Category: Photos by Prema

Satsang Friday 4th November 2016

Satsang Friday 4th November 2016

premaria
Next week on Friday 4th November 2016 we have a Friday hatha yoga class and Satsang.
In a  Satsang class we begin with silent meditation, then Kirtan Mantra chanting and a lecture on different yoga topics and philosophy.
It is  a stress-releasing way to start the weekend, letting go of the week. Do something good for your soul, even if you feel tired at the end of the week. You will feel a big difference come Saturday morning!
Jacarandas in flower.
Jacarandas in flower at the Raceview Scout Hall.

 

Where:  Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights

What:   Hatha Yoga Class (breathing exercises, sun salutation, 12 basic postures)

Time:  5pm – 6:30pm

 

What:   Satsang (silent meditation, uplifting Sanskrit chants, an inspiring reading)                                                                                                                           

Time:   6:45pm – 8:30pm

Cost:     $15.00  or   class pass  (no first free trial class on this day).

 

The lecture for this month will be on the Mantra. The meaning of OM, why we meditate on OM, the benefits of chanting Mantras.

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You are most welcome to join for just one of the classes. If you like an extra exercise session you come for 5pm.
If you like to learn/practice meditation and get deeper into the yoga philosophy or if you like the Sanskrit Chants (Kirtan) please come to the hall for 6:30pm.
In between the two sessions we have a cup of (herbal) tea and something sweet.  I made a raw vegan chocolate cake, it’s setting in the freezer.
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raw chocolate cake, vegan, gluten-free

You get most benefits if you join for the whole program from 5pm onward. But if this does not suit you, you are most welcome to come only for the yoga class or meditation/Kirtan (Satsang) only.
Looking forward to seeing you soon. Please contact me if you have any questions.
Prema Maria
New Prices as of 1st November 2016

New Prices as of 1st November 2016

premaria

On the 31st of October 2016 it will be 10 years since I teach yoga classes here in Ipswich, QLD. Time to give myself a payrise.

These are the new prices for the yoga classes as of 1st November 2016:

  • first trial class: free

  • drop-in class   $15

  • 5-class pass (valid for 2 months)  $70

  • 10-class pass (valid for 4 months)  $120

Cost for the Senior Class (remains the same) on a Wednesday morning 9am:

  • first class: free

  • single class  $10

  • 10-class-pass  $80

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    Hibiscus flower in our front Garden.

 

Prices for eye-pillows. Presently available in ten different colours. I make them myself.

$15 each

$20 each with matching removable cover.

 

eye-pillows
Eye pillows available in ten different colours. I sew them myself.

 

eye pillows with lavender

eye pillows with lavender

premaria
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lavender eye-pillows

During the cooler months I’ve been busy sewing new eye-pillows, they are filled with lavender and linseed (flax-seeds). Relaxing lavender, cooling linseed.

Available in ten different colours. The cost for each is $15.00

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choose from ten different colours

Your own individual one without cover. Get your new one in the next yoga class. 

By popular demand I make them now also with sleeves $20 each (eye-pillow with washable sleeve).

If you like one with a sleeve you need to place an order.

Yoga during Winter

Yoga during Winter

premaria

Even through the colder months, the hatha yoga classes will be on as normal once again.

According to the weekly schedule https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/classes-cost/

Just please remember to bring socks, jumper and if you like even a blanket for the final relaxation. It will make you feel more comfortable. Just coming back from Switzerland, I realise that there is no bad or cold weather, only wrong or not enough warm clothing. 

On the other hand, being physically active and doing any kind of exercise in the Queensland Winter is the best Season for it. Plus it helps you build your immune system and emotional well being.

While in Switzerland I went for a walk almost every day. Young and old everyone goes for bushwalks, hiking and short pleasant strolls, no matter the temperature and weather conditions. It’s a daily dose of nature’s medicine for well being.

One of my friends (a working-mother of two young children aged 4 and 6, they walk or play outside every day) told me, she read in a study: That if everyone would go for a good walk in the fresh air amongst trees, mountains or the ocean for a total of two hours per week. There would be less illnesses, physical and emotional illness.

To good health and a positive outlook on life.

Maria xx

 

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Auf dem Gurten, Bern. May 2016
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Grindelwald, May 2016

 

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Guetschwald, Luzern. May 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Blog

Personal Blog

premaria
While preparing for my trip to Europe, I somehow found the time to start my personal blog.
www.mariasteiner.com
Several things inspired and motivated me do this. I practice, learn and teach a very classical, traditional style of Hatha Yoga  according to the teachings of Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnu-Devananda. So there is no need to re-write the yoga books. At the same time I like to keep my yoga website www.hathayogaipswich.com.au about yoga, class info, etc. Even though every so often I share other topics.
This year I started to be more active on Instagram @premamaria, sharing photos and gratitude posts. Most of these are linked to my Facebook page, some on the public Hatha Yoga Ipswich, others on my private one, or both. This makes me realise how many more thoughts, opinions, practices I like to share and not just in one on one conversations, or every now & then in an email. But to a wider community. At the same time I write down my thoughts, so they don’t keep spinning in my head. When I write for others I have to make proper sentences, and not just a word or two in my handwritten diary.
The vision for my personal blog is vast. It my even include a diary from my upcoming holiday. I’m flying to Switzerland tonight.

Yoga in 2016

Yoga in 2016

premaria

This Year we continue with the regular yoga classes and timetable, at least as a start. I know some people would like different times and days. Though many loyal yoga students are happy with it and used to the well known times & days. It also works easiest with the locations/ scout halls the classes are taken. 

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Cleaned Yoga mats ready to go.

Here we go:

Cameron Park, Scout Hall, Easton Street, Booval

Tuesdays, 6pm – 7:30pm

Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights  

Tuesdays, 9am – 10:30am  *) followed by meditation 10:30am -11am, if you wish to stay.
Wednesdays 9am – 10am  Seniors Yoga class  *) followed by meditation and discussion group
Thursdays, 5pm – 6:30pm
Thursdays, 7pm – 8:30pm

 

Plus the Hatha – Yoga class every Wednesday night 6:30pm – 8pm at the PCYC Ipswich.

 

Yoga & Meditation Weekend Retreat

This year I’m again organizing and teaching a Yoga Weekend at Gunnebah Retreat near Murwillumbah, NSW. 

26th – 28th August 2016 (Friday – Sunday).

I teach the whole yoga & meditation program. The delicious vegetarian meals are lovingly prepared by the Gunnebah Catering team, Vanessa from Tulsi Foods.

Early Spring is a good time to recharge your batteries, shed the winter blues and set new intentions. Get ready for the New Season with a weekend of intense yoga&meditation, surrounded by beautiful nature. We enjoy delicious vegetarian meals. You can look at it as a detox; having no meat, fish, alcohol, processed food and too much sugar for a whole weekend.  Join us, you will not regret it.  

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Bush walking at the Retreat with views to Mount Warning. Photo from August 2015.

 

Homegrown pineapples

Homegrown pineapples

premaria


“Growing your own pineapples is patience in practice.

The result is a very rewarding treat.

See this example as a metaphor for many things in life.”

Maria Prema

 

Presently we have three pineapples growing. From the time you cut the top and put it in a pot or directly in the ground is takes about 2 – 3 years for the beautiful red pineapple flower to emerge. Then close to six months until the fruit is ripe, yellow and sweet. You can not rush it!!
Pineapples are part of the Bromeliad family.

 

Mother Nature gifted me with a pineapple for my birthday, 31.1.16.

birthday pineapple

 

 

Gratitude Jar

Gratitude Jar

premaria

The practice of Gratitude is something I wanted to write and post a blog about it since some time. (Better late than never, while starting the New Year with good intentions and put them into practice)  🙂

Back in January 2013 I posted the following on my Facebook page:

“This idea made the rounds on Facebook last week.

Start on January 1st with an empty jar. Throughout the year write the good things that happened to you on little pieces of paper. On December 31st, open the jar and read all the amazing things that happened to you that year.

So I started my own with a hand made label and I call it “Gratitude Jar”, seeing and appreciating the beauty and abundance in life.
If you like you write a daily note, about anything that put a smile on your face that day and made you feel happy in your heart. Of course you can use a smaller jar……. “

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Half a year later my Gratitude Jar looked like this:

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Since then I still add more notes to my jar. I write about anything that brings joy to my heart, the smell of a flower, a delicious organic fruit, the many new and loyal happy people in my yoga classes. A phone call, a postcard, etc. I received.

A few years before I started the gratitude jar I wrote a gratitude list at the end of each year. I still do that and also add things to the list throughout the year. After I write my gratitude list for the previous year, I then write my intentions list for the new year.

If you prefer you keep a gratitude journal, where you write your daily or weekly notes. Anything you give thanks to.

It is a wonderful practice that brings abundance, as you start to see the beauty in your life.

It’s actually a practice that I did for a while as a teenage girl. And it really helped me a lot back then (it was after my father died),  no one told me about it, I listened to my intuition. I would write in my girly diary when: someone in the street smiled at me, I saw a nice flower on the side of the footpath, if a certain boy at school would say “hi” or “hoi” to my …… 🙂  I did not call it gratitude back then, I just noted what brought me joy that day, usually the smaller the better.

This year I do my gratitude on social media. Instagram has these wonderful hashtags #366grateful #365grateful #366daysofgratitude #366grateful2016 and more similar # or you start your own.

If you like to follow me on Instagram you find me under @mariaprema

I hope you join me this year in the practice of gratitude in some ways & the format that speaks to you. Let’s share our experiences throughout the year.

 

 

Christmas Break until 11/01/16

Christmas Break until 11/01/16

premaria

I’m on a short Summer break. Around to answer any of your yoga questions and hopefully post some blogs here on the website, but no classes. 

my humble Christmas tree
my humble Christmas tree

All the yoga classes resume on  Tuesday 12th January 2016, according to schedule. 

I walk my path

I walk my path

premaria
I recently wrote this poem:
  
As I woke up today I decided this is a new day, from now on I do it my way.
I walk my path.
I looked at the sun and saw so much fun.
…. I decided to walk my path.
I gathered my stuff and did let go of the rough.
…. now I walk my path.
I see my beauty, that shining sparkle in the eye, it feels like I can fly.
I walk my path.
If you are happy, kind, alive in your heart, I invite you in my life to play a part.
I walk my path.
If you rejoice to be with me, feel free to walk beside me.
…. as I walk my path.
I walk my path.
Maria Steiner 28-09-2015

© Photography Maria Steiner 16/01/15 at the Spit in Mooloolaba