Today, one of my students seemed surprised to learn that I, like she, am working through knee and back pain. Yes, even yoga teachers walk around with aches and pains. We are pretty darn human 😉 Why is it that being human causes us physical pain? Why are we sooo susceptible to habits that hurt […]
I remember the very first time I performed in a dance concert. I was about 14. I was a newbie among performing veterans. I was wearing a tutu in the my most dreaded and abhorred shade of pink. I was about to go out and twinkle my toes on stage in front of the whole […]
We're hearing a good deal about meditation these days as science begins to confirm its benefits as measurable. I love metrics, but that's not why I look forward to my daily meditation practice. Contrary to my early assumptions about what one does during meditation -try with great effort not to think- the practice is one […]
Sometimes when I'm teaching meditation, I listen to the words coming out of my mouth and think, "who is this woman speaking these woo-woo words?!" Certainly not me. Practical, skeptical, independent, critical, aetheist. Those are words that describe me (thankfully, there are other, friendlier words in my bio, too). Not "new-agey" or "touchy-feely" or "surrendering" […]
I'm a little obsessive in nature. If something captures my interest (and it doesn't hurt if it's something that can be followed via a course of study), I will pour nearly all of my energy and attention into it. I've never had hobbies, just life-consuming obsessions that I try to parlay into full-time studentry and/or […]
When I first started studying yoga at ISHTA, the pictures in the studio of teachers doing "fancy" poses just looked like pretty pictures to me. How these could actually be representations of real people doing postures a human body could ever be capable of, didn't even cross my mind. Kinda like when most of us […]
Last month I was reminded of the importance of and the inherent trouble with "believing." A friend and I were chatting and it came up that he subscribes (somewhat) to the validity of astrology, a system I view as essentially made up and coincidental. I, on the other hand, take similar guidance in how we relate […]
I never imagined identifying beauty would be on the bill of an Ayurvedaworkshop I attended recently, but ever so casually, the endearing Vasant Lad, yogi and Ayurvedic teacher extraordinnaire, slipped it in there. Very simply, the moment of awareness of beauty is an experience "of yoga, of stilling clarity beyond the individual self." This makes perfect sense […]
I love stories. I love well-crafted stories. I love well-told stories. But really, who doesn't? The story is a basic, ubiquitous form for organizing information for communication. It helps us comprehend, process, and learn. Stories are a fundamental part of our collective (social) existence. My yoga story is deeply rooted in the physical body (it may […]
Core. Center. Kanda. Dantien. Pelvic Bowl. When we move, we are best served by moving from our power source. It has many names, but its location seems to be widely agreed upon, with so many systems landing in the same place through years of observation and exploration of the human body in motion. Our power center (as […]
I love new journeys --the rush of deciding, the fun of anticipatory planning, and ultimately the scary/exciting sense of free-falling: being all at once aware of where I am and unsure of the destination, giving myself over to a teacher or to the experience (or both, hopefully) that all come with doing or learning something […]
The body is a phenomenal mechanism in that most of us undergo daily harm (physical, mental, + environmental stresses etc) and it manages to keep going, just as often as not without noticeable indication that it’s suffering any kind of discomfort, allowing us to get on with living rather than feeling everything. On the other […]