129: Life in Flow with Kate Kendall

This week on the show I speak with author Kate Kendall, author of “Life in Flow” out now with Murdoch books. Kate shares myths about yoga and what it means to be a yogi (I learnt something new and it makes perfect sense!), how moving meditation can support us, what 90 seconds of feeling the feelings can do for us to bring us greater strength and joy and more. I‘ve known Kate since she was 12 and I was 17. We went to the same school and she was in my sister’s year. Many years later it was so great to bump into her at an event and learn she taught yoga local to me. I’d always wanted to love yoga but hadn’t found a way to understand why it was so special. I loved tennis and dance… fast, adrenalin fueled sports and yoga was a mystery, even though it looked appealing - all those calm, cool people looking strong and elegant and peaceful… So I went along to a class of Kate’s at Flow Athletic and I was hooked. If you’re in Sydney or visiting, treat yourself to a class with Kate and for today, we get to dive into the unlikely yogi journey she had to become one of the best-respected Yoga teachers in Australia and how everything she’s learnt has been generously transposed now into her beautiful new book “Life In Flow”.

How did you get into yoga?

What’s a yogi? Cause right now instagram says it’s ultra-thin, completely stress-free, green smoothie worshipping award-winning photographers… Might make the average person feel like ‘they can’t be a yogi’, right?

What are some of the myths you hear about yoga?  

In the simplest of terms, how do you define yoga? (You’ll be surprised about the answer!)

Was there a turning point that led you to find ‘flow’?

What made you want to write a book?

What are some of the yogic philosophies you explore in the book that we can all use in our every day?

How did you decide what the chapters of “Life in Flow” were going to be?

What are the ‘moving meditations’ that you’ve incorporated into every chapter

Let’s talk about what’s on the other side of uncomfortable feelings/sensations?

What’s the relationship between discipline and joy?

What are your all-time favourite poses?

Of all the inspiring authors you’ve soaked up, which you often share in class what you’re reading at the moment, and what nuggets of wisdom are in the text… Do you have a favourite?