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It’s a Video!

January 20, 2016 By Kat

At the end of last year I shared with you all a post about one of my greatest fears…have a read here to get up to speed.

This year is the year to step forward & conquer this fear. All signs were pointing to “YES, you can do this hit the record button.” I was feeling super supported last week as I headed out into the garden with my laptop to just give it a go.

It wasn’t easy. There was a lot of emotion running through me: frustration, anger, nerves & F bombs, mixed with joy, happiness & pride.

The quality isn’t the best. I have much to learn with creating & editing video’s but at least it’s a start. I have a feeling some technical support will be presenting itself in the very near future from some filming guru’s out there. (I would more than welcome a gift of a GoPro 😉 haha)

Without further a do I present to you ‘My First Video.’ It’s a funny snippet out take that just happened in between the ‘serious’ recording that was going on. Raw, unedited, nothing fancy. Just me in my garden HAVING SOME FUN!

Lot’s of love,

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Communications Shocker!

June 11, 2014 By Kat

It all kicked off on Saturday 7^th June for Mercury Retrograde. These periods are becoming more intense (in a positive way) for me every time they come around. Huge calls to action have been presented to me from the onset. I literally woke up Saturday morning & felt I had a rocket up my butt – “get to it!”

Mercury brings us great messages during retrograde periods & we too become the messengers ourselves. I felt this to be 100% accurate last Saturday morning as I stepped into the yoga room to teach. My throat Chakra seemed to have a mind of it’s own.

The style of yoga I teach is dialogue based so it pretty much involves me talking non-stop for 90 minutes to guide the class through the sequence. Given that communications were super heightened it sure did make for an interesting class. Straight away I felt I was being urged to speak authentically. My Soul was literally taking over it felt quite out of body at times.

What was going on that was so different?

There was certain ‘firmness’ to my directions. It was no nonsense, straight down the line, come on let’s do this the right way first no more fluffing around. Mary Poppins springs to mind “spit sot, let’s get the job done.”

Usually I’m fairly chill in my teaching. I prefer to nurture the students & encourage them gently rather than go hard-core military style. It works well for me & it’s the way I like to be taught. If someone is barking at me & riding my ass it doesn’t make for a pleasant experience & I shut down. I was still teaching in my style but as I said above there was a stronger command going on. Still nurturing whilst being more assertive.

It’s easier to recognise now when I’m channelling a message from the invisible realms or I’m speaking from the Soul. My voice gets a little deeper & words start flowing from what feels like nowhere. However the words make perfect sense & fit the exact situation I am in. I’m like ‘wow did that really come out my mouth, I must remember that it was very effective.’ (Except I often don’t as it was just for the exact situation that moment) This is what happened in that class.

At one point I felt I was being too firm. “Am I being a bitch here?” No I wasn’t being mean at all. I wasn’t picking on people I was working with the group as a whole. I was being direct & to the point. My self-doubt showing up as usual. All I had to do was open my eyes & see everything was going smoothly. The bodies in front of me were responding in the desired way.

The feedback after class from the students was reassuring. The one’s who chatted with me were more than happy. Maybe it was time for a shake up for all of us & take a different approach. Mercury certainly was having a hand in it all.

What else have I observed in the past few days whilst Mercury has been doing it’s thing?

It wasn’t just in my verbal communication that I was being firmer. Emails & text messages have followed suit. Especially with conversations that started before retrograde. Looking back at the threads I can see how ‘around the bush’ I had been. Not communicating clearly my point. What I’d written in three paragraphs really only needed three lines. Hence a lot of back & forth with no real conclusion met. Basically a lot of unclear & ineffective communication.

This week though the authenticity is right there up front. I’m being very clear with what I need to say without trying to pad it out with too much ‘light-hearted banter.’ (You know the stuff I mean, getting far too personal & off track talking about other things so when I drop my bomb the impact is softened) The result has been so much better too. We all prefer the direct approach. My partner is always telling me to ‘skip to the end’ when I start a long-winded, fully descriptive story of how I figured something out. ‘I just want to know the answer, not how you got there.’ I often like to take the long way round.

It’s feeling good being more assertive. I’m getting things sorted out quickly & efficiently. There is still a fine line though I don’t want to come across as I said before like a ‘bitch’ if I’m speaking more directly. Lot’s of extra care of my heart & throat Chakras is needed right now. Making sure all communication from the two is flowing with pure intent & authenticity, not from my head/ego.

My tools of choice:

Sacred Self Alchemical oils – Clarity, Truth, Authentic & Receive.

Crystals – Blue Lace agate, Malachite & Atlantean clear quartz.

Blue Chakra silk.

Communication devices have a mind of their own too. I’ve had to reboot my modem & Wi-Fi nearly every day. My phone is doing funky things. Crashing, freezing, flickering & generally not responding. Both my email accounts have been playing up. Deleting messages instead of sending them. Not allowing me to directly hit reply & giving me messages that the server is not responsive or we can not connect to the internet right now. All very normal. I always take this a sign that I need not be dealing with emails right now & go do something else.

How have you been travelling since Saturday 7^th? Have you noticed a change in the way you communicate? I’d love to hear your experiences, please share in the comments below.

Love K xx

p.s. For more information & daily coverage of Mercury Retrograde please check out Elizabeth Peru on FB.

Taking the next step

January 9, 2014 By Kat

This year is definitely going to be another year of accelerated growth for me I feel. Some days I wonder how I’m going to keep up with the pace & everything I wish to do. Back to my intention of ‘simplicity.’

One of my biggest challenges has been to surrender my control & let life unfold how it should be. Even when there is chaos all around the equal & opposite ‘calm’ is right there next to it. The universe knows what’s it doing & will unfold just how it should be even if this seems like total mayhem to us.

This year, as life is always for me, is about taking action! Way back when I started this adventure I desired to run holistic retreats. I had that idea eighteen months ago & haven’t actioned it. Granted I have been developing my skills, learning a lot in order to be at a place to run such an involved activity. At the end of last year I turned to my Angel Therapy oracle cards for some much needed guidance for the year ahead. I asked the cards ‘what modality should I be focusing my energy on this year?’ Below are the three cards I drew.

Clear as mud hey! I needed a starting point & I knew deep down I had one. Action was needed. I feel my definition of ‘retreat’ was blurred. My original thinking of what a retreat should be was a weekend of pampering, healing, spiritual teaching & yoga. Way too complicated to get organised for a first event. A workshop however is a much ‘simpler’ way to get started. Workshops are still what I would call a ‘retreat’ as people are taking time out of their everyday lives to do something different.

A massive part of my life purpose is to teach. Workshops are a perfect setting to do what I love & use my natural skills to teach a group of like minded people something of interest too us all. I had an idea back in July 2013 to run an introductory workshop all about the Chakras.

The idea stayed in its box until December. Why? Fear was holding me back, fear of not being ready or knowledgeable. A fear no one would turn up or I couldn’t manage it on my own & I needed a team or assistance. The message in my card reading was very clear to overcome this. I just needed to visualise my success. Live like I already have taught a workshop; see it happening again & again. (Just like wrote in Tuesday’s post!)

Keeping myself clear & focused as the third card advises is so important too. When you put yourself out there to the world you are vulnerable, people may attack you or want to knock you down. Staying strong & clear energetically will help. There is a deeper meaning to this card too to remind me after I have taught such an event to disconnect from the energy & cleanse. Workshops are a massive energy exchange I must remember to return to my own energy field once I have shared what was needed.

My fear of not being qualified is one I feel many may have in this situation. I work with my Chakras everyday & in my energy healing sessions. Working with the Chakras consistently should be indication I know enough to teach about them right? There is so much to learn about these energy centres. It’s a subject I’m still learning about too as there are many more Chakras than the main seven. When something new presents that I’ve never come across before I go read up about it. ‘We teach what we need to learn.’ Even more of a reason to get this idea off the ground I feel.

When my business coach asked me to plan my calendar of events the Chakra workshop leapt out at me. This is an event I’m keen to host asap. It is time to take action on this idea.

Now I have! It’s official ‘The Chakras – Introductory two day workshop’ will be taking place on Sunday 16^th & 23^rd February. I decided two days would be beneficial so not to overload everyone in one hit. We learn more efficiently in small doses. When working with energy you never know where it will go & take us who knows the next workshop might be three days.

Not only is this an opportunity for me to share on a subject I’m passionate about I can use all my other skills too. Over the next few weeks I’ll be putting together unique hand out booklets for all the attendees. My design skills will be put to good use & I love nothing more than creating something direct from my own energy.

If you are in Western Australia give me a shout if you’d like to attend or for more details. Hit the workshops tab at the top of the page. Everyone else I wouldn’t say no to running an online course or a webinar if anyone would be interested?

Have a lovely Thursday, Kathryn xx

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©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2014
(please share the love with full credit thanks)

When a teacher is put in an awkward position

November 26, 2013 By Kat

In the space of just a few weeks I’ve felt as a yoga teacher a few students have put me in an awkward position & I don’t mean Utkatasana. I teach Bikram Yoga (yes the hot sweaty one) which is a dialogue lead class. That means the teacher guides the class verbally a bit like a GPS. Everything you need to know is in the words. If you listen carefully & allow your body to respond to the words you’ll do just fine. One of the differences in the Bikram sequence, apart from the heat & the dialogue, this style does not encourage props or hands on adjustments from the teacher.

At Teacher Training it is made very clear that teachers should not touch a student in any way or form to conduct a correction. I am 100% comfortable with this rule & the theory behind it.

If I decide to give a helping hand to assist a student in a posture for alignment reasons a number of repercussions could occur.

The student may not have given me consent to touch them & therefore I may well offend them by doing so.

My well-meaning adjustment may actually cause the student injury or pain, as their body might not be ready for that correction.

If I hurt a student they might take action against me & as outlined in my certification that there will be no touching of students I’m in big trouble.

Therefore it’s super awkward when in the middle of class a student grabs my attention and asks for ‘a hand.’ Okay, they are asking & giving me permission to touch them but as I said above if their body is not ready to go further into that posture I still might hurt them. In response I just smile, shake my head & carry on teaching. After class I explain to the student why I will not give them a physical correction.

It’s happening more often of late I’m being asked to assist in this way. Unless it’s one of those wave trends that’s passing through. Students see a teacher doing hands on corrections so they wish to have one too. No one wants to miss out on some special attention! I’d just like to highlight here that I personally would like to adhere to the rules & not give hands on corrections. If my colleagues wish too then that’s their business. I will verbally guide you or I will personally demonstrate the posture for sure but I won’t help you physically. Please do not put me in an awkward position and ask me to do so.

Looking at this from an energy point of view. If I go to a student for a personal hands on correction then that will command my entire attention. It will take the energy away from the other students as I’m focusing close up on just one. If I give a personal ‘verbal’ correction everyone benefits as they share by listening too.

The favourite postures I find that students request some help in is floor bow (Dhanurasana) & half tortoise (Ardha-Kurmasana). It seems no big deal to just help a student’s hand find their foot behind them in bow right? I feel it’s a huge deal. Please don’t get me started on the use of hooking a towel round the feet either ;-). The use of props has their place but not in the yoga I teach.

If a students body is not flexible enough yet to get the grip then that is the way it is. If their hips aren’t touching their heels in half-tortoise I will not push them down there, even when requested too.

The moment I touch a student I have taken their yoga away from them. They did not achieve the foot grab or hips on heels by themselves. I’ve taken away their responsibility to keep trying, to keep struggling & most importantly try the right way. Wouldn’t it be much more of a greater achievement to reach, struggle & sweat for that grip over twelve months (or more/less) all by themselves? Then when they finally grab their foot ‘they’ did it for themselves.

Their body changed, loosened up & became able in the time frame it took because that is the path of yoga. The self-discovery. The greatest achievement one can have by figuring it out for one’s self. It takes determination, faith, patience, self-control & concentration.

Looking at this from the opposite standpoint would be by physically helping a student enables them to feel what the posture should be like. They know what the right way is & have something to aim for. Sure but they will eventually get where they need to go & have a bigger light bulb moment when it happens for the first time through self-discovery.

Studios run private lessons or posture clinics to create a safe, organised place so students can get personal corrections. If you have time ask after class too for assistance if you are seeking it. Keep listening to the instructions and trying the right way you’ll get it.

It’s amazing for me to watch the student’s journey. I get so much out of seeing them do it for themselves. One regular student I’ve taught for two years now has just managed to wrap their elbows in Eagle. The hands aren’t quite together or fingers interlaced but with patience, time & encouragement they are getting there. Slowly but surely.

I hope this has resonated with some of you out there. Just keep trying the right way. I’m there with you holding the door wide open for your journey of self-discovery. You have to step through it though for yourself, when you & your body are ready.

Love K xx

Click on image to enlarge ©Seren Holistic Lifestyles Blog 2013 (please share the love with full credit thanks)

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