13
Aug
2021
Blog
Your Meditative Homework Assignment: A Challenge in Neutrality
Meditative practice starts with the breath. We first recognize the neutrality and awareness of the touch of our breath, the way it feels in the nostrils and on our lips, and when our mind wanders we always bring it right back here. But as your practice evolves, you become aware of sensations. These sensations are…
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1
Aug
2021
Blog
Balancing Pain and Pleasure on the Yoga Mat
There’s this common misconception that yoga is supposed to feel good. And it does. The practice is known to help us heal our injuries, relieve stress, and foster inner peace, but every yogi would be lying if they said yoga feels great all of the time. To be completely honest, yoga practice trains us how…
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30
Jun
2021
Blog
Navigate at the Edge of Your Comfort Zone
Today I am going to ask you to step outside the edges of your comfort zone. This is something yoga asks us to do all the time. Some of us call it “moving into the fire”, and I’m sure you recognize that sore, burning sensation that comes from the stretching and strength-building we do on…
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14
Jun
2021
Blog
Namaste and Cultural Appropriation
Yoga is an ancient practice, passed on from teacher to student over the millennia, and the tradition of yoga is kept alive by the students, people like you and me taking time to get on the mat and practice every day. The culture of yoga is essential to the student’s journey, and everyone who practices…
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14
May
2021
Blog
Navigate Change Like a Yogi
The real work of social awakening goes well beyond the yoga mat. Melanie Klein, a mentor of mine and one of the founders of The Yoga and Body Image Coalition, started out at the intersection between social work, gender studies, and media literacy before ever taking her first Kundalini Yoga class, but that first class…
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29
Apr
2021
Blog
The Micro and Macro Impact of Meditation
The tiny steps we take during meditation practice can have a huge impact on the world around us. I know we can’t change the world overnight, but we can start making the positive changes within ourselves and carry them with us into the world. Working on yourself is working on the world because it changes…
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14
Apr
2021
Blog
Are You Feeling the Benefits of Meditation?
Many of us take up the path of yoga to heal, both physically and emotionally, and each of us should pursue the practice of seated meditation for the same reason. Because the benefits from each meditation will be immediately noticeable. You should feel better, lighter, freer, regardless of whether you were able to keep your…
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29
Mar
2021
Blog
The Tool of Self-Observation
One of the goals of our spiritual journey of yoga is cultivating peace of mind. Only a disciplined mind can seek this eternal truth, but disciplining your subconscious can take years and years of practice. Unfortunately, we can’t just run away to a cave and meditate without distraction. We have to interact with others and…
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15
Mar
2021
Blog
The Seekers of Sati
Through my experience on the yoga mat, I believe that every spiritual student needs to start with the kind of contemplation practices that cultivate stillness of mind. In order to liberate the mind, we need this stillness, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Cultivating mindfulness – or sati – means finding a seat of awareness within…
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27
Feb
2021
Blog
The Five Niyamas
What does yoga represent to you? Why did you take that first step onto the yoga mat? I started practicing yoga because I was looking for a more peaceful life. Now, more than twenty years later, I can confidently say that when I walk off my mat after practice I’m a little bit more peaceful,…
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