In The Yoga Sutra (sutra = “thread”), the yamas and niyamas are often translated as “external” and “internal observances,” or guidelines for conducting ourselves with others and ourselves. My first teacher suggested that the yamas and niyamas were, “yoga’s version of the Ten Commandments.” The yamas (external observances) are: non-violence truthfulness non-stealing celibacy non-grasping The […]
When the floor falls out from under me, I tend to lose my poise: I become anxious, contracted, and my mind starts to “hamster wheel” about worst case scenarios. I experienced this when my marriage disintegrated from alcoholism, when I agonized over trying to get pregnant (on my ow at 42), and again with the […]
This is the last part of a three part blog, Live Your Yoga: Making A Decision. Check out Part 1 and Part 2 here. Making decisions – especially big life decisions – can be very challenging. We can feel pulled in every direction. Which choice is “right?” The Bhagavad Gita offers us insight into how we can […]
I have struggled with decisions. Especially the big ones. Questions such as: should I be a single mom should I stay in this relationship should I leave my job should I end this friendship Even if we’re not up against a “major” life decision, we face a myriad of choices every day. We all want […]
Yoga was introduced to the West in late 19th century and has been since eagerly adopted by a very receptive audience. Despite the huge popularity of yoga, its medicinal counterpart Ayurveda, was left behind. Yoga and Ayurveda are complementary practices that share a close relationship, so much that they are often described as two sides […]
Two armies are poised for battle. Our hero falls to his knees at the impossibility of the choice: should he uphold his righteous claim to the throne and slay his enemy – who also happen to be his kin? Or shall he be killed and forsake his duty? Frozen by terrible consequences on all sides, he collapses and […]
What coffee has to do with constructivism “Why don’t you make it the way I do?” he asks, as I pour the coffee grounds into the Bialetti coffee maker. I look at the coffee maker in consternation. I pour the grounds directly into the filter in the machine. He does it separately and then puts […]
A Rabbit Noticed My Condition “I was sad one day and went for a walk; I sad in a field. A rabbit noticed my condition and came near. It often does not take more than that to help at times – to just be close to creatures who are so full of knowing, so full […]
I was a theatre actor for many years, and I had terrible stage fright. About a week before the show, the little hamster voices inside my head started to whisper: “You’re going to trip.” “You’re going to mess this dance step up. It’s so hard. You messed it up in rehearsal.” “You’re going to go […]
Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, “Hey, there is an elephant in the village today.” They had no idea what an elephant is. They decided, “Even though we would not be able to see it, let us go and feel it anyway.” All […]
When I first starting practicing yoga, I knew that it would change my life. After my first sweet Savasana, I suddenly realized that if I practiced diligently and consistently, I would become calm, kind to stranger, sweet to horrible children, magnanimous with ex-boyfriends and generous with catty women. As I looked upon the serene and clear […]
A little context About two thousand years ago, a guy named Patanjali compiled a series of pithy aphorisms called the yoga sutras. These cryptic sayings contain clues on how to escape suffering and ultimately reach samadhi (meditation/ bliss). In his compilation, he describes a series of steps called ashtanga yoga, where he offers some helpful […]
Okay, okay, so I’m sure that Patanjali was not actually referring to dating angst when he orated about kaivalya – the ultimate state of aloneness, or detachment, from worldly sensory objects. However, embracing aloneness isn’t just for yogis meditating in caves. It’s also essential for our adventures in relationship. The Insane Mind The merits of […]
Oh, Anticipation… Bass Coast was my first music festival and the possibilities were exhilarating. The venue was spectacular (imagine: campsites nestled in the Squamish mountains at the foot of a sweeping, glacier-fed river), the stages were stunning, lineups were killer, and the festival folk were both open-heartedly friendly and wildly costumed. We danced, we frolicked, […]
I heard this great podcast from the guys at “Stuff you should know.” An accessible and interesting primer on the history of karma from Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant.
Did you know that alchemy is part of the roots of hatha yoga? The desire to transmute the body into a worthy vessel was inspired in part by the alchemical explorations of turning lead into gold. “The siddha is a spiritual alchemist who works on and transmutes impure matter, the human body-mind, into pure gold, […]
This chant is inspired by my intrepid teacher trainees up here in Whistler, who asked me to figure out a chant to the first sutra of the second pada of Patanjali’s yoga sutras. (For those unfamiliar, the Yoga Sutras are a 2,000 year old text with tons of good tidbit on how to make your […]
From the guys at “HowStuffWorks.com”. Love these guys – an interesting take and explanation. Listen to “How Reincarnation Works.”
“Vi” = in a special way “nyasa” = to place “krama” = step by step Change is challenging. When confronted with change, it’s easy to get swept up in anxiety, discomfort, depression, or panic. We distract ourselves, or seethe as we create a million contingency plans. We cling to our “creature comforts” – those small […]
Why is it so hard to let go? Of habits, relationships (healthy or toxic), of expectations, of dreams? Even when we know we’re hurting ourselves by hanging on, what drives the compulsion to keep gripping? What do we do when old behavioral patterns no longer serve our life? First of all, don’t beat yourself up. […]
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