UNITY YOGA Nelson - Rose Middleton

02/01/2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!
Thank you to everyone for the truly fantastic support in the creation of UnityYoga Nelson. You are the best teachers that a yoga teacher can have.

2025 is definitely a year of change for me as I step back from the teacher's mat and take a gap year (I'm not retiring!) - reflect, reset and then return. This poem really encapsulates so much of the emotions felt reaching this point and I hope you enjoy it.

"The Open Door" - Danna Faulds

A door opens. Maybe I’ve been standing here shuffling my weight from foot to foot for decades, or maybe I only knocked once.

In truth, it doesn’t matter.
A door opens and I walk through without a backward glance.
This is it, then, the moment of truth in a lifetime of truth: a choice made, a path taken, the gravitational pull of Spirit too compelling to ignore any longer.

I am received by something far too vast to see.
It has roots in antiquity but speaks clearly in the present tense.

"Be" the vastness says.
"Be without adverbs, descriptors, or qualities.”
"Be so alive that awareness bares itself uncloaked and unadorned.
Then go forth to give what you alone can give, awake to love and suffering, unburdened by the weight of expectations.
Go forth to see and be seen, blossoming, always blossoming into your magnificence.”

I'll keep in touch, sharing the discoveries, surprises and challenges.
Enjoy exploring the other wonderful yoga teachers in Nelson and online - different voices, ways and knowledge.

16/10/2024

Finding neutral - your spine has curves for a reason. Standing in neutral is the place of strength and stability.

The pelvis is the pot out of which the spinal column grows. If the pelvis is tilted, the column is affected. Whatever sitting position you find yourself in right now, just move your pelvis in any direction only an inch and you will notice a direct effect on the column. Try it a couple of times.

To find the neutral position of your pelvis, stand on your nonskid mat in Tadasana. Put your hands around the top of the pelvis, across the tops of the illia, so your thumb is in the back and your fingers come around to the front (Figure 3.19).

Imagine that the top ridge of your illia (which is the spine of the illia) is parallel to the floor. This will take a little practice because this is a curved surface, so take your time. Let your fingers feel the anterior superior iliac spine (ASIS) of the pelvis and your thumbs feel the posterior superior iliac spine (PSIS). When you think you have found the neutral position, your fingers and thumb will be about the same height from the floor. To test if this is truly the right position, press straight down hard. If your pelvis is in a neutral position, no movement will occur. If the position you selected is not the neutral one, then you will feel a movement under your hands. Please remember that this is an art as well as a concrete adjustment, so if you are unable to understand it the first time, don't be discouraged. Try it several times, until you find the position in which your pelvis is neutral.

Another way to verify that your pelvis is in a neutral position is to feel for any tension in the abdomen wall between the ASIS and the symphysis p***s. If you are in neutral, this area will feel soft; if not, it will feel taut.

Pg. 48 From Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesiology, and Asana by Judith Hanson Lasater

Have you read Yogabody?

12/10/2024

TERM 4 - Monday 14th October – Thursday 19th December

MONDAY – 9.30-10.30 am & 5.30-6.45pm – Hatha Moves
WEDNESDAY – 5.30-6.45pm – Yin
THURSDAY – 5.30 -6.45pm - Yin

SO - It’s time to head back to the studio mat for some reconnection to that vibrant energy along with strengthening our foundations and roots – the things that hold us steady and strong.

FOCUS FOR TERM 4

~ LESS IS MORE ~

At this time of year life gets pretty busy with multiple demands on time and energy and I am certainly known for trying to pack too much into a day (and practice)!!
So, let’s move forward with the steady strength, grace and balance of the trees in the forest, channelling that springy summer energy into our practice. The sap is beginning to flow, the roots are reaching into the earth for nourishment, the branches are reaching towards the energy of the sun and air is flowing through the trees like the flow of breath through the body😊
This term we will energise, flow, find delicious stillness, strength and space in body, mind and spirit.

20/07/2024

TERM 3 STARTS MONDAY 22 JULY

MONDAY – 9.30-10.30 am & 5.30-6.45pm – Hatha Moves
WEDNESDAY – 5.30-6.45pm – Yin
WEDNESDAY - 7.15 – 8.30pm – Restorative & Yoga Nidra (deep rest and relaxation)
THURSDAY – 5.30 -6.45pm - Yin

Casual - $20
Ten Pass - $150

STRETCH - FLEX - FLOW

- how do we nurture, nourish and support the physical body using asana (postures) and breath?
- how do we support and nourish the mind and look at the assumptions we may have about our yoga practice?
- explore where energy gets blocked and how to improve the flow to support healing and health

20/07/2024

18/07/2024

With Donna Farhi Yoga – I just got recognised as one of their top fans! 🎉

12/07/2024

Wisdom 🙏

The picture of perfection
must be revised.
Allow for our imperfections,
welcome them . . .
~ Denise Levertov

Recently, I happened upon an intensive advertised for intermediate and "advanced” practitioners of yoga. There was a list of prerequisites including the the ability to push up multiple times from the floor (or chair) into Upward Bow. Although everyone has a right to decide who can and cannot study with them, I felt saddened that advanced yoga continues to be defined by a check-list of physical attributes, many of which were arbitrarily dished out by the Celestial Design Committee at birth. Paradoxically, many of the senior teachers I deeply respect, with decades of wisdom to share, would likely be rejects for this event, not out of lack of experience, or practice, or commitment, but because these practices are no longer appropriate for them (or never were).

As someone born with spina bifida occulta (a tiny gap in my lumbar vertebrae), an extra rib on one side of my cervical spine, and a hereditary tendency to fragile capillaries, I had to stop practicing Head Stand in my mid-forties. Having multiple blood vessels burst in your eyelids must certainly be a warning sign worth listening to? Despite years of forceful daily practice, my spine never particularly liked deep back bends, arguably the yoga status symbol of our time. No matter. None of these abilities defines who we are.

What interests me now is seeing how yoga practitioners, peers and colleagues demonstrate their “advanced” through gracefully working with limitations to create beautiful and unique versions of practices that are testaments to progress. To be advanced is to go beyond “us” and “them”; to be generous, kind, and caring to others. You never know the hundred faltering steps that led a person to where they are today. Every body has a story.

Because advanced is any movement that draws us closer to the truth of who we really are.

23/06/2024

The joy of being a totally unique individual and how your body expresses the yoga asanas. A great article from Bernie Clark - worth a read to help dispel the “right and wrong” of where your hands should be.

Your Carrying Angle will determine the placement of your hands

16/06/2024

Rainy Sunday - perfect time for a great podcast on how to strengthen your spine and back.

Yes, you guessed it - that’s the specific focus for the sessions over the next two weeks. 🥰🌹

‎Show Huberman Lab, Ep Protocols to Strengthen & Pain Proof Your Back - 29 Apr 2024

16/04/2024

Term 2 starts 29 April - July 4th

Term 2 is not far away and as the days shorten, sometimes heading to the yoga session can slip down the mind’s priority list.
SO - why not flip that thought process around and immerse yourself in more yoga?!
The new Unlimited pass helps you mix and match and maybe try something different.

Mondays - Hatha Moves
9.30 - 10.30 am & 5.30-6.45pm

Wednesdays - Yin 5.30-6.45pm
Restorative & Yoga Nidra - 7.15-8.30pm

Thursday - Yin 5.30-6.45pm

Unlimited - $250
Ten Pass - $150
Casual - $20

27/03/2024

EASTER MONDAY sessions on as usual
9am - 10am
5.30 - 6.45 pm