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I took my first yoga class about 23 years ago and it didn’t take long before I was hooked. For the better part of these years my focus was on getting more flexible. In some places I succeeded, but unfortunately it only brought me instability, pain, and injury. My problem was that I was weak.   For several years now I have been working on getting stronger and more integrated. Not only does it feel good to be strong, but I move better and don’t have pain. In terms of yoga, this strengthening has made me loose the ability to do some of the super flexi things I used to do easily. Does it really matter? Do those things make my life better? Do they help me move better in all the ways I want to and need to everyday? The answer is NO. And I didn’t “own” those poses in the first place.   A common theme in my classes is that, […]

What a stressful year this has been! When life gets challenging I try to look to the teachings of yoga for wisdom. Lately, I have been reflecting on Shiva Nataraja, The Cosmic Dancer.  This icon is a symbol of our yoga practice and has a lot to offer us in terms of how to engage in the world. Nataraja represents Shiva dancing the universe into existence. And the Nataraja represents you, dancing your life into existence. Within the dance, the cosmic dancer performs five acts, called Pancha Kritya.  The first three of these acts are creation, maintenance, and dissolution. Let’s start with the easy one first. I often say that your day-to-day yoga mostly consists of maintenance – going to work, cooking, eating, chores, relationship, all the things that sustain the status quo in your life. We call this being a householder.   And at the same time, there is always creation. Beautiful things are being born, […]

What are you working on, or towards in your life? What are your goals and dreams? In our society, to achieve what you want in life it often means you move and strive in one direction. Unfortunately, if you approach your yoga this way you end up getting stuck, or even worse, injured. If you come to my class you’ll often hear me say, “yoga is two directions.”   My definition of yoga is; “the harmonious integration of two opposite actions or energies.” In the physical practice, this means to first connect to what is steady and stable. Once you are established in your own center and connected to the earth via the foundation of the pose, you move toward your edge of the shape. Then the pose becomes your pose, a pose you own, not a shape you saw on social media or what the person on the mat next to you is doing.   Practicing […]

A question often asked by yoga students and non-yogis alike is, “What makes yoga different than other forms of movement and exercise?”   In its original context, yoga is a practice of spiritual development. Intrinsic to the practices and techniques of yoga are an element of self-inquiry. This inquiry brings discovery and realization. At their very core, these practices hold an intention of becoming your best self; more aware, more discerning, and less prone to dis-ease, just to name a few.   The ‘apex pose’ of your yoga is how you posture yourself in life. My most influential teachers have encouraged me to measure my progress on the path by asking myself these questions. Am I a nicer person? Am I better in my relationships? Am I more connected to the world around me? In other words, progress is not about the poses you can do on the sticky mat, it’s about […]