Catherine Potter – Radiant Sun Yoga
I am called to share the holistic physical, mental, emotional, philosophical and spiritual wonders and benefits of yoga with others.
I first started yoga 48 years ago and have been teaching since 2007. I am a registered full member with International Yoga Teachers Australia – IYTA.
My yoga draws on many influences and incorporates conscious breath, energy, inner focus, fluidity, flexibility, balance, strength, softness, active postures, flowing movement, restorative and yin practices, guided relaxations, silent meditations, chakras, chanting, nature and earthing, silence, stillness, spirit, wholeness, oneness, connection and wellbeing.
New Yoga Classes in Nambucca and Macksville
I have recently moved to Nambucca Heads on the NSW Mid North Coast, and am excited to be offering new yoga classes in Nambucca and Macksville from November 2024.
Please see my Yoga Classes Nambucca page here for timetable and details.
From 2011 – 2019 I owned and ran the Broulee Yoga Shed on the NSW south coast where I taught regular classes and nature-based yoga earth retreats.
I gained my initial qualification as a Hatha Yoga instructor in 2007 then completed Advanced Vinyasa Flow Yoga training in 2009. I have also undertaken studies in Restorative and Yin Yoga.
My first yoga teacher, in 1976 when I was only 16, was the indomitable Roma Blair, mother of Australian yoga. My big sister took me to her classes, for which I am forever grateful.
I have explored many yoga styles with many different teachers over the decades since then.
Radiant Sun Yoga is an eclectic mix of styles and practices that have influenced me over the years including:
- Hatha Yoga
- Vinyasa Yoga
- Iyengar Yoga
- Yoga of Heart – Mark Whitwell
- Yoga to Health – Louise Wiggins
- Yin Yoga – Paul Grilley
- Kundalini Yoga
- Pilates
- Tai Chi
- Qi Gong
Hatha Yoga
The yoga that I teach is Hatha Yoga. Hatha is the generic name for all types or brands of yoga that incorporate physical poses or asana, breath control or pranayama, and conscious relaxation. Ha-tha is a Sanskrit term that refers to the merging of masculine and feminine dualities, like yang and yin, symbolised as the sun and moon.
Thus Hatha Yoga represents a dynamic balance of these opposite dualities – masculine and feminine, sun and moon, inhale and exhale, yin and yang , fire and water, strong and yielding, light and dark, hot and cold, soft and hard, active and passive, doing and being. Yoga is our direct participation in the union of these opposites, where one empowers the other in limitless reciprocal exchange. Mark Whitwell
The Sanskrit term “yoga” means to connect, to unite, to join. We connect body, mind, breath and spirit through the practice of yoga. We connect our individual self with the universal self through yoga. We connect nature and consciousness, body and soul, through movement and breath.
Yoga teaches us that we are not separate, cannot be separate, from nature, which sustains us in a vast interdependence with everything. This union is our natural state, this union is yoga.
Breath in English is also known as inspiration. To breathe is to inspire, “to be in spirit”. Thus connection to breath makes our yoga inspired, divine, spiritual. When we do conscious breathing in our yoga practice we activate, move and increase prana – the universal life force energy. Breath is the entry point into our energetic being, our subtle body, our chakra energy system, our own spirits, creation spirit connection, our inner wisdom and our connection to a higher consciousness.
Breath guides our physical movement. The breath movement is the body movement.
Yoga is not about striving to achieve or to get somewhere. It is about remembering that we are already somewhere. It is about remembering our direct relationship with and participation in nurturing creative source and the wonder of life as it is given. Right here, right now. Mark Whitwell
Inhale. Exhale.
Salute the Sun
The radiant sun shines joy and spirit into our yoga practice. The sun is energy, heat, fire, strength, the source of life and light. It is a symbol of hope, wonder, brilliance, power, health, life.
The sun has long been revered in the yoga tradition as sacred, the physical and spiritual heart of the world. Ancient yogic texts recognised the sun – surya – as the soul of all beings, the creative life force of the universe. Yogis believe that the sun radiates inside as well as outside the body. The sun is the outer symbol of the spiritual light within our inner self, our true essence.
In yoga we practise an ancient flow sequence known as surya namaskar – salutations to the sun. Surya namaskar means to bow to, to honour the sun. Sun salutation is a complete practice for the body, mind and soul. It is a graceful dynamic sequence of poses.
Surya namaskar is an energising way to start your day, and to give reverence to and draw life-giving energy from the sun. Each salute to the sun begins and ends with the hands joined in prayer at the heart in the spirit of devotion and with inner heart awareness. Regular practice of surya namaskar brings increased strength and flexibility to the body, focus and harmony to the mind, and deep connection to the soul of the universe and our inner selves.
With each forward bending posture I surrender.
With each back bending posture I open my heart.
With every balancing pose I am part of divine oneness.
With every salute to the sun I honour the light of the universe.
With every prayer mudra I return to the space in my heart.
YOGINI by my friend Brian Holmes 
poised within the light
the ballet of yoga transpires
as existence itself
fluidly the arms stretch to the sky
channelling
charging
amalgamating the energy of the being with the elemental whole 
her breath becomes the movement of the tide
the ebb and flow
within
without
awareness optimal
simply being
limbs caress the wind
like wings of an eagle
choreographed to the symphony of the sea
spirit expanding into the moment
past and future in flux into one pure truth
melding with the reflections from spun glass waves
running with the mountains
growing with the forests
seeding the soil
one simplicity within multiple realities
both lost and found between the sands of time
in all directions
her body sculpts serenity from the passions within
from the radiant sun
into the clear crystal morning air
Radiant Sun Yoga Gallery
