Tag Archive for: Queensland

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE: How yoga helped recover a long-lasting shoulder injury in less than a year.

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If you had only one word to describe what yoga is to you, what would it be?

“Invigorating. I’m 36 years old and I work as a Client Support Officer in Disability Employment Services and also a pole dance instructor. I had pretty strong shoulders beforehand due to years of pole dancing, however after sustaining an injury to muscle in my left shoulder I was still left with niggling pain even after it had healed.”

“After 12 months of practicing yoga, I noticed the pain has stopped and I feel stronger than ever.”

When did you start doing yoga and what makes you want to continue?

“I started over 12 months ago after attending the 3hr Yoga Base Camp workshop in 2014 with Carmen. I love feeling challenged, I love to see the progression in my practice and I love how I feel afterwards. ”

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(2014 Yoga Base Camp in Bundaberg, Queensland)

How often do you attend yoga classes?

“After completed the 2-week Yoga Challenge in 2014, I was been able to attend two classes a week before I have changed my job. I miss attending more often. I was lucky enough to be able to attend the yoga retreat in Koh Samui this year and it was a fantastic experience. It was such a precious experience to practice yoga in a beautiful part of the world but I really felt like I connected and made some lovely friendships with the other participants, Carmen and her family. ”

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(2015 Yoga Retreat in Koh Samui, Thailand)

What is you next goal or challenge?

“I’m working on the transitions from pose to pose.  As being able to transit from Crow pose and Chaturanga. I’m also working on handstands, I do as instructed in class but I do kick up when I’m practicing at home and I have noticed some progression…..although I’m a very long way off being able to just lift up into it as Carmen so brilliantly demonstrates in class. I’m still working on accomplishing my first tripod headstand .” ;-)

“It really is harder than it looks but is also quite gentle on the body. Yoga is definitely something for all ages, shapes, sizes and abilities.”

“Carmen is an amazing and inspirational woman!”

Would you like to share something with those who might be thinking about doing yoga in the near future?

“You will feel awkward for the first few classes but Carmen guides you through your journey very gently….and it is YOUR journey.”

Rebecca Spencer
Millbank, QLD

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE: A city girl who moved to Bundy for her love.

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If you had only one word to describe what yoga is to you, what would it be?

“Grounded. I just turned 35, I moved from Sydney to Bundaberg 2 years ago after I met my fiancé. I work as a sales assistant at haight and Ashbury and help my fiancé with his own business ‘Just Tinting‘.”

“I truly can say I’m a better person, I handle life better, I feel happier and I can breathe better.”

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When did you start doing yoga and what makes you want to continue?

“I continue to practice as i like the way I feel during and after class. I start practicing yoga in Sydney for some time with my friend who is a yoga teacher. I have tried different yoga classes but I couldn’t find one that I enjoyed until I heard about Carmen who is from Sydney and she moved to Bundaberg. Since then I feel like I have been practicing yoga forever with Carmen.”

Carmen is my number one inspiration as I can see how hard she works to be able to do the poses and how hard she works to run a business be a mum and a wife. I feel like other regular yogis inspirer me as well as I can see how practices equals progression so I guess I inspire myself when I achieve something new!  ”

How often do you attend yoga classes?

“I try to practice as often as I can I even challenge myself to do every class in the week which I have achieved but as a rule if I get to three classes a week I’m happy but most of the time I manage more it just depends on what’s going on in my life! ”

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(My first 30-Day Yoga Challenge, It was amazing and proud of myself! )

What is you next goal or challenge?

“My main focus is do not fear anything in yoga I worry I will hurt myself when I’m upside down! I’m still working on the tripod headstand I feel I can physically achieve this but fear gets in my way! ”

“I like Carmen’s way of teaching I find her class to be strong but gentle and I love her sense of humour!”

 

“Carmen is a fantastic teacher of yoga i believe she was born todo this she is very knowledgeable, tough and kind at the same time.”

Would you like to share something with those who might be thinking about doing yoga in the near future?

“I believe Carmen is a genuine person that wants the best for her fellow yogis. You will always feel welcome in the classes with the lovely teachers from Love Life. Live Yoga.”

Melisa Godbee
Burnett Downs , QLD

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE: A young girl discovered Yoga in her early 20s.

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If you had only one word to describe what yoga is to you, what would it be?

“Inspiring. I am 22, I am a front office manager from one of the motels in Bundaberg. I started practicing Yoga in 2014. It is just simply what I love doing now, I started feeling and seeing the benefits in yoga. I feel amazing, will only continue to improve and grow in my yoga journey.”

“Yoga has taught me a whole new way of being. I learn to relax and manage stress. Yoga teaches me to control my breathing which helps me control my body and stay focus.“

When did you start doing yoga and what makes you want to continue?

“I started practicing yoga with Carmen in late 2014. I can definitely feel that I am getting stronger, my mind is so much clearer through regular practice.”

How often do you attend yoga classes?

” I am doing 2-3 classes every week as well as all the workshops and yoga challenges with Carmen. I have also just booked my first yoga retreat with Carmen in Cambodia next year!”

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(I completed the 30-Day Yoga Challenge with Carmen! Yay!)

What is you next goal or challenge?

“At the moment I am mainly still working on the basics to build a strong foundation like deepen my forward fold and warrior poses as I feel that I need to have the basics right to be able to move forward in my practice. I like to work on my inversions(headstand/tripod headstands), I like the feeling of being upside down. Improving my core strength to be able to control my inversions well. It is important to me that through asana, I can see just how powerful and purposeful my body is. Yoga is one of the few things that bridges my body and my mind. I would like to step out my comfort zone, and challenge my body. I have never stood up and really done something that I REALLY enjoyed before, especially any physical activity because I was not active when I was young. I have found a new me and being able to spread my wings through regular yoga practice. It’s an awesome feeling, I am very proud of myself.”

“Carmen is AMAZING! She is very helpful, kind and truly beautiful. It is so lovely to be around her.”

 

“Carmen is very inspiring me with her strong practice and all the things that she can do with her body, simply beautiful control and confidence. (whilst talking and teaching us all through it!) ”

Would you like to share something with those who might be thinking about doing yoga in the near future?

“Don’t just give up after the first couple of classes, give yourself some time to get to know well about yoga. It is hard at the beginning but your body will thank you in the future.”

Kirsten Neller
BUCCA , QLD

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE: A wonderful self employed lawyer sharing her experience

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If you had only one word to describe what yoga is to you, what would it be?

“One word to describe yoga is Compassion. I am 51 and a self employed lawyer. Since I have started this more regular yoga practice I feel much more confident about growing older. ”

“I can feel my body able to do things better now than when I was in my 30s and 40s.“

When did you start doing yoga and what makes you want to continue?

” I started practicing yoga with Carmen in April this year. Whilst I have been dabbling in yoga for many years I feel that I have only just started really learn yoga since finding Carmen’s classes. I have so much more to learn and every class takes me a tiny bit further on the journey.”

How often do you attend yoga classes?

“I like to attend classes at least three or four times a week when I am not out of town for work. I know that there are women in their 70s and even 80s who still practice yoga. I admire that tremendously and I want to be able to still practice yoga into my 80s if I am fortunate enough to still be here. I have been a very busy professional with all the usual stresses and pressures that come with that and with having a busy family. That kind of life ages us and makes us short tempered and too tired to enjoy all that we work for. Yoga has given me back my own sense of self and a feeling of wellness and peace.  I have learned that just one hour of yoga can cut through all the craziness of life and that 10 minutes of savasana is the best thing any woman can do for her self and her wellbeing.”

What is you next goal or challenge?

“I am not yet ready to claim that I can actually do a tripod headstand, but I know that I will be able to do it in the future. I have been in the pose near the wall and this was a milestone. It felt great. Carmen’s classes take us further than we think we can go. Her passion for inversion poses and her enthusiasm has changed my expectations of myself. My current goal is to master Bakasana. (I want to stand up on my surfboard – so bakasana will help with that too.)”

“Carmen is the strongest person I know. She has an amazing ability and it is inspiring to have her as a teacher.”

“Carmen is very encouraging. I feel I will never stop learning in her classes and I never want to stop learning.”

Would you like to share something with those who might be thinking about doing yoga in the near future?

“Classes from Love Life. Live Yoga offer something for each one of us, no one is under pressure yet there is always the invitation to go further.”
Susan O’Sullivan
Moore Park, QLD

SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE: An inspirational new yoga practitioner sharing her experience

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If you had only one word to describe what yoga is to you, what would it be?

“Peacefulness. I am 38 year old woman who lives on a property in the bush, outside of Bundaberg. I am a Mother, first of my two teenage children, and second I work as a Teacher Aide in a Prep-Year 12 Campus, where I manage the Resource Room & School Library. When not tending to my children or at my work, I spend time maintaining my property, tending to my vegetable garden & caring for all our animals – cattle, horses, dogs & chooks.”

“I always leave a session feeling like I am walking on water and I have new energy.”

When did you start doing yoga and what makes you want to continue?

“I started practicing with Carmen in April 2014, during the Easter School Holidays. I continue to practice yoga because it makes me feel good. I always leave a session feeling like I am walking on water and I have new energy. When doing yoga I use that time to concentrate on me and to let go of everything else outside of me. The time is used getting to know me & where I am at, going inside myself, feeling me, loving me, being me.”

How often do you attend Carmen’s yoga classes?

“I attend classes twice a week. If l lived closer I would definitely attend more often. Since I started practicing yoga regularly I feel more balanced in all areas of my life. I have better clarity (my mind is clearer) and my body feels more alive. I listen more to my body & work with it. I am more in touch with myself. I have lost some weight, my body is becoming more toned in areas, I feel stronger within my mind and body, and I am more aware of my posture. I feel healthier.”

What is you next goal or challenge?

“I am presently working on the tripod headstand and the crow. I like to challenge myself because it is fun and it feels great within myself each time I achieve a small step towards a pose. When I find balance it is a good feeling, to be able to get there and hold the pose in a controlled manner. It takes a lot of ones own discipline. I attempt these poses because they teach me control, to listen to my body & it is a good feeling. My daughter also encourages me because she is a great believer in that everything is possible. The first time I managed to do my first tripod headstand, even though it is only at one of the first stages, it made me feel ecstatic. I was over the moon about it because at one of my very first yoga lessons, Carmen showed us how to do a tripod headstand and I couldn’t even put my head on the ground. I had fear that I was going to topple over, I never thought I would be able to lift my feet up off the ground if I could never get my head down. At the moment I can only hold the tripod headstand at a beginner stage for a short period of time, but I find great achievement in this. I feel good inside myself and have gained confidence that one day it is possible that I will do a tripod headstand all the way with my legs straight in the air with total control.”

“Carmen is magnificent. She is like a breath of fresh air. Carmen is inspiring, energetic, patient, understanding.”

“Carmen has inspired me greatly in my yoga journey. Through her inspiration, encouragement, experience and knowledge, I have gained faith that with patience and practice I will be able to succeed at learning new poses and building on them to different stages. Just to watch Carmen completing different poses and flows is inspirational. Carmen is magnificent. She is like a breath of fresh air. Carmen is inspiring, energetic, patient, understanding……she is truly wonderful. She takes the time to assist you in different poses at whatever stage or level you are at on your yoga journey. Carmen is an inspirational, amazing yogi.”

Would you like to share something with those who might be thinking about doing yoga in the near future?

“If you haven’t done yoga or attended one of Carmen’s classes then now is the time to do it. Don’t just attend one class before you decide whether it is for you or not, attend a couple of classes and give your body time to adapt to this wonderful new journey. I remember attending one of my first classes thinking “Oh no this is too hard.” But I have overcome that fear, to breath through different poses and learned to work with my body and where I am at in my journey. Everyone is different and we should learn to appreciate that.”
Brenda Grills
Bundaberg, QLD