Writer and Teacher Tara Lee on Dreams and Self Judgement

Yoga Stylista

About Tara
A freelance food writer and teacher in the English Department at UBC, Tara Lee lives the dream existence (although she sometimes still has to remind herself of that). She gets to be passionate about almost everything she does. Tara posts food, book, and random musings at Literary Culinary Rambles.




Roles Sessional instructor, Freelance journalist, Writer, Blogger
Yoga Styles Hatha, Bikram’s
Personal Style I try to take risks and resist the urge to blend in with everyone else.
Mantra Let go of your perfectionism and be grateful for all that you have.

When and why did you start practicing yoga?
I started at the Dunbar Community Centre with the sweetest woman who introduced me to hatha yoga. My friend had been going for a couple of years and I went one day. It was the first time that I actually enjoyed pushing my body past its limits.

Take-Away Tips
How has yoga been useful to you?
It’s helped me to focus and most especially to judge myself based on my own personal performance, not anyone else’s.

Yoga Teachers
What teachers inspire you?
My instructor at the community centre inspired me with her serenity. I tend to bustle around, tripping as I go, so I’m always steadied by those with calming composure.

Learnings
What challenging, or simply un-fun, life experience became an opportunity for you to learn?
Occasionally, life hasn’t gone exactly as I initially dreamed it would. I have learned that dreams aren’t abandoned so much as they’re remade every time life shifts.

Inspiration
What inspires you?
My grandmother and her ability to overcome all the adversity in her life. She ran a business and raised a family of five in Cape Town without allowing herself a single day’s rest. Even now, she refuses to slow down, only reluctantly adjusting to the physical changes that time brings.

Stress Buster
How do you combat stress?
Although sometimes I deny it, being alone is the only way for me to recharge properly. Immersed in a good book and a night without any interruption is my definition of true happiness.

Tara’s Top 3 Inspirational Media
1 Roy Kiyooka’s Transcanada Letters
Read Tara’s thoughts on it here.
2 Anne Michael’s Fugitive Pieces
3 Joni Mitchell’s Blue

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Related links
Janet Reid, Literary Agent
Book Inq., The blog of a former newspaper book-reviewer
Life in the Deep South of France