Body Centred Living

When J. Krishnamurti Met Krishnamacharya: The Yoga That Changed Everything

Krishnamurti was already nearly 70 and had been practising some very advanced asanas.

But his body was struggling.

His neck was extremely stiff.
His breathing was restricted.
His hands trembled.
And some of the postures he was practising were clearly not helping him.

Krishnamurti said to Krishnamacharya:

“I want to learn asanas from you.”

Krishnamacharya replied that, because of his age and responsibilities, he could not teach him personally.

Instead, he sent his son, T.K.V. Desikachar.

But Desikachar did not simply teach Krishnamurti more difficult asanas.

He went back to his father and described what he had seen.

Krishnamacharya then prescribed a completely different practice.

Simple postures.
Gentle movements.
Breathing.
And even lying with the legs raised against the wall.

And one important instruction:

No more headstand.

Desikachar followed his father’s instructions and worked with Krishnamurti almost every day.

Within a few weeks, Krishnamurti’s health had changed remarkably.

The man who had come looking for yoga was given something deeper than a collection of asanas.

He was given a practice made for his body.

That was Krishnamacharya’s genius.

He did not teach everyone the same yoga.

He looked at the person first.
Then he gave them their yoga.

It take me a while to find my groove in this Intuitive Flow recording.
I never know what will happen and where the body and breath will take me. I just know that it will be loving, and alive with listening and responding. Yoga as moments of grace.

I watch these videos to calm and ground and inspire me. Better than scrolling!

Enjoy,
Katie

Intuitive flow - a way to practice yoga I enjoy, actually I love my yoga practice time. It is intuitive, gu...

It’s true.
The trees are one of our greatest friends.
🌳 🌳 🌳 🌱 🌱 🌱 🌸 🌸 🌸

A visionary Chinese-American immunologist, Dr. Qing Li, dedicated his entire career to unlocking a profound biochemical truth hidden within the forest canopy: trees are medicine. Long dismissed by conventional Western medicine as mere scenic backdrops, Dr. Li’s pioneering research proved that trees actively release airborne organic compounds called phytoncides. When inhaled, these invisible chemical messengers enter your bloodstream and spark an immediate internal revolution. They act as biological hunters, systematically tracking down and neutralizing toxic stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline while radically multiplying your body’s “Natural Killer” (NK) immune cells. Dr. Li’s life’s work demonstrated that a simple walk in the woods triggers an automated, cellular defense network—healing the human body from the inside out in ways no synthetic prescription has ever matched.

This groundbreaking science transforms the ancient concept of “forest bathing” from a poetic escape into a clinical necessity. Dr. Li’s data revealed that the immune boost from just a single, immersive weekend in the forest isn’t fleeting; it leaves an elevated blueprint in your blood that shields your nervous system and reinforces your immune defense up to 30 days. In a modern world build for chronic noise, digital saturation, and perpetual survival-mode, his research delivers a dramatic wake-up call to modern medicine. The ultimate antidote to our modern epidemic of anxiety and physiological burnout cannot by synthesized in a laboratory. It is an elemental, evolutionary technology already waiting for us right outside our doors, free for the taking and perfectly engineered to protect our peace.

Check out the comments section for references as well as the full benefits of spending time amongst the trees 🫶

I was with my teacher Jian at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne learning the beautiful Wu Tai Chi form. This is the shorter version - only half as long as the one he taught us 17 years ago.

The forms stays in my breath and joints like a loving protector.

Wu Style Tai Chi 45 forms competition routine 45 forms performed by Gao Jian in 2007.For more...

Our feminine body knows so much more than we do.

The earth, the sky, the channel of energy between the two: our miraculous body.

Simple natural movements arise when you unlearn life’s tension patterns.

Everyone has this in them and I am proud to know I can show the way to Intuitive Flow.

Always learning.
Yet grounded in the wisdom of the body’s inner knowing.

Open, inquisitive, sensing and responding with grace.

Intuitive Flow - On a morning where I did not feel like yoga I felt low energy and small minded on this morning until I turned t...

"The Buddha is known as the one 'Thus Come,' Tathagata. He has no more 'meaning' than a flower, than a tree; no more than the universe; no more than either you or I. And whenever anything is experienced that way, simply in and for and as itself, without reference to any concepts, relevancies, or practical relationships, such a moment of sheer aesthetic arrest throws the viewer back for an instant upon his own existence without meaning; for he too simply IS - 'thus come' - a vehicle of consciousness, like a spark flung out from a fire."
-Joseph Campbell

From Myths to Live By p. 137

Beautiful share about breath practices and yoga. If you are a student of mine this will resonate!

Is breathing practice actually safe? A news story this week put a frightening number on it, and several students asked us about it. It is a fair question, and Iyengar yoga answered it decades ago, in print, and more bluntly than most modern teaching does.

WHAT MR IYENGAR ACTUALLY WROTE

"Do not practise when the mind or body are dull or depressed."
B.K.S. Iyengar, Light on Pranayama

He did not treat pranayama as harmless. He treated it as strong. Something strong enough to change how you feel is worth some care.

THE SIGNS THAT MEAN STOP FOR THE DAY

He listed them, and they are worth knowing by heart.

1. Heaviness or tightness in the lungs.
2. A breath that turns harsh or rough.
3. A tense face.
4. Restlessness or irritability.
5. Feeling faint, or swaying.

If any of those turn up, you stop. You do not push through. Pushing through is the mistake, not the practice.

WHY THE PROPS MATTER HERE

This is where Iyengar yoga does something other methods mostly do not. Lie down. Blankets under the head and chest so the throat is soft and the chest is open. An eye cover. Nothing to hold up, nothing to brace against.

Supported like that, the breath has nowhere to strain. You can feel a rough breath the moment it happens, because there is nothing else competing for your attention.

That is the safety mechanism. Not a warning label. A set-up.

WHERE PEOPLE GET INTO TROUBLE

Almost never in a supported, supine, slow practice with someone watching. The difficulties that get reported come from long silent retreats, from nights without sleep, and from practising alone with nobody to ask.

The gentlest version is also the one that works. That is not a compromise.

Which of those five signs have you noticed in your own practice? Tell us below.

Louise Bourgeois’s quote “To be an artist, you need to exist in a world of silence” is about creating the mental space needed to make art.

She suggests that an artist needs moments of solitude, stillness and freedom from outside noise—other people’s expectations, opinions and distractions—in order to hear their own thoughts and instincts.

It doesn’t necessarily mean literal silence. It means turning inward and trusting your own creative voice.

In essence: great art often begins when the noise of the outside world becomes quiet.

Women in Art /
The Women in Art Prize.

Our waitlist for Cecilia Macaulay’s Togetherness Design webinar is now open.
For those wanting to understand their brains, personal aesthetic and what gets them motivated and delighted ‘The Home That Loves you Back’ is life project you will feel loved by. 🥰 🙌

Sundays, 2hour webinar series.

We know that what matters is where you wake each morning, what surrounds you in your home, if you have a special spot just for you 💕 and where you go to sleep and dream your life’s dreams.

Our home tell us so much about whether we are needing a helping hand, better company, different food life or even a new playlist! 🎶

The art and skill of a happy healthy home is a delight to create because it is your space, and you can make it yours in new ways.

And yes, communication and inspiration with those you share with too!!!

Join us.
Link in comments.