Conversations with Kara-Leah

This episode was originally recorded in October 2022 to celebrate Kylie Rook's successful completion of 1000 Days in a row of Ucchāra Practice.

Kylie attended a Direct Realization Training with Kara-Leah in January 2020, where she learned Ucchāra and made the commitment to show up every day to the practice, no matter what.

And she did it!

We discuss what it was like to keep that commitment, and the results she noticed along the way. 

Kylie is ridiculously qualified to talk about all aspects of the body/mind - she has a Bachelor of Nursing degree and is a Yoga Medicine Registered Therapeutic Specialist. She has also studied extensively in Chinese Medicine, Myofascial Release, Functional Mobility, and Somatics, and has a keen interest in neuroplasticity.

Get ready to geek out on all things body/mind/yoga related!

For more on Kylie, see here.

This episode was originally recorded in July 2022, and details Claire Eli's journey from anxiety to confidence. 

Claire has spent the last decade studying the body and mind and draws from many different practices including; yoga, mindfulness, meditation, breathwork, and embodiment practices. 

She talks about being paralysed by chronic anxiety, negative self-talk, and body shame and what eventually led to her finding her way out.

And yes, she also shares some insightful anecdotes into the ISTA Training she attended in London a few years ago. More on Claire Eli here. 

This episode was originally recorded on July 26, 2022, in the wake of Sarsha stepping down from co-facilitating a retreat with Matiu Te Huki because of her ethical concerns.

Our conversation begins just after Sarsha led a beautiful meditation - hence me thanking her! The ending is a little abrupt because we were recording Live on YouTube at the time. 

Sarsha has over 30 years of movement and teaching experience and has a gift of bringing people into connection with themselves, each other, and the earth. She has hosted many retreats. workshops and rituals around the world. She creates brave, tender, and inclusive spaces for our hearts' unfolding, healing and embracing of our wildness. More on Sarsha here.

I delighted in this conversation with Sarsha, who brings a wealth of wisdom to the table, and I trust that you'll enjoy it too. As always - do stay right to the end!

This conversation was originally recorded in May 2022.

In this conversation, we explore the role of Anxiety, Grief and Rage, and how Ahly was able to work with these emotional states throughout the highly polarised time leading up to the Profest occupation at Parliament grounds.

On February 7, 2022, a Freedom Convoy converged on Parliament Grounds in Wellington. Tents were put up, and occupation began which lasted 23 days.

Since then, I've been having conversations with people who were on the ground.

As time moves on, the nature of those conversations is beginning to change and expand - like this one with Ahly Titchener.

In this conversation we get to experience what it's like, as Rainer Maria Rilke's famous poem pens it; to live into the question, in an open and curious way.

What becomes apparent is that where one landed in their decision to vaccinate or not to vaccinate was not the juice to be squeezed, but rather it was the journey itself - of seeking to understand the emotional landscape, and experiencing the universality of these emotions.

The conversation circles around Emergence as an energy force that - like a universal law - is set in motion after a severance.

The conversation concludes with outing the predominant psychology of safety, fast becoming our 'new normal' at the expense of developing a psychology of resilience both for one self, and for our society at large.

This conversation covers a lot of subterranean ground - partly because Ahly is a trained practitioner in the modality of Hakomi - a trauma informed, body-centered approach to psychotherapy. She brings her passion for self reflection, poetry and mindfulness into how she shows up in the world, offering her clients a gentle, empowering and respectful therapeutic relationship. You can find out more about Ahly and Hakomi at her website here.

This episode was originally recorded in March 2022 as part of a series where I spoke to people intimately involved in the NZ Parliament Protest Feb 8 - March 2, 2022. 

To catch all the episodes from the Protest Series, see Conversations with Kara-Leah on YouTube.

Welcome to Episode Zero, recorded in February 2023. I outline the origins of this podcast, which began three years ago with a YouTube series.

Find out more about me, my background, and how I intend on holding the space in these conversations.