was moved to inviting her to be our student of the month as a way of celebrating and supporting her in her quest to raise $10,000 for SIDS & Kids, (more about this later). Lee is always a delight to have in class, she is warm, light hearted, friendly, a passionate yogini and she laughs at my jokes! Of course, I love her!
Here is her story...
I started yoga about 3 years ago when yoga came to me as part of our workplace wellbeing program. One day instead of a meeting there was yoga! My immediate reaction was “gee, this is pretty good!” So I then began weekly classes with a local teacher. I’m an active person and love moving my body so at first my enjoyment of yoga was mostly about the movement.
I’m a maternal & child health nurse with the City of Moonee Valley and my work takes me to Wingate Ave Community Centre where I spied Claire’s Friday morning seniors’ yoga classes. I had to stretch the senior bit BUT the idea of going to a second weekly class was very appealing and I thought why not gate crash the seniors’ yoga party?
Pretty funny, but I have to say I loved the seniors classes and luckily I was accepted & tolerated…!
What a great way to start my Friday; an hour of gentle yoga… particularly after Thursdays, my weekly gardening day!
One class led to another, I found out about the SunYoga studio, started coming along to classes with Claire in Sunshine and am lucky to have enjoyed 2 tropical SunYoga holidays at Mission Beach…yoga is now a regular and treasured part of my life.
What do I love about doing yoga?
Life is busy; I am constantly on the go and always committed to doing things with little time for myself. Coming to yoga seems like an indulgence in the nicest possible way – I feel like I am spoiling myself by simply taking the time to attend classes.
(piccie) Me & my home grown broccoli
For the duration of the class I focus purely on me! Nobody else, just me, my feelings, my breath, my body...
Through yoga I am learning that life is not about pushing all the time. Most of us spend our days trying hard to fit things in and do more. I enjoy that Claire reinforces listening to what is; how am I feeling today and what is the appropriate way to approach my yoga? It’s really good to have the place and freedom to do my yoga as it comes… and to be able to relax and discover exactly where I’m at!
Thanks Claire & SunYoga, & I hope to see you at our fund raising movie night!
Lee xx
Newsand Events
Easter & School Holiday Timetable Changes
The studio will be closed over the Easter break from Friday April 6th to Monday April 10th.
Also, there will only be one Saturday Yoga class on -
Saturday April 14th from 9 - 10.30 am
It's an open yoga class and everyone is welcome. All other classes will run as per normal during the school holidays except children's & mum's & bub's yoga.
SunYogaSocial Club Goes to the movies!
Sun Theatre Movie Night
Friday evening, April 20th
Catch a movie at the Sun Theatre, Yarraville, possibly followed by coffee or dinner. Maree will check out the movies and put up a notice in the studio closer to the day.
Lee's Fundraiser for SIDS and Kids
YogaWoman at the SunYoga Studio Sunday, May 6th 3.30 pm $15 for movie & a cuppa
Have an afternoon out & support Lee in her quest!
Lee is currently on a fund raising trip for SIDS and Kids in Vietnam and Cambodia. She is on a mission to raise $10,000 for this not-for-profit organisation.
To support Lee come and watch YogaWoman, an inspiring new movie about the power of women:
You can also purchase tickets directly through SunYoga.
What'sNew?
Yes, it was me in Brimbank Weekly a couple of weeks ago with a piccie & an article... Read more ›
I am excited to announce that there are a couple of additions to the SunYoga family -
We welcome Amanda Benson to our yoga teaching staff. She is currently teaching our Tuesday night Beginners Course and we hope she will be teaching more classes soon!
We now offer Reiki here in the Healing Room. Mary Esposito, our Reiki practitioner, is working here on Wednesdays & Fridays. She is very generously offering a 30% discount for your visit Reiki treatment. Good opportunity to sample her skills!
Our first 2012 weekend Workshop with Paul Wooden is coming up soon - I honestly can't recommend Paul's wonderful teaching highly enough. If you want to delve more deeply into yoga then Paul is your man.
12 & 13 May - Befriending Resistance
"Resistance is an inevitable part of the yogic process…Whether it be tight hamstrings resisting a forward bend, a held breath or some form of mental hardening, resistance shows us the contours of the territory we are working with in practice..."
Current SunYoga Students get a generous discount of $235 or *$220. *Early Bird Special cut off date is Friday, April 20th.
Weekends in the beautiful King Parrot Valley where you are totally spoilt with yoga, nature walks and delicious cooking...? or perhaps a whole wonderful week of rejuvenating holidaying by the pool, (and 2 sessions of yoga each day), tasting the delights & sights of Ubud, Bali... Can I tempt you?
Our SunYoga Groove classes are ridiculous and just a little bit daggy.
I am often teasing the yoga-groovers about how we are going to don rainbow coloured, lycra one-sies and do a performance at the SunYoga end of year party! Maybe this year, ladies?
This clip was sent to me by our groover Rebecca as it reminded her of our classes...I have been waiting for the right moment to include it.
So in the spirit of embracing your inner April Fool be inspired by these ordinary people/dancers having a go and putting themselves out there in the public arena.
One class led to another, I found out about the SunYoga studio, started coming along to classes with Claire in Sunshine and am lucky to have enjoyed 2 tropical SunYoga holidays at Mission Beach…yoga is now a regular and treasured part of my life.
