The Yoga Pantry

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk "The body is not a collection of parts. It is a seamless, continuous web — and what you do to one thread changes the entire fabric." — Thomas Myers Hey lovely, sooooooo it's been a few weeks since my last Yogi Note, but I didn't have anything to say. Then the other night I watched a student do her own stretches instead of following the class because I think she felt I wasn't addressing her issues adequately... And wallah, my next Yogi Note was born...

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk "Not all those who wander are lost." — J.R.R. Tolkien ✦ CELEBRATING 12 YEARS - 21 JULY 2014 TO 21 JULY 2026 ✦ “The universe had other plans.” - and honestly, thank goodness for that. Hey lovely, Rose challenged me again, this time to write about the history of The Yoga Pantry, how it began, where we’ve been, and how we ended up here. And I thought: what a perfect way to mark twelve years. So here it is. The real story. Unplanned, unpolished, and...

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk "The hands are the visible part of the brain." — Immanuel Kant Hey lovely, This Wednesday in chair yoga, Rose had another question for me 😁 This time about Mudras: Where did they come from? What were they actually doing, beyond looking vaguely mysterious and making everyone feel a little more yoga-ish? And who invented them. It's a great question because the answer is so much richer and older and stranger and more wonderful than most people expect....

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk “When the breath wanders, the mind is unsteady. But when the breath is still, so is the mind.” — Hatha Yoga Pradipika Hey lovely, It happened in chair yoga class last week. We were moving through a round of Nadi Shodhana, alternate nostril breathing, and I invited the group to experiment with a gentle hold at the bottom of the exhale. Just a wee pause. An extended moment of stillness before the next inhale arrived. This week one of my students...

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk "When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need." — Ayurvedic proverb Hey lovely, A while back, I asked for suggestions about what you might like to read in one of these Yogi Notes, and Vivek gave me a lovely suggestion about vegetarianism. Now, I've not eaten red meat since I was 14, and then quite a few years back I went completely vegetarian; then I brought fish back into my diet because I didn't fare...

Your weekly dose of yoga wisdom & real talk “You are whole and complete just as you are. The longing you feel is not evidence of your lack; it is evidence of your depth.” — Unknown Hey lovely, As the title of this yogi note asks... What if you already have everything you need? Let's dive into what this question is really about. There’s a story most of us are living inside of, so quietly and for so long that we’ve stopped noticing it’s a story at all. It goes something like this: when I have...

“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus Hey lovely, It’s winter in Aotearoa. The days are short, the air is cool, and if you’re anything like most of us, there’s a part of you that has quietly contracted, pulled inward, turned the electric blanket on, and started wondering if spring will ever actually come. I, for one, wondered if I would ever gain access to my emailing provider so I could finally get another Yogi Note out....

"The human body is not an instrument to be used, but a realm of one's being to be experienced, explored, enriched and, thereby, educated." — Thomas Hanna Hey lovely, I was at a bit of a loss as to what to write about, so it's been a few weeks since I last popped into your inbox and then I realised that with the change in temperature and season plus the departure of Steph from our regular timetable and the arrival of Kat, our newest team member, a little note about somatics might be just the...

"In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still." — Pico Iyer Hey lovely, Does this sound familiar? “I’m fine,” we say, phone in hand, jaw clenched, cortisol quietly through the roof. But are we, though? Let’s be honest. Most of us are living at a pace that would make our grandparents weep into their sensible dinners. We wake up and before we’ve even said good morning to ourselves,...

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." — Desmond Tutu Hey lovely, Here we are! The final path in our little journey through the four yogic ways. We’ve opened the heart with Bhakti. We’ve explored inner wisdom with Jnana. We’ve cultivated stillness with Raja. Now we arrive at Karma Yoga - the path of action. But not just any action. Conscious action. Selfless action. Action without attachment. And honestly? This might...