Tag: mindfulness

The Power of Shared Practice: Yoga in Community

I was once intimidated by yoga classes, relying on DVDs for the first decade of my vinyasa practice. It wasn’t until my 30s that I joined a yoga class, and everything changed. I took my first regular yoga classes at the gym (something I took for Lent one year) and I first experienced how we were united in breath and movement. This shared practice not only brought me closer to others in the room but began to reveal something deeper.

Awakening Body Awareness

Yoga Studios Shouldn’t Have Mirrors. And, for that matter, you probably shouldn’t compulsively make videos of yourself doing yoga. I will admit that when I edit my videos each week, I pay attention to some of the good stuff (alignment, posture, tension) but mostly notice the stuff that shouldn’t matter (my bald spot, my love […]

Can Yoga Build Muscle?

Yoga is good exercise, but practicing yoga only to get physically stronger is a little bit like taking a Formula I race car to the Piggly Wiggly or slicing bread with a hacksaw. Sure, it can do the job, but is it the best tool?

I Hate #Mindfulness

As I started to meditate on the idea of Mindfulness, I heard myself sounding like all of the clichés that riddle the yoga community and social media. I know that I roll my eyes every time I see a yoga influencer talking about their “mindfulness practice” that includes sitting in a gorgeous outfit in full hair and makeup peacefully gazing on a million dollar view. I want more for us.

Dhyana

We have spent the last couple of months systematically working our way through the eight limbs. Slowly and effortfully trying to concentrate. Getting our minds under control, only to arrive at the penultimate sutra which, essentially, is to stop thinking. It makes sense. After all, the goal of meditation is to live in the space […]

Dharana

Dharana means concentration or meditation on a single point. When we achieve Dharana, we are actively concentrating on a point of meditation, whereas we release all of the effort fully in Dhyana (next week!).

Pratyahara

When we practice Pratyahara, we withdraw the senses. It’s not that there is nothing to taste; it’s that we are choosing not to taste it. Sounds will inevitably happen around us. We choose not to hear them. Taste doesn’t just happen. Neither does smell. How we process, label and experience them is wholly done in the mind.

The Niyamas : Saucha

So Saucha, Purity, is about how you regard and purify (and keep pure) your body. But it’s about more than that. We all think of the same “pure” imagery, I’m sure: virginity, doves, driven snow.

The Yamas : Brahmacharya

Brahmacharya means “continence” or “moderation.” It’s clear that Patañjali is referring to sexual abstinence, at least in large part, but it’s also about moderation in all things. Specifically, it’s about moderation in all things that give us pleasure. But I just want to do yoga and have a ‘yoga body’ and have all of my […]

The Yamas : Satya

If I am dishonest, my mind knows I am being dishonest. However subtle or “harmless,” the mind knows it’s lying, and that knowing creates an obstacle.

Week Thirteen : The Power of Story

Our human minds organize things into stories. Starting in infancy, we begin to take in the world and — as a matter of necessity — create stories. Where do the stories we tell stop being useful and start being harmful?

Week Five : The Power of Anger

If you listen to it, allow it to come up, then it will dissipate and … eventually … you won’t need it any more. At least not in that reactive way around that specific issue.

Week Zero : Intentions Can Shift

Welcome to the Daily Flow 2024 Mindfulness Series. New Year. Same me.