When I was younger, I began practicing yoga for the physicality of it. I liked putting myself into shapes that either stretched or strengthened me. It was demanding but doable, and I found it engaging and fun. As my studies continued, I learned that the observation and control of the breath and the mind were […]
We recently had visitors from Hawaii, a mom and her almost eleven year old daughter. There are two other kids in their family, but this was their special trip. The daughter wanted to visit “winter” so they came to Alaska. She had never seen snow before and it did not disappoint. She loved it! This […]
Classically, Pranayama was used to develop the body and mind for the higher limbs of yoga (the subtle practices of sense withdrawal, one pointed concentration and meditation). However, breathing is one of the few bodily functions that are both conscious and unconscious. The way we breathe affects bodily functions such as blood pressure, heart rate, […]
Don’t get me wrong, I love winter. Long, snowing winters are one of the reasons I stayed in Alaska. It’s the “not quite” place between the end of fall, but not yet winter, where I struggle. It’s a familiar discomfort. It just comes earlier in Alaska than it did in New England. This year, rather than pushing back […]
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali lists five obstacles or afflictions (kleshas) that keep us from attaining the state of yoga. They are lack of knowledge or awareness, egoism (too much or too little ego), attachment to pleasure, aversion to pain, and fear of death. He goes on to explain that our lack of knowledge is […]
I’ve been thinking about what yoga is (and isn’t) a lot over the past few months. Okay, it’s probably been more like years, but the point is that I think it’s important to know why you do yoga. And it’s okay if it changes over time. Like many people, I originally thought Yoga was synonymous […]
Most of the time we identify with the body as our true “self”. But is this actually where our true nature lies? Yoga gives us the model of the koshas as a way to navigate the different layers of being. Below is a brief description of each of the five layers or sheaths. Anna maya […]
When looking for themes for classes, I often refer to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. There are very few pose (asana) instructions in the sutras. That’s because asana is just one part of the eight limbed system of classical yoga. Which is interesting since most yoga classes spend the bulk of their time on physical postures. And […]
I often joke that my job as a yoga teacher is to shoot down all of my students excuses for not practicing. You know the ones…not enough time, not enough space, too tired, no mat, the dog/cat/kid/spouse is distracting me… In Sutra 2.1 of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali offers a clear method for practice, Kriya […]
When I first closed my studio in mid March, my thoughts were as follows….”this is temporary, I’ll be open again April 1st” and “I don’t need to teach online, there is a ton of good content on the web already”. This time of sheltering in place may be temporary but I quickly realized that it’s […]
