Choosing your journey Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind without judgment or criticism. When you enter into the practice, you can bring effort and intention, curiosity and wonder. Once you've made the decision to practice, or to try, it's again your choice, at every moment, how to proceed. There's choice in the type […]
Effective presence Not all of our moments are ones where being fully aware (mindful) is helpful or safe. And many of our moments are made fuller and safer when we show up with all the awareness we can bring. Movement practice is one such place, with the understanding that "all the awareness we can bring" […]
Where do you find steadiness? Moving through a practice --whether of yoga or meditation, sport or dance, writing or drawing, or any kind of skill-- can take you through a range of experiences and feelings. There may be days where the practice will have its own rhythm. Some days that rhythm might draw you in, […]
You decide how to get ready Meditation is a simple, if difficult practice. And yet, because our lives are complex and often messy, we're not always ready to jump right into the simplicity of the meditation practice. This week, I talk about the importance of choosing what you need (and taking time to explore ideas […]
Different kinds of choice Allowing things to be as they are is a kind of choice. It's a choice of attention, of heart, of being. Of course, in order for it to be a choice, you might first need to see past clouds of emotion, to realize what is -- which isn't always possible in […]
Shall we oscillate? To oscillate means to move back and forth in a regular pattern, to sway or swing like a pendulum. To vacillate, by contrast, means to move back and forth in an irregular pattern. Some days I notice that movement and breathing feel regular, steady -- like an oscillation. And other days vacillation […]
What is rhythm? I'm a dancer so I think of rhythm in terms of moving my body in time with music -- so that when the music moves, I move in a way that's related in a way that can be recognized, so long as one knows how to hear the movements in the music […]
Humming is warming Humming, singing, speaking, and listening to the human voice -- all can be soothing to the nervous system. When the sounds communicate a safe relationship, they can help to boost your vagal tone. What is vagal tone? It's basically how easily you can move between being agitated and being calm.) Which means […]
What's with the chanting? If you've been to my class enough times, you've probably heard me chant/sing Sanskrit mantras at the end of class. This is something I came to through my ISHTA studies. The "full" ISHTA meditation concludes with chanting several mantras. I learned them gradually, first listening in during group class, then chanting […]
A-U-M or OM One of the ISHTA meditation practices includes humming or chanting "Aahh" then "Uooo" then "Mmmm". These are the component sounds of "OM," which is also chanted for devotion and meditation, though I rarely use it that way. So I thought I'd give it a try and compare the two. This week, I […]
Moved to Heal gets a new format I'm trying out a shorter, more concise format for the Moved to Heal practice episodes. In the new format, the practices are shorter, and most offer forms grouped by "type": standing, seated, hands and knees (or hands and feet), reclining, prone, and breathing. I've also eliminated the section […]
Healing is work Yoga is often associated with relaxation and general wellness -- with each and every practice. That can be the case for some, and it can also be the case that your experience will vary quite a bit from day to day. Moving through a practice can be work -- not only in […]