Sound Garden Yoga

04/08/2025

Join us for Kirtan on Friday 8th August 6-7.15pm at Uprising Yoga Studio, 199 Ferry Road, Christchurch. 🩷🎶🙏✨

Call and response chanting can have a profound effect on well-being with the vibration bringing transformation to physical mental and emotional levels 🌿🌻

Entry by koha: Register here :
https://uprising.gymmasteronline.com/portal/account/classcalendar?logo=0&resourceid=1

11/07/2025

Being in the pause of life… A week of sickness, after a roller coaster of emotions and uncertainty, It felt refreshing to outside with the simple task of mucking out the horse paddock.

All of that also led me to re-discovering listening the Bhagavad Gita on audio over the last week as my bedtime meditation. The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Hindu text that is referred to as the Song of the Lord. Where Arjuna the warrior asks Krishna (God) for help on the Battlefield. Life has felt like a battlefield lately with Dad’s passing and feeling so much uncertainty on the personal front and in work endeavours. There was nothing I could do but surrender…

So here i was this morning having an active meditation in the horse paddock. Being with Connor and Honey shovelling s**t felt equally a body and soul led authentic and therapeutic practice. On a cold, dull Canterbury day noticing the pairs of opposites somatically present …the coolness of air on my face and the cosy warmth of my body inside my jacket that was donned up to my chin. Being aware of the settling of the nervous system. Increasingly aware of this quiet joy arising of how the body felt opening to this simple practice and cool sensation of fresh air filling my lungs turning into a warm flush of love as Honey came over to check out what I was up to and be open me grooming her.

Under the whispers of breath I felt my heart say THANKYOU to what life is unfolding and YES to uncertainty and not knowing 🙏🌎🌿🌻🙌🏽

17/06/2025

Honouring my Dad’s departure from his physical body. Through mantra. My prayer form. The Gayatri mantra and 108 rounds of the Mahamrtyunjaya mantra for easeful transition, from bo***ge of the physical life and limitations to liberation. 🙏🕯️
A yogi friend and mentor joined me in this practice and actually she held vigil with this practice while I sat with my Dad during his time of transition also. That devotion, is truly appreciated and held me grounded and supported throughout this process. 🙏🌿🦋

My Dad passed away after having a stroke and receiving end of life care. I was so great-ful to have been with Dad in his last days, where there were few words. But there was presence. Within that space, holding his hand I was aware of the subtle energy body changing. I have heard from my teachers that each element or tattwa is passed through as the physical body begins closing down. The last being the earth element as calcium is released from the bones, the body and mind become extremely relaxed in a dreamlike state. As Dad hovered between two worlds., sensing and visualising a pink rose in full bloom taking up the whole of his and my heart centre and Dad and I receiving pure love. I’m unsure whether I was being sent it through him or him through me as there was no separation in this beautiful unifying experience. 🌷

A couple of hours before his passing I sat and tuned in energetically. I had a vision of my childlike self (around 4 years of age) with the much younger version of Dad holding his hand, leading him on. There was a feeling of love and togetherness… I feel blessed. That vision will stay with me forever. At the time of his passing somehow my attention was drawn away to caring for our animals… I became aware that I was so incredibly present and felt a lightness of being… a weight was lifted from my shoulders…as if divinely timed, awareness drawing me elsewhere so he could quietly slip away.

With love and so much tenderness I release you Dad into the infinite love of the Goddess… Rest in peace dear one. You are forever in my heart 🤍🕊️

20/05/2025

Have you ever had one of those meetings that magically changed the course of your life?

I attended a gathering a few years ago that I nearly didn’t go to… and had met someone who also loved to share kirtan.. . we began chanting together and sharing mantra on a regular basis. Although this partnership of kirtan came to close, a new door opened when I was asked to co-facilitate kirtan once a month. I remember meeting and walking on the beach with my yoga friend and mentor and she asked me to step into a leadership role. My heart leapt with joy and my whole body felt a resounding YES . That is how I got to lead kirtan and share with you the practice that allows my heart to sing. It is also how I got to know Lucy (Sukhaprada). I felt incredibly grateful for the opportunity and still am incredibly grateful to share what I love!
🥰

15/05/2025

My first experience of kirtan was unexpected…
I was fairly new on my yoga journey, attending a workshop, when someone began to play the harmonium.

The moment those sweet, mellow vibrations filled the room, something in me lit up.
I didn’t know how it would unfold, I just knew why—because of how it felt in my body.

It was a knowing. A remembering.

Years later, I met my harmonium teacher, and it felt like I had come home.
Playing that instrument felt natural—like a language I already knew.

But the chanting… that was harder.
My voice had been closed for so long.
It took time, and gentle practice, to rediscover that part of myself.

But once I began… I never looked back.

Chanting mantras helps me connect with the divine.
It brings me back to joy.
When I chant, it’s not about me—it’s about something far greater flowing through me.
It feels as though the mantras rise from within, effortlessly, like breath.

🕉️
If you’ve ever felt the call to chant—or felt something stir when you hear sacred music—I invite you to follow that thread.
It might just lead you home.

12/05/2025

My morning river walks give me the space I need. I also create space in the body and mind using mantras, such as the most simple and profound mantra, OM. As the source of all creation, it’s not surprising this mantra holds a very powerful vibration. For those who find meditation challenging, repeating OM can be a helpful alternative, according to Patanjali's yoga sutras. 🕉️

08/05/2025

To hurt another is to hurt myself.

That is ultimately the meaning of the principle, Ahimsa. One of the 5 yamas that make up the 8 limbs of yoga. Following this principle creates a solid foundation on our yoga journey in how we think, act and behave. Imagine that you are in a feed back loop. Every action you send out is fed back to you. Keeping you in the cycle of pain and suffering.

Make self care and self love a priority. The more care, respect and love you have for yourself, the more you have to offer the world.

Be aware of your words, thoughts, actions and behaviours. Take a moment to pause, breathe and reflect before acting out in an instinctual way.

A~U~M ♥️

My horse, Honey loves her new massager brush!

04/05/2025

It’s coming up to that time of the month when we gather to chant mantra! 🎶✨🎶

Mantras are simple Sanskrit (mostly) that are repeated. They carry vibrational energy that helps us connect with our hearts and with the resource states of love and joy. 🩵🙏💚

When: FRIDAY 9TH MAY 2025 from 6-7.15pm at UPRISING YOGA STUDIO, 99 Ferry Road, Christchurch.

It’s free to register here:
https://bouldering.co.nz/timetable-yoga/

and your KOHA goes to Conservation Volunteers Otautahi. 🌿

I’m looking forward to chanting with you!

A~U~M 🕉️

01/05/2025

A Magenta Spreen bowing her head from the weight of the rain. Reflecting back to me, from my healing room the play of the element of water outside and within. Just as she bows her head to the heaviness of the water element I feel an honouring of the overwhelm within.

Today I let go of 3 things to make more space for creating and manifesting my dream mahi. I let go of two work contracts. One, in seva (service) for an energetic exchange, another, a paid contract. I let go of an opportunity to offer kirtan on a retreat in Bali because as wonderful as it would have been, there were elements that didn’t quite align at this time. A sacrifice I’m willing to make.

Listening to pratibha (intuition), feeling shakti rising and acting from that place. Making space for the things that are most important.

We need to say no to say YES.

A~U~M

22/04/2025

The trees take 20 years to harvest and h**p takes a single season. In warm climates h**p can be harvested two or even three times a year.

More details/photos: https://hja.li/lixv

22/04/2025