Lib with ballet trophies. Photo taken by BILL HENSON. 1974

Discovering yoga through back injury.............
When I was 6 yrs of age I fell in Love with Classical Ballet. I was committed and determined to make it my life path. Sadly, too tall, I was unable to make it to the top, 'THE AUSTRALIAN BALLET COMPANY’...
At 16 years of age I stopped dancing and started a hairdressing apprenticeship in Acland St, St.kilda. By the time I was 20 my back started to hurt.....After being hospitalized for traction, born from acute sciatica, I soon realized the ballet and hairdressing had done my spine a great deal of damage. Eventually I had a double herniation (slipped disc) L4, L5. I was hospitalized again at St Vincent’s, and advised to have surgery on my spine!....
Thankfully a dear and wise friend, who had a background in Yoga and Feldenkreis, encouraged me to consider Yoga as a long-term treatment. .... In 1988 I began the journey of wellness. I had no idea that not only would my spine be repaired, but my entire life would change, I would experience true WELLNESS, HAPPINESS, SUCCESS and CLARITY.

Yoga / Meditation and Depression.................
In 1995 I was diagnosed with post natal depression. What ever the diagnosis ,I was suffering from depression, born from long term sleep deprivation and dispair from my partner leaving...and the sadest of all my mum's alzeimers was advanced. She was forgetting who i was...she had become my child...we lived next door....it was so so sad to watch her mind slip away.... I was mums full time carer for 18 months until it became impossible as she needed real nursing round the clock.Then my daughter and i moved back to my beloved fitzroy...tess's home town.

Clearly I had good reason to feel really really bad. A dark depression fell over me...At first i struggled without medication as i was at that time studying to be a yoga teacher and felt the intesity of the course would be enough to keep my head above water....thankfully it was....until I found myself in an emotionally abusive realtionship when i moved back to fitzroy....my daughter then 3 adored him, so i stayed for two years. Plenty of time for the bad relationship to take me deeper into dispaire than ever before.....
heavily medicated i left...got a full time job and moved to the hills.

We have a choice when we are in that dark and hopeless place...we can sink or swim....

If you are reading this and beleive you cannot function well throughout the day...you may need to consider medication...see 'depression' page There are other reasons you might need to consider medication.... perhaps yr mood is unpleasant, which is symptomatic of depression, and yr family are suffering. This was my case . I chose medication in order to be less reactive when my daughter misbehaved....it was much easier on her when i was medicated.....less hysterical screaming....it cant be good for a small child....


I was medicated for a few years on and off, which was very useful at the time. Although in hindsight it felt like a temporary labotomy....I was disconnected from my trauma , which was probably a good thing as I was able to function well.....

Even though I was a mess my mother needed full time care as did my 2 year old daughter...I simply didnt have time for a breakdown ('break through')

As my brain chemistry balanced with the help of the drugs plus lots and lots of Yoga, meditation, chanting and life style change, I began to feel happier....
I was able to wean myself off the drugs....a very slow and successful process if done cautiously and under the care of a good doctor.

After many hours of research on hormones and diet, plus the love, patience and knowledge of my immediate healing community, (go to 'links ' page for their contact details), I decided that I could achieve what the drugs had done and then some....

I then committed to
MEDITATING EVERY DAY....
PRANAYAMA (de-stress breathing)EVERYDAY....
AFFIRMATION EVERY DAY.....
FRESH ORGANIC FOOD EVERY DAY.....
VITAMIN THERAPY
HERBS

all of these ideas I teach in every Yoga class....

Several years later I am better than ever, but with out the daily commitment to my mental and physical health I am at risk.... ...I remember the horrid feeling of the disease (DEPRESSION) but it is a distant memory, thankfully...I am HEALED...

Each one of us has a sad STORY to tell...We can DROWN in our STORIES or we can fight our way out of them.....
BUT to do so we need to AFFECT CHANGE IN OUR PHYSIOLOGY AND NEGATIVE THOUGHT PATTERNS.

Life is stressful..if we are going to combat stress we must CHOOSE to do so....it doesn't just happen...it takes hard work and committment....its a choice..... SINK OR SWIM....

ARE YOU WORTH IT ?.....I BET YOU ARE !!!!

I chose to swim...and I'm still swimming....
FOR LOADS OF INFO ON MY JOURNEY WITH DEPRESSION AND THE CHANGES IN MY LIFESTYLE THAT HEALED ME.
GO TO NEW DEPRESSION PAGE. click on 'PHOTO GALLERY' then 'DEPRESSION.'

Tree Change..................
Even though in the 90's I was in love with the bustling lifestyle of Fitzroy, my daughter, then 5 needed more space and fresh air . We decided to migrate to the hills. I searched all over Victoria, and fell in love with the Yarra Valley. We first landed in Narbethong, on a PERMACULTURE property, which we were to care take for minimal rent. We lived on the 4 acre property for 2 divine years. I studied permaculture and learned the magic of the land. Living on the edge of the BLACK SPUR in isolation afforded me a very important experience. The forest was my alli, my inspiration....It was then I knuckled down and began to really study YOGA. No longer was I interested in the egoic physical aspect of Iyengar Yoga, which I had studied for 13 years. I was now focused on the mind and heart. I spent the next 2 years formerly studying THE YOGA SUTRAS, and CLASSICAL HATHA MEDITATION with Jani Baker @ MELBOURNE COLLEGE OF CLASSICAL HATH YOGA.

The YOGA SUTRAS changed my life.....I have been single ever since (9 yrs) and am happy to say am intolerant of alcohol and pointless relationships.....the outcome, my energy is directed like an arrow.....my life is uncomplicated by hangovers or flu bugs. I AM EARNING MORE MONEY THAN I EVER BELEIVED POSSIBLE. I owe my happiness and abundance to the ancient philosophy of YOGI PATANJALI, who wrote the YOGA SUTRAS, thousands of years ago.

Narbethong was divine but it was isolating for my daughter. I clearly saw a need for her to integrate with other kids, so we moved to Healesville and she went to the best primary school in the world...CHUM CREEK PRIMARY, where all of our needs were met and then some. We bought a small humble home in the heart of Healesville which had a large shed. I converted the shed into what we now know as our beloved YOGA ROOM....8 years of meditating, breathing and working with intention has made the YOGA ROOM a sacred space, I THINK OF IT AS MY TEMPLE OR CHURCH,with a healing energy that is unmistakably powerful and nurturing ....in fact some students say that even though they may be exhausted, they still come to classes just to be in the room......some very tired mums just come to rest and sleep while we work......
click on 'GALLERY' for pics of the yoga room.

Moving into Crone...........................
Crone is the term we use for older, wiser woman. At 49 years of age I am menopausal and heading into a part of my life that is new and exciting. It saddens me to see some of my peers struggle with the aging process. Did u know that the Japanese actually lie about their age..They wish to be older as age affords them wisdom. Unfortunately our culture does not honor age, although in the healing world of yoga it is quite the opposite.
As I move toward 50 I am excited by the possibilities a head of me. My time of parenting will be over in less than a decade and I will explore our beloved planet once more.
I hope I can be of inspiration to women you are loosing their youthful looks . We can and must embrace menopause, we can learn a new way of moving through our day. Change is the only constant..... we must adapt......