When you are interested in starting yoga it can feel really intimidating. There are so many beautiful pictures and so many classes to choose from that it can feel overwhelming. Well, this is the perfect place for you to start. These five poses are accessible for everyone. You can get started with a short little…
Read MoreYouth is often full of boundless optimism and unbridled idealism. Innocence is trusting and jubilant and full of life. Experience often breaks hearts and shatters dreams, bursting bubbles of positivity with cold hard reality. Age can bring disillusionment and a feeling of learned helplessness can take over. It can feel like the machinery of existence…
Read MoreIt has taken me nearly two years (way too long by many standards) to write this blog. I have needed all this time to come to the staggering conclusion that K. Pattabhi Jois, who was one of my yoga teachers, sexually assaulted women under the guise of adjustments. This realization has shaken me to the…
Read MoreSo much of the contemporary yoga world is tied to ableism. Young students born with natural physical talent or those with years of dance, gymnastic or other training excel to soaring heights and are lauded as champion teachers. Students of yoga give these yogis talk time and elevate them to a high status based on…
Read MoreThere is magic both in the student and the teacher’s journey in yoga. Both are interdependent and not separate from each other. The teacher does not exist on some far removed, distant pedestal in the sky. The student is not some lowly being saved by the grace of the teacher. The deification of the teacher…
Read MoreIt’s been hard for me to find the space to begin writing this month’s #YogiAssignment blog. If I had to put my finger on why I would say that the reason is because I have been relishing the paradigm of being a student. The six weeks that I spent in India felt like a seismic…
Read MoreTo say that the room was packed is a dramatic understatement. There were so many eager yogis gathered from all over the world that yoga mats were stacked nearly on top of each other, the corners of them touching. Some who arrived late placed their mats at any angle of available floor space. Others who…
Read MoreIt is impossible to go through life without making certain estimations about the world. In fact, it would go against the very nature of the human mind to float freely with no regard for the environment. We constantly judge things. These judgements can be harmless, necessary, harmful and sometimes unnecessary. For example, when you’re about…
Read MoreWhen I first started practicing yoga I had not idea that there was so much depth. All I knew was that I wanted to live a more peaceful life and I thought yoga would lead me there. Years later, I can say for certain that yoga is a path of inner peace and if you…
Read MoreThe moral and ethical principles that are the foundation of yoga practice are a 24/7 commitment. It is said that once you start the path, there is no turning back and no room for excuses. Across the United States, this week marks the official beginning of the holiday season with the national holiday known as…
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