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.
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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 […]
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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?
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Flexibility is More than Open Hips
Tell someone you’re a yoga teacher, and they’ll tell you they can’t touch their toes. I’m not sure when touching one’s toes became all that important, but it seems like a lot of people consider it a barrier to entry if they want to practice yoga. So let’s climb that barrier… Tight hips and hamstrings […]
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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.
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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 […]
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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!).
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Pranayama
Breath is connection. It brings the outside world, quite literally, in. We consume it in much more intimate way that we do food. Think about it: food is chewed, swallowed and goes through a lengthy digestive process.
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The Yamas : Aparigraha
The fifth (and final) of the five Yamas is Aparigraha, which can be translated as “non-greed” or “non-grasping.” I had never considered before that grasping non-material things — like my need to “win” in competitive cycling classes or my need to advance my career — might be a form of greed. I’m also more and more […]
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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 […]
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