High Tide Yoga and Movement

Home
Australia
Ocean Grove, VIC
High Tide Yoga and Movement

Down-to-earth yoga and movement for lovers of the Coast. Personalised private sessions for individuals and group events.

Small, immersive and inspiring retreats on the Victorian Coast.

10/08/2021

On Post-COVID Vision…

Yes this latest Victorian lockdown did make us cranky- and so I finally recorded a meditation I’d been promising for some time. This is one you can squeeze in in under 10 minutes, preferably set yourself up for the same time each day: https://youtu.be/H0Q1yZu_ObE

This latest bump in the road also set me thinking along this train of thought…

The COVID immunisation narrative has definitely gained momentum. But as this ride rolls on, I am continually surprised that our conversation is not going beyond this. This pandemic has served to highlight the vulnerabilities in our basic systems, not only healthcare, but social protection, education and ecosystems.

Those experiencing educational inequity are falling further behind and our already struggling planet is drowning in a sea of single-use plastic masks, take away items and sanitising chemicals.

In our preoccupation with lockdown life, it feels like we have forgotten about the broader vision. Will it really be enough to all get vaccinated and then return to life as it was? In that picture, the poorest people in the world who have suffered the most, will continue to experience the greatest impacts of social inequity and environmental change.

We need to remember that every decision we make, from what we eat, to what we buy, even down to how many children we have, all impact our planet and the health and wellbeing of everyone else. Yes we can say no to the coffee in the single use cup, no to the 15 cent plastic bag at the checkout and yes to the small donation charge on top of our purchase. We can make a submission to the latest council development plan, we can say yes to cycling instead of driving and we can reject the narrative that we will achieve happiness in these uncertain times by acquiring more or consuming more.

Maybe it’s fatigue at the dominant news-cycle, but I think we need to remember a bigger vision for our place in the world.

The impact of each small decision is tiny, but collectively they are great.

📷 from the Destination Dreaming archive, back when adventures to far off places was a thing.

13/07/2021

So we’ve literally been off-the-grid for a while, soaking up some adventures with friends who’s lives revolve as much around the ocean as ours.

And now it’s back to reality, an opportunity to test the ability to gracefully transition that we so often refine on the yoga mat.

Very much looking forward to being back at for a 9:30am session tomorrow. In the spirit of easing in- be it into a new term or developing season- expect a gentler practice designed to internalise the mind using breath and asana (no surprises here really 😉).

📷 holiday moments captured by 🙏🏻

02/06/2021

A mountain out of a molehill.

We all do it at some point in time- lockdown or no lockdown.

Some of us will have definitely been there this past week. Accentuating a story of suffering or unfairness; creating an epic narrative within the four corners of our mind.

At the risk of the wrath of fellow Victorians... sometimes we need a circuit breaker in life to spotlight our own humanness. To remind us that we are not our perceived grievances, the drama we’ve created, nor are we the font of righteousness. We’re probably not even hard done by.

No matter how darn certain we are about the situation, our interpretations are subjective.

Anyway, I wish someone had reminded me of that this week.

And if all fails- saltwater, love, meditation and good company conquers all (at least on an earthly plane 😉).

18/05/2021

How often do you plot your course based on your head and not your heart?

How often do you get quiet enough, still enough, to hear the call of your intuition?

📷 by

11/05/2021

Recently we spent an amazing week in Porepunkah- biking and hiking adventures, campfires and great company.

This photo is taken in a stunning corner of wilderness, which reminded me of the lines from one of my favourite Mary Oliver poems: ‘Entering the Kingdom’

The dream of my life
Is to lie down by a slow river
And stare at the light in the trees–
To learn something by being nothing
A little while but the rich
Lens of attention.

- Mary Oliver

Fitting for this week’s theme ‘Mother Earth’ at and inspiration for practice at 9:30am tomorrow.

03/05/2021

The Perfect Place to Practice?

I have read many a time about the value of having a consistent, special place for practice. A dedicated space within your home for yoga and meditation.

There is definitely much value in such a physical space, but many of us also use this as an excuse not to practice. There were many years when my living space was barely large enough to accomodate a yoga mat, or when the time it would’ve taken to clear a peaceful space was longer than the window I had. But with time, I have come to see this as a limiting belief, for the distraction that it is.

It reminds me of something one of my teachers once said, “he who chooses the Infinite is chosen by the Infinite.”

It is a choice to begin. To choose love over hate, hope over fear.

We create within ourselves the sacred space to return to. The inner space that reminds us that life itself is inherently sacred. That the sacred weaves together everything. It is the shared heartbeat that pulses within each of us, it is the purpose and nature of life itself.

We ourselves are ultimately the altars of our own lives.

📷 of a beautiful space at by .

20/04/2021

This week my five year old asked me “where is God exactly?”

My reply: “within you”.

Not a particularly satisfying answer for a young person who may have been after a more tangible address.

Five year old: “Really?”

Me: “Yes, but sometimes we are too busy, or worried about what other people think of us, or distracted by a screen or the injustice of it all, to be still and remember.”
In the yoga tradition, God is at the heart of all of us, and stillness of mind is the path to knowing oneself, the world and our place within it.

For a much more nuanced exploration of this topic, delve into Yoga Sutras 1.23 - 1.24.

05/04/2021

Another special Easter holidays. I hope your time was a very happy one. Whether your way is camping, family gatherings or hunting for chocolate, the underlying thread is still love, kindness, gratitude and compassion. In the holidays and everyday.

Looking forward to coming back to the mat at tomorrow morning 9:30 for a slow, release-focused practice 🙂

21/03/2021

Sometimes I feel like being in the saltwater is as essential as oxygen and sleep. Like the day doesn’t really begin until after that first duck dive.

Riding a board in the ocean offers similar gifts to the practice of yoga - the presence you need to assess the presentation of a wave, the line you need to draw, the energetic exchange between you and the elements. You feel at one with something bigger than yourself, both on the crest of your wave and upon your mat.

Yet there is also something unique to the community of surfing, and it is the thread that this weekend drew together a group of passionate and courageous women who all share a love of the ocean. The surfing community of the south is something special.

Thank you Gee for sharing your magic and for setting the stage 💙

15/03/2021

Thanks to the Wednesday crew for this week’s inspiration...

So I was clearly the unexpected guest at class last week, when I was greeted with “Oh no, I didn’t think it was you today! I was hoping for something much less intense and challenging.” (The Wednesday team and I have been together for many years, so I hope I can get away with this direct quote).

Which leads me to my point: yoga is not meant to be fun.

I’ve written widely on the fact that yoga is not meant to be your workout, but today this is going a little further back down the track where tradition and ancient wisdom is being lost. Back down the path along which much yoga today has lost it’s way in an effort to be entertaining (think creative soundtracks, flipped and upsized versions of traditional poses) and to achieve the most likes on YouTube, Instagram, insert chosen popularity platform.

The point of yoga is not gymnastics, it’s not glamorous matching attire, and (done well), it’s not even supposed to be fun.

For deep enjoyment I go surfing, read a great book, hike in the wilderness and drink chai with friends. Yoga is where the real work is done. Where you come to the mat to practice even if you don’t feel like it. Where you persevere with the longer holds in revolved triangle because you need steadiness, even though it is hard and your mind is telling you to get out.

The practice of yoga is designed to stir things up. To present you with emotions, limiting beliefs and the results of those experiences you parked in the corner for another day. If we’re honest, facing these things is often the opposite of fun.

As I mentioned last week in class, the practice is what you bring to it. You can fluff around and go through the motions, check if you need to trim your nails whilst in butterfly pose, or watch the birdlife in the garden during the standing sequence. And then the energy that you are creating spills out and is lost, just like in everyday life when we are multi-tasking, spread too thin, having to always have the last word.

Really, which would you choose at the end of the day: 75 minutes of entertainment or something transformative and joyful that extends beyond the walls of the studio?

Pause. Be still. Listen.

Fireworks. Pic by Julie Tupas.

08/03/2021

There have been lots of posts today about strong women. And sometimes a tendency to gloss over what this really means.

What can be lost a little in the feed is the need to embrace and celebrate women being women across our wonderful spectrum of diversity. To also highlight the strength in the softness, the perceptiveness, the ability to feel deeply, to nurture with emotion- things that in years gone by we have been taught to dial down so as not to be too ‘pink or girly or weak’.

To value these traits just as we must continue to encourage assertiveness, resilience and leadership, and thereby both challenge stereotypical notions of gender and model that there is no ‘right’ way to be a girl.

On this thread, there was a moment in the last week when the casualties of the past year finally caught up with me. For the first time I really felt grief for the personal impact of the COVID environment- the decreased capacity to support communities we’ve been in partnership with for nearly two decades, and on a self-centred level, regret for the career I relinquished to build this now-hibernating enterprise.

And it’s taken strength to be vulnerable and not fall prey to the conditioned “stop being emotional”. Even if just for a brief space in time. To not turn away from emotion and be distracted by one of the many balls juggling in the air again.
Pause. There is power in knowing yourself.
Wrapping with Rupi Kaur’s- What’s the greatest lesson a woman should learn?

that since day one, she’s already had everything
she needs within herself. it’s the world that convinced her she did not.

- rupi kaur

📷 by , woman of many talents

Address

Ocean Grove, VIC
3226

Website

http://www.hightideyoga.com.au/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when High Tide Yoga and Movement posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Want your practice to be the top-listed Clinic in Ocean Grove?

Go deep...

High Tide Yoga and Movement is an inspiring, welcoming space for coast lovers to come together to foster a greater sense of happiness, freedom of movement and connection in their lives. This is a special space that evolves with the community around it.

This is yoga with heart, true to tradition, a practice with soul. All our classes include breathwork, meditation and physical postures. Our intimate classes allow for individual progression and careful adaptation of the practice for every body.

To facilitate our broad range of classes, we have gathered a team of experienced and down-to-earth teachers from various backgrounds to cater for all levels and abilities.

Our offerings include traditional hatha and flow classes, conditioning for surfers, prenatal, yoga for men and yin. All levels welcome & encouraged - yoga & movement for every body.