9
Apr
2018
Yogi Assignments
Yogi Assignment: Love-in Meditations
A difficult place along the long and winding road of awakening is the realization of how remarkably far you have come and also just how far away you actually are from where you want to go. You may feel frustrated, angry, depressed and just generally overwhelmed. I know I have felt all that over the…
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2
Apr
2018
Yogi Assignments
Yogi Assignment: Yatnah, Effort
The ancient spiritual path is built on the notion of personal discipline. Patañjali defines practice as abhyasa and says that it includes an element of effort, which is called Yatnah in Sanskrit. Practice is not and should not be easy. It leads you to a place of peace, but that great prize of peace is…
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26
Mar
2018
Yogi Assignments
Yogi Assignment: Awakening
Yoga is all about peace and love. Is that really true? Yes and no. Just like the practice itself sometimes feels both amazing and really challenging, I believe yoga is about giving you a deep and imperturbable peace and steeling your will so that you are strong enough to fight the good fight. Think about…
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18
Mar
2018
Yogi Assignments
Yogi Assignment: Satya, Truthfulness
Truth is neither convenient nor personal. It seeks out no harm, shares only light, bears out witness to the end of time. Truth needs no name-calling, blaming or hate attached to it. If you are an angel of truth, your words are kind, honest and just. In everything I have written I have taken great…
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11
Mar
2018
Yogi Assignments
Yogi Assignment: Individuality
It’s rare to meet someone with a true sense of individuality. People who don’t fit the mold are often those who have been rejected by the herd. They walk alone, sometimes wounded, often forgotten, until they find their rhythm and purpose, with or without other people behind them. I believe in many ways every yogi…
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4
Mar
2018
Ashtanga Yoga
Yogi Assignment: Facing Failure
We need look no further than ourselves to recognize that we live in a fallen world. There is not one human being who is perfect, living in absolute Divine harmony. We all stumble and fall. Our mistakes and our failures have the potential to teach us or to destroy us. If devolve into self-denigration you…
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25
Feb
2018
Ashtanga Yoga
Yogi Assignment: Empathy
For the last two weeks I’ve been in the Fiji islands. To say it has been a paradise merely scratches the surface of how magical these islands truly are. The weather is sublimely tropical, the water crystal clear and the nature pristine. We traveled by boat, sea plane, helicopter, car and foot. We swam with…
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15
Feb
2018
Ashtanga Yoga
Yogi Assignment: Flexibility
Every day I get at least a few messages from students at all levels of their practice who want to learn how to be more flexible. It’s frustrating to feel like your body is stuck. Whether you’re a long term practitioner who meets a difficult pose or a beginner who doesn’t understand how the body…
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8
Feb
2018
Ashtanga Yoga
Yogi Assignment: Presence
Have you ever felt caught in the midst of paralyzing fear or panic? I have and it’s not fun. Sometimes the world suddenly starts closing in on me and I lose the ability to breathe, think clearly or even move. I have been trapped on my kitchen floor for minutes (if not hours) in the…
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30
Jan
2018
Ashtanga Yoga
Yogi Assignment: Self-Love
Let’s talk about beauty and self-love. Maybe I’m sensitive about this topic, but why does it always seem like messages to love yourself and see yourself as beautiful come from tall skinny people with the perfect body and the perfect life? It’s like “they” sit on some perch of infinite possibility and “we” sit down…
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