Yoga Harmony with Jacqui, Melbourne (2026)

13/10/2026

Catching the full JOY of the moment

There has been a lot of love in our family in recent times.
We are a loving family anyhow, but we have been actively celebrating a particular kind of love.

Our son and his delightful fiancé recently got engaged. There have been various preparations for the celebration (including a traditional pastry-making day), and over the past weekend, the engagement party was held.

A delightful affair! The coming together of two families… the welcoming of the young couple into each respective family… the sharing of food (sooooo much food which had been so lovingly prepared!), the celebration of love… the meeting of the extended families… dancing… and on it went.

I cried a lot that day. And I laughed a lot too. I cried the best kind of tears… tears of joy… tears of love… tears of such purity that they cracked my heart open wide.

My daughter-in-law to be is of Albanian descent and we enjoyed beautiful, traditional circle-dancing. At one point I was laughing, then crying, then moving with the joy of the people celebrating the young couple.

I was struck to the core of my being with the love which was present - the recognition that this was one of life’s most special moments, and I was experiencing it in real-time. I was aware I was experiencing one of the purest forms of love and joy possible.

It was truly delightful. I remain filled to the brim with love and joy. It is hard to return to work and sit in front of a computer. I would like to remain a walking ‘love-bubble’ 😂… but I suppose that’s the trick, isn’t it?! To experience love and joy and moments of complete integration, and to then take that with us into life and all that we do.

Everyone wants to know which yoga pose will fix this and help that… but often the practice is preparatory… for life! To keep us open, connected, aligned to truth and able to really savour the sweetness of the moments of life.

With love (so much love!),
Jacqui x

01/10/2026

Unfurling | Human growth | Possibility & Potential

Recently I visited the Sherbrook forest.
I had been feeling unsettled and irritated, and I longed to be in nature.
It was worth the drive, and I’m pleased I took time and made the effort.

There’s something so instantly settling about being in an old-growth forest, surrounded by tall, strong, steady trees who have been anchored for a long, long time.

We walked and looked and breathed and enjoyed and did all the regular things you do when walking through a beautiful forest. But I noticed my eyes kept being drawn to everything which was unfurling. I was instantly obsessed.

Every little – and big! – unfurling frond caught my eye, and I couldn’t help but marvel at each and every symbolic beauty.

Potential

Possibility

Capacity… for growth

The symbolism stuck a deep cord within me. And even now, one week later, I keep thinking of the beauty of the unfurling fronds, and wonder how my own life will continue to unfurl from here… one new layer at a time.

They symbolism has anchored in my heart, and continues to frequently rise up within me, even though I’m not consciously bringing the thought to mind. I’m grateful, because for the first time in quite a while, there’s a hopefulness brewing again.

The thing I’m struck by is the fronds don’t have to think to grow and unfurl. They just do. It’s in their innate nature. And there’s something deeply reassuring about that. The possibility of unfoldment without strain or efforting. Just growing… and gentle unfurling.

I hope these reflections find you well.
With love,
Jacqui x

27/07/2026

Quietness and space show the truth.

One of the things I’ve always loved about yoga is you are seemingly working on your body by practicing postures (it looks physical) but other layers are also being worked upon.

Once a yogic shape is approximated, you are left with your breath, witnessing your thoughts, and most importantly…with your awareness.

Awareness shows truth.

There’s a reason most people keep so busy: working, doing, exercising, talking, always seeking activity of some sort or another… because in stillness and quietude, the truth of things becomes known. And it’s not always comfortable.

It might be feeling a loneliness, or a dissatisfaction of some sort. It can be uncomfortable. Noticing deeply, our awareness is designed as a messaging system to align us to live and be the best version of ourselves. However we don’t always notice, or if we do, we don’t always listen. Sometimes in the uncomfortability of things, we rush to cover things up.

More activity, more doing, more distraction, more noise… whatever it may be, to cover over any feelings of dissatisfaction.

But there’s something useful in being with our truth. There’s something valuable in listening inwardly. For what if the uncomfortable messages or feelings of dissatisfaction are a prompt, moving us forward to seeking out a better way of living, of existing, of connecting, and of being present.

So, the next time you are practicing yoga (or indeed, if you find yourself in a pondering, reflective state), take note of what lies beyond the bodily sensations, beyond the thoughts, beyond the chatter of the mind… and start noticing what is the feeling in my body / my being in this moment.

We don’t always like what we find. We don’t always like what we feel. But perhaps it’s a gentle nudge to move us in the next right direction in life… so that life can feel more aligned, more real, more truthful, more connected.

May the quietness show your truth,
Love Jacqui x

21/07/2026

Yoga postures, breathing, inner awareness and intuitive movement are the VERY THINGS keeping me ALIVE and THRIVING right now.

It’s just over 6 months post double-mastectomy. My scars are healing, my frozen shoulder is thawing, and my lymphatic fluid is finally starting to drain in all the right ways. My chest can open a little more, I have better use of my right arm, and somewhere in the past month I have finally come to feel fully ‘grounded’ and back in my body in a way that I didn’t in the months preceding.

It’s been a long and challenging journey. And all the while I’ve had to navigate work and other things, which felt so irrelevant to the world of surviving, let alone thriving.

There has of course been progress all the way along, but it’s so lovely when you recognise those breakthrough moments of “aha, the next stage is here”.

I’m rejoicing! The other day I did my first half-shoulderstand since surgery (the frozen shoulder had prevented this until recently). Whilst doing my morning practice, I felt strong and open in my body… and I felt to test it out. I was hopeful, and it was such a lovely surprise - and somewhat of a shock - to realise my body can do this once again.

The journey of (re)discovery is a wonderful thing!

So my dear friends… I do hope you are making even a little time for yoga, breathwork and introspection in your lives at this point. The additional ALIVENESS these practices brings are significant. And which of us doesn’t want more aliveness and thriving right about now?!

Happy Yoga’ing!
With love and heartfelt connection,
Jacqui x

(a photo from Dog Rocks, Mt Alexander, taken many moons ago).

mastectomy

21/06/2026

Returning to Teaching Yoga

I recently taught my first yoga class since my double mastectomy 6-months ago.

My chest still doesn’t expand fully, and my frozen-shoulder won’t allow my arm to fully lift, but nonetheless, my energy and life-force are getting stronger, and after more than two decades of teaching yoga, I’m well and truly aware that one doesn’t need to be able to move in all directions to teach a class (or indeed participate in one!).

The act of teaching always feels like a gift to share. What an honour it is to be able to guide others on an exploratory journey of body, mind, breath, awareness and soul. My spirits are soaring!

I truly feel like the luckiest person alive when I get the opportunity to teach yoga. There’s something about coming together with like-minded people who are also interested to open and expand, feel better, develop conscious connectedness and explore inner alignment and personal growth.

I suspect my healing will start to gather a more significant momentum to it now, for when we are at our happiest, everything seems to fall into place.

I know many of your reading this are further afield, but if you happen to live near Moorabbin, Melbourne, you’ll find me at Southern Yoga & Health each Saturday morning at 9am for the next month or two while I caretake this class.

Wherever you are in the world, I hope there's some yoga and connectedness in it for you.

With love,
Jacqui x

17/06/2026

Universal ‘Downloads’

It’s hard to believe weeks have passed since I last wrote. There are so many times wise, useful sentiments enter my mind, and each time I think to myself “that’s profound… I’ll remember that and write it down later”. And of course, ‘later’ either never comes, or if it does, I’ve well and truly forgotten what I wanted to remember.

The simple profoundness of what is being lost hit me today. From time to time I receive what feels like a neatly packaged ‘download’ of Universal wisdom. And because I’m not stopping to record or capture this in some way, the wisdom passes by.

I felt the loss of this as the reality sunk in… and I decided to try and honor this process more in life. I’ve made a commitment to myself that whenever I receive what feels like a wise sentiment or ‘download’ from the Universe, I’m going to stop what I’m doing and record or fully ‘receive’ it. Obviously there will be times at work or elsewhere where this is not possible, but I recognise often this will be possible.

I can’t help but wonder if this happens for you too? If you too receive important awarenesses or moments of profound clarity and think you’ll come back to ponder on this later… only to release that later never comes.

So, here’s to tuning in more closely. Here’s to listening to the Universal wisdoms that are all around us each and every day… if only we pause long enough to register and ‘hear’.

With love,
Jacqui x

P.S. Photo of a recent visit to our friends farm. I’m told she was ‘kissing’ me, but I’ll confess to being a teensy bit concerned she was going to bite my head 😂😂

01/06/2026

Wise words to keep life in perspective…

18/05/2026

A message of hello… and to share yoga soothes my soul.

Hello dear yoga friends,
It’s very beautiful. Every time I go ‘quiet’ on here for a while, I start getting lovely messages from some of you, checking in on how I’m going. At times I’m conscious that my ‘yoga platform’ isn’t necessarily the place for me to continue publicly with my healing journey for ever and a day, but it seems many of you are interested, and it’s always a joy to connect with you, and so I share.

I’m going well.
I’m a little too busy with 4-day per week office work, and thankfully work have agreed I can reduce to 3-days per week for 6 months. I’m so grateful for this, as it’s entirely unsustainable to return to good health when there’s not enough time for rest and healing.

I stepped away from a lot of the healing modalities I’d been exploring, enjoying, and receiving support from. I needed to find who I way on the ‘other side’ of the surgery… to see what was left behind without the external support mechanisms.

As a result, I’ve been doing more yoga than before… and partly this is due to my frozen shoulder beginning to ‘thaw’ (oh how wonderful it is to start to get even just a little bit of shoulder movement back!).

The yoga feels like a gift from the Gods! It opens my body so beautifully. It makes my skin tingle in all the right ways. And it centres me on the inside (& goodness knows I need some centering 🤣).
It also provides every opportunity to feel into my body deeply and explore what’s going on, both with my frozen shoulder, and more generally. It allows me to take charge of how much movement I’ll explore with the ‘freeze’… what’s ok and what’s not. A total blessing. I’m so thankful I have yoga in my life!

For the visuals… here I am in the St Kilda Botanical Gardens last night. We live right across the road, and after work I went for a walk with one of my daughters. It has been raining, and everything was glistening and fresh. I stopped to look up at the purple bell-flowers – so beautiful inside – and Samara thought I was cute and snapped a photo of me.

May you know (& make time for) yoga,
May you know the joy of tingling, alive skin.
May you too experience the joy of flowers glistening with rain-drops.

With love my friends,
Jacqui x

03/05/2026

The Exposed and Open Heart…

I didn’t know this before, but it turns out breasts can be a buffer… a protector of sorts.

My heart now feels very close to the world. Sometimes this is marvellous as I can have such incredibly close emotional connections with others. Other times, my heart is right there - as if on the edge of a precipice - exposed and open and at the face of rawness. It’s quite some adjustment to make.

It also catches me off guard in relation to how quickly the ‘emotional weather’ can change.

The photo below - taken a week or so ago by my daughter - shows me after I’d been laughing with her whilst practicing yoga, and telling her that it was the happiest I have felt in years.

Moments later I was sobbing, declaring exhaustion, and saying everything felt too much.

It’s a strange time to navigate…
the time after facing potentially life threatening illness.
It’s strange to loose two big buffers which unknowingly protected my heart for so long.
It’s strange getting to know this new me who is a little more unpredictable than before.

Yoga helps.
Yoga helps enormously!

I seem to weep a lot as I practice these days. Quiet tears which leak out as I open this part and that. An exploratory discovery on what have I been left with… and who am I now.

And so it goes…
Day by day…
Week by week…
This new exploration of who I am in the world with my very open heart.

27/04/2026

The Yoga of Making GREAT Decisions for Ourselves.

Yoga means to Union.
To practice all the forms of yoga (asana/postures, breathwork, meditation, rhythmic & moral/ethical living, contemplation, philosophy etc) moves us towards greater integration, in order that we live happier, healthier, more balanced lives.

In putting our yoga (union) into practice, we get many opportunities – each and every day – to make GREAT choices for ourselves. But sometimes things get in the way… old habits… pressure from others… perhaps internal pressure from one part of ourselves…and the mental chatter that can go along with it.

One practical thing I’ve been doing recently – particularly when I’ve got several things vying for my attention at once – is to ask myself, “What… in this very moment… do I need (to do) next?”

I also ask myself… “What do I most feel like doing now?”

It might be as simple as “should I sit on bench seat at the beach to eat my lunch, or the stone wall to let my legs dangle down, or on the sand to feel it between my toes?”
Then I wait for the feeling.

Sometimes it announces itself quickly... “this thing”. Or, sometimes no real answer comes, and I realise I’m not sure. Often there’s a pressure to decide quickly – particularly if I’m with another person and the deliberation becomes annoying (for them).

Today I had a moment like this, and here’s how it went…

[Internal conversation… do we all have these to this extent?! 😂😂]

“Will I sit on the bench seat and eat my lunch in the sun overlooking the ocean? Hmm, it’s a little far from the water and I’ll have a parade of people walking in front of me on the path disturbing the view. Perhaps I’ll go nearer and sit on the stone wall and let my legs dangle down. Hmm, that looks awkward and doesn’t quite grab me. Maybe I’ll walk down the ramp to the beach and sit on the low wall where I can put my feet in the sand. Looks precarious, and I’ll also have people walking past in close proximity as they walk onto the beach. Perhaps I’ll sit in the sand… but, then my feet will get sandy… can I be bothered washing them when I get home?”

At this point I’m feeling pressured within myself… “Quick Jacqui… make a decision”.

And this for me is where my true practice begins… I take a moment (and remind myself I don’t have to rush. After all, I don’t want to get it wrong and end up with an experience that doesn’t quite satisfy). I ask myself.. “What do I truly feel to do right now?”

The answer comes quickly (it arrives as a feeling for more, but somehow there’s words associated with the feeling). “Sit on the sand” (& I can feel that the reason I need this is for grounding and earthing). And then my mind jumps in…. “but you’ll get sandy feet”. At this point I just laugh, sit down on the sand, and remind ‘myself’ I can wash my feet later.

Today, I ate my lunch, soaked up the views and the sun, felt thoroughly wonderful, and had an amazing flow-on of an afternoon. I suspect if I rushed my decision and didn’t tune in to what felt right, I would have regretted my choice (it wouldn’t have satisfied), and my afternoon would have taken a very different course.

This is a simple example of the practice, but imagine if each and every day we practice tuning in to “What do I need right now?” and then fulfilling this wherever possible. (This can be practiced in a work context also).

Our days would have a totally different flavour, and we’d start to live more attuned and fulfilling lives.

Then, when the BIG STUFF comes our way (which it invariably will from time to time), we’ll already be practiced at attuning and deciding out from resonance what the next step will be. From here, we’ll be able to make big (potentially life-altering) decisions with greater clarity and assuredness.

So ask yourself…“What do I need in this moment?”

With love,
Jacqui x

Yoga Harmony with Jacqui

13/10/2026

01/10/2026

27/07/2026

21/07/2026

21/06/2026

17/06/2026

01/06/2026

18/05/2026

03/05/2026

27/04/2026

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