Welcome to Episode 56 of The Life Right Here.

Today’s episode is inspired by my trip to Japan and particularly by a challenging part of my trip that I wanted to share with you and what I learned from it. 

The practice of yoga and meditation is ultimately about gaining clarity and awareness, first in the body but then in the mind and in turn this changes how we show up in the world. 

As a starting point for this story I want to share an idea from Jack Kornfield a meditation teacher, clinical psychologist, trained Buddhist monk and spiritual teacher. 

The reason I share this is because I read this passage not long before I went to Japan and was contemplating what it might mean for my life and it came in very useful when I was over there and faced with some challenging sleeping conditions.

'Without mindfulness we will simply reinforce our conditioned habits and desires, keeping ourselves stuck in their patterns, giving unconscious power to the forces of grasping and anger. With mindfulness, our actions can lead us to Freedom.'

A Path with Heart: A Guide through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

Reflective Questions to Consider:

• Can you pause next time you’re reacting to something with anger or a sense of grasping and just sit and breathe, step away from the situation and choose a different response? How can you create space around it?
• You might ask what pattern is playing out in my reactivity here? Or  ‘What story am I telling myself?’ ‘How am I contributing to me own suffering here?’
• Is there something playing out unconsciously here that I can shed some more light on?

Please get in touch with questions or insights - I'd love to hear from you. Email me here [email protected] or DM on Instagram @amala_yoga_shala.

Back soon!
Em xx

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Welcome to episode 55 of The Life Right Here podcast. 

As I sat in the surf this morning I began to just run some ideas around in my head as to the topic of today’s podcast and I settled on a short episode explaining and reflecting on The 3 Gunas or qualities of nature that are the basis of the teachings of Ayurveda (and Yoga).

These are at the forefront of my mind right now as I prepare for my third module of Yoga Therapy study coming up in April. And one of our pre-reading tasks is to read Chapter 14 of the Bhagavad Gita - it’s all about the gunas - and  as I have I've been reconsidering my own understanding of the gunas and how they play out and are impacting my own life right now. 

In this episode we learn about Sattva, Rajas and Tamas and their characteristics as well as reflect on the predominant quality in our life right now and how we might bring balance.

In the Episode I suggest a number of other episodes that may be of support in further exploring some of the suggestions I give for cultivating Sattva Guna in your daily life.
Here are the links to those:
Episode 25 The Tranquil Posture
Episode 26 The Art of Pratyahara
Episode 34 The Medicine of Silence
Episode 8 Guided Practice: Brahmari Pranayama
Episode 5 Guided Practice: Bija Mantra 'Hreem'
Episode 11 So Ham

I'd love to hear your reflections on the 3 Gunas and how they' re impacting your body, mind and heart right now. Message me on Insta @amala_yoga_shala or email me [email protected] to let me know your thoughts or questions.

Have a beautiful week. Thanks for listening.
Em x

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A guided practice for you (under 10 minutes) for you to connect with being content with what is - right here - as things are.

This practice uses breath, contempation on the concept of Santosha  - contentment - as well as affirmation to give you permission to just be...and find peace no matter what's going on around you.

Take time for yourself this week to notice that life is good enough as is.

Let me know how you used this practice, what came up for you or anything that you found challenging here. Email me here or message me on Insta.

Have a great end of week and weekend.

Em x

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Hello friends welcome to episode 53 of The Life Right Here podcast.
 I am relieved to get this episode to you today after a shaky start to the week and it is actually the events of the past couple of days that have inspired this episode (I had another topic planned but I thought nope I want to explore this - even if it’s just for myself to work it through) but I actually think it is something that you’ll find interesting to reflect on for yourself.

In this episode I recount what happened on Tuesday that culminated in the realisation 'I don't know who I am if I'm not productive' and that lead to some deep reflection on my part. I've related the events of this week and my own discomfort around it to the yogic concepts of unchanging awareness and Santosha - contentment.

I'd love to hear your thoughts or if any of what I was experiencing has happened to you and how you got yourself back on track. DM me on Insta here or email me HERE.

Have a great end to the week and remember your week was enough.
Em x

 
 

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Episode 52 is a short guided practice - take 10 minutes to yourself - to reconnect to your centre of personal power, your inner knowing and begin to re-prioritise what is important to you. What you want to centre your life around this year.

There are a number of sources of inspiration in this practice including:
Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estés' work Women Who Run with the Wolves
Maya Tiwari and her book Women's Power to Heal through Inner Medicine and the quote by Jack Kornfield from last episode:
‘When we honour our body with our attention, we begin to reclaim our feelings, our instincts, our life.’

I thank my teachers with the deepest gratitude for their knowledge, wisdom and generosity.

Connect with me HERE on Insta or via email HERE.

Enjoy.
Em x 

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Hello my friends and welcome to episode 51 of The Life Right Here podcast - it’s great to be back for a fresh new year in 2024.

This episode is inspired by the reflections and sharing that took place last Friday evening at my Align and Shine workshop - I wanted to share a quote that I used as a point of discussion - in the context of a larger passage shared from the book Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr Clarissa Pinkola Estes and the quote is this:

Psychically, we become used to the shocks aimed at our wild natures. We adapt to violence against the psyche’s knowing nature. We try to be good while normalising the abnormal. As a result, we lose our power to flee. We lose our power to lobby for the elements of soul and life we find most valuable...’

In this episode we explore powerful ideas and themes contained in this quote and begin to apply them to our own lives. I get pretty fired up so if you want to message me on Insta here or email me here please do - I'd love to hear your perspective - especially if you disagree with me on anything here!! Let's have a respectful debate. I want to normalise women having aging faces rather than support feeling they need to achieve unrealistic beauty standards that keep them feeling they're not enough. We are enough. And the world needs women feeling MORE than enough so that they can bring their powerful presence and light to the world.

There are so many ways our society has come to normalise the abnormal and I've picked a few simple ones that came to mind - of course the unfolding of the tragedy in Gaza for the Palestinian (and Israeli) people is a major example of this. Though many of us oppose it of course and are heartbroken by what's happening the fact remains that it's being allowed to continue while we all look on. There's nothing more abnormal than that.

Thanks for being here. 
See you soon.
Emma x

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We are celebrating 50 episodes today on The Life Right Here poddy!!!
And to honour this milestone Kate Reed interveiws ME.

Tune in to this longer episode to hear all the inside info from my journey into yoga, my biggest challenges, how Josh and I met, to even what I was like as a teenager.

Thank you to those who sent in such great questions - it was really fun reflecting and answering these and I hope you enjoy this casual chat to celebrate 50.

To find out more about Kate and her work visit thesistercirlces.com. I'd love to hear your final thoughts for the year on anything that came up during this or any other episode as always DM me on Insta here @amala_yoga_shala or send me an email [email protected].

Sending peace to your families, your communities and this planet.
Much love
Em x

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Hello everyone and welcome to episode 49 of The Life Right Here podcast - I can’t believe we’ll make it to 50 before the end of the year…it should’ve come up sooner had I been recording a podcast every week but I don’t know about you - the last couple of months of this year have been a bit heavy and I’ve had to take a little more time with things.  But we will get to 50 by next week!! What a milestone.

In today's episode I share 5 ways that I am trying to allow my body's voice and wisdom to be heard in order to inform my decisions in order to build trust in this physical guidance system and wisdom.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and any ways that you let your body decide. Message me on Insta @amala_yoga_shala or email me here [email protected].

Blessings for a beautiful week.
Em x

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This guided practice follows on from Episode 47's exploration of opening the door to growth and is based on the John O'Donohue quote:
‘Perfection is the fulfillment of the fully lived and inhabited life’

I guide you to hit pause, breathe deeply and contemplate the concept of Inhabiting your own life - what would that look like? What would you need to change?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on any insights that came to you as a result of this practice. DM me on Instagram here or email me [email protected]
I'd love to hear from you!
Blessings for a beautiful week.

Em xx

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Welcome to Episode 47 of The Life Right Here - today's episode is inspired by a quote from John O'Donohue:
‘The soul loves risk, it is only through the door of risk that growth can enter.’

This episode I reflect on:
* What the soul's job is
* The things that stop us from living a 'fully inhabited' life
* Examples from my own life where I've had to ignore the voices of fear in order to grow and step into the calling of my heart

I'd love to hear your answers to the reflective prompts - grab a pen and journal, sit with a cuppa and take time to reflect.

Reach out to me via DM on Insta here or email me [email protected].
Check out my 1:1 coaching program here if you need support to 'open the door'!!
I'd love to hear from you!

Em x

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