So 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 More“Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking…
Read MoreWe 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…
Read MoreFor 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…
Read MoreEvery 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…
Read MoreHave 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…
Read MoreLet’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…
Read MoreIn Sanskrit, study is called svadyaya and includes the paradigm of spiritual self-inquiry as well as the devotional study of sacred texts. Svadyaya is a crucial part of the spiritual path because it not only denotes an in-depth study of key philosophical foundations but it implies a particular mindset in the heart of the student….
Read MoreI’m sitting in bed enjoying a lazy day. It’s a rare morning for me where I neither travel, practice or teach. But today I’m a lazy yogi and enjoying it! I reached out to you, my community of yogis, for inspiration for this week’s Yogi Assignment and I was absolutely overwhelmed by the response. Not…
Read MoreThere is not a direct line to growth. It’s a curvy, twisted path through the heart. You might not think you can get any stronger, you might think you’re all alone, you might feel like you’re about to collapse but then you find it, the strength that was always there. Faith and hope lift you…
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