Smiling Heart Holistics

10/12/2023

When it feels like you're between a rock and a hard place, gentle steadiness can break through hardness and turn it into strength - never give up

11/11/2023

“There's a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn't change. People wonder about what you are pursuing. You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see. While you hold it you can't get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old. Nothing you do can stop time's unfolding. You don't ever let go of the thread.”

~William Stafford - ‘The Way It Is’

01/11/2023

Yoga helps us to surrender to here and now without giving up
(Pic: Ampitheatre, Carnarvon Gorge, Qld)

05/10/2023

Breathing in, welcoming this opportunity with open-heartedness
Breathing out, "Yes, thank you" with humility and hope

25/09/2023

Save those old Covid masks from landfill and bask in Yoga Nidra and potentially a better night's sleep 🥱😴

22/08/2023

Mind-body - inseperable interconnected, and with undeniable foundations - it's both encouraging and a sign of massive needs, to see these pillars being promoted by government

Your mental wellbeing is the unique way that you handle your emotions, respond to stress and also your general outlook on life. Having a healthy sense of mental wellbeing has many benefits. It lifts your mood, promotes resilience in difficult situations and helps you get the most out of life.

04/08/2023

Amazing how life-force springs from the heart of things and beings - not sure the lettuce realises this though

30/07/2023

Would you agree that living well demands individual and shared contemplation and recalibration to keep our maps up-to-date? It felt the time was right for a new name: Smiling Heart Holistics. Still sharing small group yoga therapy, wellbeing education and counselling, with new offerings coming soon. Om Santi, Trish

12/07/2023

With mighty Bunya pine, still just breathing in and out. Welcome back Perennials to Term 3

21/06/2023

May your heart be warm, this Winter Solstice

24/05/2023

Accompanying one another in spaces of non-judgement, unconditional positive regard and compassion is a vital privilege. As Sharon Salzberg wrote "Despite our search for stability and prediction, for the centre of our lives to hold firm, it never does. Life is wilder than that - a flow we can't command or stave off." Bearing witness to each other's lives - this too is Yoga
"Doing yoga with you has added a new and valuable dimension to my life" Marg

07/05/2023

" I sometimes forget that I was created for Joy.
My mind is too busy.
My Heart is too heavy for me to remember that I have been called to dance the Sacred dance of life.
I was created to smile, to love, to be lifted up and to lift others up.
Oh Sacred One, untangle my feet from all that ensnares.
Free my soul that we might dance and that our dancing might be contagious."

❤️ Hafiz

29/03/2023

Tree - like all yoga postures...more than just a pose 🌳

11/02/2023

Choicest greetings on a day to seek shade and keep hydrated in S.E. Qld (Gatton 40°C). A heads up to prospective students and current friends as I venture into prac placement capping off 3 years Master of Rehab Counselling studies and research. To prevent any conflict of commitment during this time, I will only be working with current "students". I choose that term because the process of yoga therapy is both shared and ultimately involving sincere individual inquiry, exploration, effort and surrender. The word "patient" from the Latin "pati" meaning "the one who suffers" aligns with the valuable, sometimes life-saving treatment of medical professionals and teams; "client" perhaps better evokes someone seeking to be part of a collaborative team; while "consumer" feels erroneous in a society where we'd all be better off consuming wisely and likely less. So I go with "student" from "studēre", to be eager and diligent to study - holistic self-study and in terms of relationships with the world around us. Aren't we all "life long learners" in this tree of life? - preparing, riding and adapting to change? So, look out for new offerings late-July, when catching the gentler Winter sunlight (on our belly a little each day) feels right in our bones and minds. In the meantime, continue to "Come forth and bring with you a heart that watches and receives" (William Wordsworth, The Tables Turned).

26/01/2023

Breathe, Belong

13/01/2023

"But Good Being is in the knowledge of who in fact one is in relation to all experiences; so be aware - aware in every context, at all times and whatever, creditable or discreditable, pleasant or unpleasant, you may be doing or suffering. This is the only genuine yoga, the only spiritual exercise worth practising" (Aldous Huxley, 1962, Island, p. 40, Vintage)

25/12/2022

Jesse and I were coming back from our walk a couple of days ago and a car with 4 kiddies and a woman at the wheel pulled up. The oldest child got out, came over handing me a bag and whispering "Merry Christmas". I said, "Oh, how lovely! But we live in that house; you must be looking for someone else". The little girl (Chelsea) shook her head and said more boldly, "No, it's for you!" After further exchanges between us, Mum wound her window down and said, "We're trying to teach the girls the importance of giving". Lots could be discussed here, but I just wanted to share the intention of these parents and their gift of conveying the value of Giving and Gratitude. Wishing you those, in any form that fits, this festive season 💚

08/12/2022

20/11/2022

Uninvited thoughts and words arise and arrive. They just do. How humbling and helpful; recognising we might choose how much power we give those thoughts and words. Perhaps this shifts something in your whole body and mindset; each intrusive thought or word the chance to let hope and trust resurface and soar

19/11/2022

It’s dark because you are trying too hard.
Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly.
Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply.
Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.

I was so preposterously serious in those days, such a humorless little p**g.
Lightly, lightly – it’s the best advice ever given me.
When it comes to dying even. Nothing ponderous, or portentous, or emphatic.
No rhetoric, no tremolos,
no self conscious persona putting on its celebrated imitation of Christ or Little Nell.
And of course, no theology, no metaphysics.
Just the fact of dying and the fact of the clear light.

So throw away your baggage and go forward.
There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet,
trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair.
That’s why you must walk so lightly.
Lightly my darling,
on tiptoes and no luggage,
not even a sponge bag,
completely unencumbered.
Aldous Huxley , Island

17/11/2022

Who remembers Romper Room? So many timeless gems, including "For our family, our friends and food, we say, thank you", "oh come with us and gallop", and this...

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29/09/2022

https://www.qldmentalhealthweek.org.au/

Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW) is an annual awareness week that aims to shine a spotlight on individual and community mental health and wellbeing.

23/09/2022

Awesome colleague, Liz Williams interviewed on "How yoga can ease the symptoms of a common heart rhythm disorder" episode from "Health Report" , presented by Dr Norman Swan - https://abclisten.page.link/6XkguAGX84WmysWa9. Available now through the ABC listen App - http://bit.ly/ABCradioApp

There is increasing evidence that relaxation methods like yoga and meditation can help manage atrial fibrillation

16/07/2022

The great nourishment of peace and Winter oranges

27/06/2022

Nothing like dappled sunlight through leaves and branches. Yoga recognises right action arises from clear mind or, we might say, "seeing the light" - understanding or realising something after prolonged thought or doubt

16/06/2022

Faces lighting up - that uplifting feeling, when awareness of connection - with self, others, Life, is there and worth it

Students at eight campuses across the Ngaanyatjarra Lands in Western Australia are being introduced to the ancient Indian practice of yoga, with hopes it will improve learning outcomes.

08/06/2022

"De toutes les sciences que la Nature peut apprendre à l'Homme,
c'est celle de vivre
de manière à faire le moins de mal et le plus de bien possible. ”

Jordan Ray.

04/06/2022

02/06/2022

You might feel you are already there, at home, where you are. Or you might feel the possibility of a retreat experience is what you need, to get in touch with your inner life right now. This is one that's bound to untie the knots, mind and body

IT’S RETREAT TIME!! Join me on this ‘SACRED FIRE WINTER YOGA RETREAT’ July 14 - 17. This all inclusive ‘SACRED FIRE RETREAT’ will be a 4 day/3 night immersion into the traditional, ancient teachings and practices of Hatha Yoga. The opening words from the oldest spiritual text on the planet...

13/05/2022

A lot of us feel we can't do much to make a difference in the face of climate change, but many of us together can. Did you know over 2 million Australians are practising yoga? I just started the petition "Yoga for climate action" and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name. The goal is to reach as many signatures as possible to add to the voices of so many other sectors of our society calling for unified political leadership on climate action. Yoga can cut across a lot of perceived differences and is an invitational, experiential and unforced practice, however, I'm asking for your support. You can read more, sign the petition here and feel welcome to share it on: the link is https://www.change.org/YogaForClimateAction

Yoga for climate action

06/05/2022

This Mother's Day and every day, there's Mother Earth to love and respect; the one who sustains physical life every single moment

"Je cherchais le médicament qui guérirait mes blessures.
Je pris une profonde inspiration.
Et j'ai senti la médecine du soleil caresser mon visage.
Et j'ai senti la médecine du vent embrasser la peau de mon âme.
Et j'ai senti la médecine de l'eau rendre mes yeux cristallins.
Et j'ai senti la Vie elle-même couler dans mes veines.
Comment ne pas t'aimer, Mère Terre, si même avec toutes mes peurs et mes blessures, tu n'arrêtes jamais de me remplir de ta Médecine de l'amour inconditionnel."

Ada Luz Marquez

22/04/2022

And in the space of Om, expansion and relief