Friday 8th of March International Women's Day.
And I would like to give a nod to two amazing women who pioneered the practice of yoga in the West. Margrit Segesman and Elisabeth Haich.
These empowered women in the post war period established the first fulltime yoga schools in Australia and Europe respectively.
Each has an incredible personal odyssey that they have authored in books.
In Margit's Wings of Power you can read how from being a model of the high fashion world, in 1945 she set out alone on a quest inspired by her family's friend Carl Jung to trek to India. There she lived for several years, slept in a cave on the Tibetan border and deeply learnt the practice of yoga under the guidance of a guru. In 1954 she came to Melbourne Australia and founded the Gita School.
Elisabeth Haich, is renowned for her epic biography Initiation.
This gripping read describes Elisabeth's wartime experiences in Hungary, including seven weeks in a cellar during the bombing of Budapest, and gives a remarkable account of her inner visions of a past life in Egypt. Haich who was also an accomplished sculptress in 1937 established a yoga school in Hungary that in 1948 she moved to Switzerland.
I highly recommend these books.
In the clinic giving a bodywork treatment.
I find it such a privilege helping people to let go of constrictions and have more freedom.
Welcome to Lamp Posts!
My blog for sharing illuminating content related to healing and wellness with some personal revelations, which are hopefully informative and inspiring.
One lamp post at a time is a phrase from a dear, recently departed friend, David Matthews, who in the 1970's among other things introduced me to Lebanese food, Friends of the Earth and Gita Yoga.
David's life story featured a constant battle with impending death. As a child he suffered terrible asthma, a pneumothorax/lung damage and had many hospitalisations that left him to grow up physically frail.
However, David who many expected would die young, some forty years ago embarked on a series of journeys riding a bicycle great distances, including along the legendary Gibb River Road. David had determined to take his own health in his own hands. The journeys were his way to improve on his 56% lung capacity, build strength and resilience. David succeeded and despite ongoing health challenges lived a very full life of almost eighty years, creating and giving supportive service in media fields such as photography, radio and sound recording. In the depth of his struggles when riding David said," I would just focus on getting to the very next pole, you know, One Lamp Post at a Time." A metaphoric saying that became synonymous with David.
On ya Dave! Chris. (see: altsoundings)
