News, Articles & Events

Summer Yoga – January 2024

Join us for summer yoga classes in Ngunguru Hall every Thursday morning in January for 4 weeks starting 4th January.

All classes will be general vinyasa style yoga suitable for all. Please bring along any family of friends staying with you over summer. Yogis are all invited for a swim in the Estuary and coffee at the food truck after class.

Yoga Pricing for January 2024

Up front payment of $60 for the 4 weeks in January works out at $15 per class.
Class Dates: 4th, 11th, 18th, 25th January

If you are coming to class on a casual basis, you can book online or bring cash on the day. Casual rate is $20 per class.

My bank account for payments is:
Jo Lees, 02-0400-0418502-000

Book Your Classes

How to Use Your Yoga Bolster

Supported Prone Savasana

Lying on your front over a bolster with your forehead resting on blanket is a great way to quieten your mind and your nervous system. Brings awareness to your back body (lungs and ribs), letting go of any tension in your front body.

Place the bolster long ways on your mat, lie on your front on the bolster with your collar bones right over the front of the bolster. Fold a blanket 3 or 4 times and place in front of the bolster. Rest your forehead on the blanket with space to breathe, lengthen the neck so neck is completely relaxed. Roll a blanket lengthways and place under your ankles. Relax and breathe.

Lying Over a Bolster

Place the bolster long ways on your mat, sit in front of the bolster with one end against your lower back, lie back over the bolster with your head and back resting completely. Arms come out to your sides on the mat with palms facing up, legs are long or in butterfly shape with soles of the feet together. A lovely heart and shoulder opener and the perfect antidote to sitting at a computer or scrolling bent over your phone.

Bolster Balancing

Lie your bolster on the ground. Stand on the bolster, walk around on top of the bolster, balance on one foot, swinging the other leg in front or behind you. Try closing your eyes and repeating. Great for stability and working the muscles in your feet and ankles.

NZ Made Yoga Bolsters for Sale

Buy Online!

Celebrating Robyn – 12th October

Last week marked Robyn’s last official classes teaching yoga in the Ngunguru Hall, a practice she has been bringing to the community for almost a decade. Luckily, she will still be coming to classes as a student and filling in occasionally too.

To celebrate Robyn’s dedication and years of teaching, I would love you all to join me at The Ngunguru Sports Complex from 5pm on Thursday 12th October.This is a casual get together so you are most welcome to stay for a drink and chat with Robyn or stay later and have dinner.

Jo will be teaching the 3 classes a week in the hall from term 4. Really looking forward to seeing you all at the Sports Complex on the 12th October and on your mat in the hall from 17th October.

Term 3 Yoga with Robyn, Jo & Suzanne

Term 3 yoga starts 25th July.

I hope you have all been enjoying the school holiday break and planning for the upcoming Matariki long weekend. For the first 3 weeks of term, Robyn is taking a break and there will be new teachers for your Tuesday and Thursday classes over this time. Keep reading to find out more about Jo and Suzanne and to book in your term 3 classes.

See you on your yoga mat in a couple of weeks. Book your spot!

Meet Your New Teachers

Jo Lees
General Classes: Tuesdays 9:30am & 5:30pm

I’m excited to be teaching in Ngunguru, just 5 minutes from my home. I took my first yoga class as an option at high school and have been hooked ever since. Yoga has been a constant for me in times of stress and continues to make a huge difference to my overall health and wellbeing. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey with you.

“Be where you are, not where you think you should be.” is a favourite mantra of mine for life as well as yoga practice.
Email Jo or text to 021 853 464.

Suzanne Davies
Beginners Class: Thursdays 9:30am

Hello! I am happy to be here in Aotearoa and share in yoga circles here on the Tutukaka Coast. I began practicing yoga decades ago and have found it so helpful and healing that I subsequently earned my RYT-500 (Yoga Alliance). I especially enjoy sharing Yoga Therapy techniques and both Yin and Yang Asanas in combination with mindfulness meditations and practices. As my favorite teacher would say, ‘We are strong, soft and subtle creatures.’ I look forward to exploring all these qualities together!
Email Suzanne or text to 027 316 9346.

Term 3 Pricing Options

9 week term (Tuesday July 25th to Thursday September 21st)

Casual Class – $20

First 3 weeks 1 class per week – $45 ($15 per class)
2 classes per week – $78 ($13 per class)
Payment: Cash Jo/Suzanne or internet banking
Jo Lees (02-0400-0418502-000). Use your name and yoga as a reference.

Robyn will be in touch Week 3 with class details and a plan for her 6 week block to the end of term.

Please let us know which classes you plan to attend.

‘Mindfulness Mondays’ Series

Suzanne will be leading a ‘Mindful Mondays’ series – first Monday evenings of the month.

“We will be doing shamanic journeying, practicing cross-cultural healing techniques and wisdom learnings, and leaning into the seasonal lessons of nature – I’m excited! Mindful Mondays starts September 4th. Download the brochure…“

Celebrating Matariki at home

There are many ways you can celebrate Matariki. Here are a few suggestions from the Te Papa website on what you can do at home…

Matariki is a time where people, whānau, and communities gather together to remember the year that has passed, to celebrate the present, and to plan for the next year. It is a time to remember our loved ones who are no longer with us, to feast and celebrate with our relatives and friends, and to look towards the future and the hope of a season full of bounty.

Remember loved ones who have passed away

Take time with your whānau to remember your loved ones who have passed away. Visit their urupā or resting site, mow the lawns, or tidy up any imperfections on their gravestones.

Enjoy a mid-winter feast with friends and whānau

Matariki is a time to share kai that has been harvested and stored throughout the year. It’s too cold for planting or for other major work to take place, so people gather together, relax, eat, and enjoy good company.

Write down your hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the year ahead

Take a moment to think about your hopes, dreams, and aspirations, not only for yourself but for your whānau, hapori and taiao.

Go out and see Matariki!

Go outside before the rising of the sun to try and find Matariki.

Watch: How to find the Matariki star cluster

Hoki ki te kāinga

Matariki is a good time to return to the places you call home, and to reaffirm bonds you have with whānau, friends and communities.

Plan to grow a garden for your whānau

Today it is so easy for us to go to the supermarket and purchase what we need. Plan to grow a garden for your whānau so you can produce your own vegetables.

Mana Taiao (environmental awareness)

Matariki reminds us of our connection to the environment and our responsibilities to look after it. It can be as simple as organising a beach clean, cleaning your local waterway or planting a tree to give back to our environment.

Entertainment

Matariki is a time of entertainment, celebration and enjoyment. It is a time to make music, play games and share stories. Spend time enjoying each other’s company and relaxing together.

View original article on the Te Papa website…

July Holiday Break and Term 3

Mindful Yoga will resume after July School holidays on Tuesday July 25 for a 9 week term.

There has always been a 3 week break from Mindful Yoga during July, our regular yogis are often busy with tamariki or mokos at home or they are away chasing the sun or snow. It is also a chance to embrace Matariki and all that is offered in our Community. Yoga classes, for Matariki involve connecting with our roots, opening our hearts, embodying this as we contacted the ground, opened our heart space and Mid spine and reached to the sky above. Traditional cultures and many indigenous people ( African, Asian, Indian, Pacific) are today still living in the moment, to survive and we as a developed society are having to relearn this – the revival of Matariki gives an opportunity to deeply connect with ourselves, our spirit/ wairua, with others and with nature.

‘Dive deeply into your inner temple, visualise a clear night sky in July at early dawn, the Matariki stars in the East, the deep winter blue of the sea below, sense yourself connecting to the heart of Father Sky/ Ranginui and to the guiding and transforming energy of Mother Earth / Papatuanuku, a sense of aligning with the greater whole, feeling that you are part of something bigger than yourself.’

At the start of term, for 3 weeks, you will be able to enjoy two lovely new teachers, Jo Lees will take the Tuesday classes and Suzanne Davies will teach the Beginner Classes on Thursday morning. It is wonderful to have them living locally in Ngunguru, adding to Mindful Yoga.

Robyn will then return from a trip to Japan, offering a 6 week block of yoga until the end of Term 3 on Thursday September 21. During this winter Term ,we will be continuing with Warming and Wisdom, including some reflective grounding practices and vinyasa flows to balance Kapha Dosha, which is dominant in late winter. Winter is the Element of Water, so we bring awareness to enhancing Kidney Yin and balancing Bladder yang, together with keeping our bodies flowing. First Light occurs around the first half of August, an extra season to help us feel more positive and lighten up.

Please come and join our lovely yoga community here at the Ngunguru Community Hall, Tutukaka Coast!