Laura Anne Colless

16/02/2022

20/01/2022

Created this little vid for the good folks on the Sama mailing list for a bit of Christmas cheer. Almost a month later, I guess you could say I am a little slow to share on the socials! If you need a class, nothing too over the top, right at your fingertips... here is a short sequence to get you moving and feeling groovy xx
https://youtu.be/7Q3sSVqmmyY

This class will uplift you through:- 5 minutes of meditation, 22 minutes of yoga, 3 minutes of relaxation - Explore the breath- Nothing too complex, nothing ...

02/01/2022

Mission: Joy - Finding Happiness in Troubled Times
HH the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Link to view the film is available for a 72-hour period from 31st December to 2nd January
https://vimeo.com/showcase/missionjoyscreener2022
Password: joy1221

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28/05/2021

💗 boon for a opening up the - accessory muscles of breathing.
This is one of those poses that practise never feels complete for me without.

A great shoulder strengthener, big front hip opener and a long belly stretch that energises both physically and mentally.
While you’re up - try some reverse push-ups! Remember to keep the engaged.

15/05/2021

An article every yoga teacher, yoga student or inspiring teacher trainee should read. This is the truth of what we are dealing with.

Discernment in any discipline is required and Yoga is no different.

“Expand your reading list. Follow teachers on social media that challenge the accepted yoga dogma. Attend workshops by teachers you trust to be critical” - Sarah Dittmore 👏👏
I couldn’t agree more.

I first discovered the Yoga Sutras the way many yogis do; through a lecture on the 8-Limbs of Yoga as a part of my 200-hour yoga teacher training. It was one of our two workshops on the Yoga Sutras; the other was a more general look at the first ten or so sutras. That, a short lecture on the story o...

11/05/2021

So... this happened. Have a read if you're in need of a little yoga/movement nerd out. If you like it.. please give it a little share. Big Love, Laura.

A cheesy line but… fascia is fascia-nating! To date, nothing has informed my observation process in client patterning as much as an understanding of the main fascial lines and how the tone, or lack...

05/05/2021

Day 3/4 asana of challenge. Hello, good morning to this heaven! 🤗
Normally after we think core, poses to neutralise and perhaps a twist - but this worked a treat after backbends today( progressions ).

Immediately followed with arms in - calming Segway to (I actually do it at home - do you?)

Challenge gets real tomorrow 😂 I think I need some monkey magic powers to pull it off.

02/05/2021

After following for 5+ years I thought it might finally be time to give one of her challenges a go! Hoping this little jaunt inspires all the Sama Kula to join and follow along!

as the next and as a Hawaiian 🌺 you should play. and for your back bending prowess I nominate you too! 😘

28/04/2021

Introducing to you some of your newly graduated yoga teachers (with the rest of the cohort just around the corner from hatching 🐣 so exciting!) 🥰

Watching this group of ladies flow through sequence over the weekend was a delight - fully immersed and present they move with intelligence. They have deep, felt awareness and understanding of this thing we call Yoga.

Training began the day of the bushfires, our beautiful Rani even lost her home that day (despite this, she’s the first to hand in her assignments!) Throw in a pandemic to the disruption out the other side of it we persisted with coming together in preference to online. These ladies have done the work and are ready to guide and support you. They are safe, knowledgable and grounded teachers.

Fierce, passionate and strong, they embody wisdom, express with grace and have fantastic humour! They all connect to the power, peace and truth within themselves, and share their love of yoga from their own unique embodied experience. I’m really proud! But they don’t need me to say that but still...

Yoga is about so much more than flexibility, the asana, “doing the pose right”, looking a certain a way, the Lycra and many other misleading marketing ploys. These ladies live the practice. They serve community, are devotional parents and family members, meditation experts amongst other things. Mostly, I love so much that the dare to be themselves and I think they will help you to do the same.

Special thanks to for your support along the way. ☺️☺️

02/12/2020

Yoga is to work with energy, so if we are at deficit or there’s a lot going on, we have to respect that.

At this time of year, so many of us just keep pushing. Here’s the permission if you need it, to slow down, to feel however you feel and cultivate rest.

By stopping, feeling and becoming aware (present) of the sensory state we can begin to build up our stores again. Your nervous system runs the show, respect that and it will be kinder back to you.

Pics of some of my favourite use of props/modifications and progressions for when I want to move but vinyasa is not the best option.

The spiritual community has some screwed perspectives about energy (and emotions for that matter). There’s a fault in our thinking if we expect to be high vibe all the time. Honour where you are at and mindfully support your shifts. Sequence in comments xx

23/11/2020

This is Kula 😊 so nice to have a visit from super mum and little Maia over the weekend. We love you 💗💗💗

23/11/2020

BUT DO I REALLY NEED TO LEARN SANSKRIT? Well, it depends. Perhaps the question to ask is what you are committing to be a student of? Are you a student of a ‘nice stretch class’ OR are you a student of yoga? There is a difference.

If you are a student of yoga and/or a teacher of yoga then I think yes! Sanskrit to the study of yoga is like latin to the study of medicine - understanding prefixes and suffixes helps to scaffold learning.

While mostly used today as a ceremonial language and in Hindu ritual, for yoga study Sanskrit is the global language. I am grateful to one of my teachers Kate Pell for introducing me to Sanskrit many years back as without it I would have been lost when I embarked on my Iyengar Training and then later when living and studying in North India in the years that followed.

Sanskrit terms give greater insight, piercing the intellect and guiding us into asana in a very specific way. For example, Parsva means flank. In Parsvottanasana, students tend to feel this in the hamstrings yet the term alone tells you where to direct the focus and feel the opening - the flank! In this way how the pose feels so different, bringing the energy more inwardly than outwardly and nervous/excitable. Sanskrit directs action and gives access to feeling at a deep level, quietening the mind it becomes not just about shape.

There are a myriad of further examples like this e.g. Salamba Sarvangasana translates as All Limbs Pose yet it gets called Shoulderstand. All limbs tells you… arms, legs are working hard here so they should be an area of focused action, it is not strictly about the shoulders at all.

Sanskrit just gives more about the working of things. The word ‘smile’ in Sanskrit for example is ‘smitam’ and means ‘bloom, blossom and expand’. See how this is different to turn he corners of your mouth upward to ceiling. The Sanskrit language is rich, be it you know a little or a lot, being open to learning it will give you a more intimate experience in practise.

For beginners, it can be little overwhelming and might even seem cultish. My tip, if using it in Beginners classes, and I do I’d suggest provide an overview of the language to students, explaining your respect for the history of yoga (that is another post right there) and your reasons for using it. Use an inviting and open approach, avoiding any appearance of exclusivity and in the truest sense of teaching… translate the phrases you use as they are newly introduced.

Thanks Merry for getting some Sanskrit poses name on camera over the weekend at teacher training. A pronunciation resource for YTT students, valuable for us all I think just to hear the way some of these words roll off the tongue :)