Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we have officially started summer. Days are at their longest and warmest, and, as the song suggests, living is easy (or at least feels that way.) How should we adapt our yoga practice to stay in synchronicity with the season? Whether this means changing up our Ayurvedic practices, bringing ourselvesContinue reading “Welcome, Summer Solstice!”
Category Archives: Reflections
Fail Better, Yoga Style
[Failure] illuminates the limits of the body and mind, not so we can overcome them through sheer force, but so we can love them more. How else can we become whole (healed) without completely embracing our mistakes and our failures? This quote is from Jivana Heyman, founder of Accessible Yoga and author of two booksContinue reading “Fail Better, Yoga Style”
Kapha Season, Part Two
I’m going to start today’s post with an admission: I have a love/hate relationship with ayurveda, the study of the world regarded as yoga’s ‘sister science’. I’ve put the phrase in quotes because the Western definition of the scientific method doesn’t match my understanding of ayurveda. For the past four hundred years, we’ve defined scienceContinue reading “Kapha Season, Part Two”
Some Thoughts on OM
The three major religions of the Western world all testify to the power of the spoken word. Judaism claims “And God said, ‘Let there be light.”(Genesis 1:3), while Christianity states “In the beginning, there was the word.”(John 1:1) and Islam declaims “Fear God and speak a word that is right.” (Quran 33:70). In Eastern spiritualContinue reading “Some Thoughts on OM”
Back to Vata Season!
Summer is gone. Granted, Los Angeles is still seeing heat spells, but in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures are actually dropping. Even in southern climes, however, the sun rises a bit later and sets a bit earlier every day. Depending on where you are as you read this, the movement from summer toContinue reading “Back to Vata Season!”
In Defense of Sound Bathing
It sounds so wavy-gravy, doesn’t it? The act of lying on one’s back in Savasana, listening to singing bowls, bells, or gongs is definitely not mainstream. A friend refers to the practice as “listening to the air conditioner”. Whatever. While the “music” is definitely an acquired taste, sound bathing is sound complementary medicine. I perusedContinue reading “In Defense of Sound Bathing”
Using Yoga to Work With Grief
One of my best friends died last Sunday. I’ve spent this week in a daze, alternating between confusion, anger, and sorrow. I wish I could do something to spare everyone – immediate family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances – the pain they are feeling. I wish I could understand why bad things happen to good people andContinue reading “Using Yoga to Work With Grief”
Caring For Your Yoga Mat
The pandemic has caused you to move your practice to your home, and so you’ve made the investment – you purchased your own yoga mat. If you’ve bought a popular brand such as Manduka, you’ve spent sixty or more dollars on the purchase. You and this mat will be spending a great deal of timeContinue reading “Caring For Your Yoga Mat”
Thoughts on Hanumasana and Life
Advanced poses aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, and they aren’t required — the measure of a good yoga practice isn’t what you do on the mat so much as what your practice helps you to do during the rest of your life. With that said, however, I think all of us are fascinated by theContinue reading “Thoughts on Hanumasana and Life”
The Bhagavad Gita
Thoreau and Emerson loved this poem. So did T.S. Eliot, a century later. And, now that I’ve read it, so do I. I first encountered it in my yoga teacher training, where study of the Bhagavad Gita was included in the curriculum alongside discussions of anatomy. Yoga Journal magazine goes so far as to call itContinue reading “The Bhagavad Gita”
Yoga Cielo Stellato 