Living in a modern world we need to remember that we are not modern organisms. We are Human BEINGS. We try to fit into the speed, constant input and abrasive afflictions from the outside without realizing how this is shaping us rather than being shaped by an inner guidance. Yoga works magic. When I feel sad, I can find a posture…
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Why We Do YOGA
I was thinking about a question from a student who was struggling with a back injury and doing Yoga. She asked me if I thought whether doing yoga might be making her problem worse. I have had many challenges in the last 15 years with my body; sometimes from doing a pose, but mostly just from life. Teachers have given…
HIP OPENERS; PREPARATION FOR FULL LOTUS
Hips!!! Hips!!!? Basically let me begin by reminding you that yoga begins in your home by simply sitting on the floor. We did this as children. We all sat easily in a cross-legged Indian sitting position, but other positions such as virasana, wide angle pose are common for children; but as adults we have lost this ability. With Hip openers…
YOU ARE MORE THAN THAT
You are not the sum total of your pain or injury. You are not your shoulder; you are not your knee, or just your hip or your neck. Even though when we have pain it does feel as though there is not a spot that is not without hurting. Doing Yoga can be a very therapeutic practice and…
HIP OPENERS: OPENING THE DOOR OF STANDING POSTURES
I have noticed, as I sometimes will catch a yoga class while I’m traveling, that the trend in teaching standing poses is to avoid addressing the tightness that shows up in the hip flexors. Rather then finding what needs to open and stretch and how to get there, it is taught as though the weakness and lack of flexibility determines the…
WHEN YOGA WAS JUST YOGA
I came upon the writings of Theos Bernard while I was living and teaching at Dai Bosatsu Budhist monostery in 1992-93. I always love the older texts of Yoga and Yogis. Recently I came across this bio on Theos again. I was so inspired by what the ancient teachers taught that I have now increased my own practice of headstand…
The Changeling: The physical response to emotional stress
How many people wake up to discover that their body is no longer the body they remembered when they could remember their body? After more than thirty years of practicing and teaching yoga, I have heard countless new students say with sincere surprise, “I used to be so flexible,” or “I always had such good posture, when did this happen?” …
Dear Body, This is Me.
BKS Iyengar writes in his book Light on Life “it is better to do a good pose minimum than a bad pose maximum”. In your yoga class do you ask something of yourself in your asana practice without even knowing where you are in the moment, quickly growing frustrated and impatient before giving yourself a chance to discover just where…
The Self-important Mind
The Kuasitaki Upanisad says: ‘It is the breathing spirit alone, the intelligence-self that seizes hold of this body and makes it rise up. This is the all obtaining in the breathing spirit. What is the breathing spirit, that is the intelligence-self. What is intelligence-self, that is the breathing spirit, for together they live in this body and together they go…
My Body Is a Stranger to Me
“My body is a stranger to me.” This was a comment from a dear friend when we approached looking for a simple yoga pose that she could be comfortable with. Dear Friend has been suffering with many physical problems due to being overweight for years. She told me all that I needed to know with that one spontaneous…