Beyond Asana Blog

During a long drive this week, I got to catch up with two long-time yoga friends, both going through their own version of tough times.

Surprisingly, our conversations left me feeling uplifted and invigorated. Rather than feeling burdened by their struggles, I felt a deep sense of compassion and solidarity.

Just a few weeks ago, the roles were reversed. It was me confiding in a close friend about something that was weighing on my heart. She received my vulnerability with grace and openness.

While a friend’s listening ear may not solve our problems, it sure can lighten our load and buoy us through the turbulence of life’s uncertainties.  

In the Buddhist tradition, when one...

After my workshop last Saturday, a participant noticed with delight that the treetops visible from the studio had grown even greener during our afternoon together. In our corner of the world, every sign of the burgeoning springtime feels worthy of celebration.

In Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells his student, Arjuna, where to perceive the sacred in the world. It’s quite a list!

Among the many places he guides him to look, he says,
Of the seasons I am spring, that brings forth flowers. (10.35)

This statement has always intrigued me. The text later reveals that all seasons, indeed all of existence, originate from the same source.

So why highlight spring...

What yoga has given me through years of practice is reflected in how I talk to girls about building self-esteem. I ask them, who are you when nobody’s looking? What kind of thoughts arise about yourself? Are you kind, patient, and loving? What is the conversation that happens within you when you’re alone? Because that is the reflection of who you are.

- Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau, Evolving Your Yoga

Imagine – if you dare – that your inner thoughts during yoga were visible to others, like thought bubbles in a cartoon. Wouldn’t that be revealing?

I came to yoga in my early twenties with a background in dance and gymnastics. The postures came easily....

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the release of Evolving Your Yoga.

Like any author I suppose, it continues to thrill me to hear how the principles in the book are helping people deepen their yoga and integrate its benefits into their lives.

However, the biggest gift by far has been the many sincere, kind-hearted people I’ve met - people dedicated to living better lives through yoga.

It’s hard to believe just how much the world has changed since 2019. The shifts we’ve lived through and how much we are all holding in these tender, messy, heartbreaking times only underscores the importance of our shared practices.

In the spirit of the book, it’s been...

It’s an exercise I sometimes lead at the beginning of workshops.

Participants reflect on how they want to be together, we then name the qualities and behaviors we wish to cultivate (seeds) and those that we want to uproot (weeds.)

Seeds usually include qualities like kindness, non-judgement, and attentive listening, while weeds are often behaviors like being late, giving unsolicited advice, and interrupting.

This exercise isn't just beneficial for group dynamics; it also serves as a valuable tool for personal growth.

An iconic teaching of the Bhagavad Gita tells us,

The body is called the field, Arjuna; the one who watches whatever happens in it – wise men call him the...

Imagine a singular, self-organizing energy unfolding the universe out of itself, the way a spider spins its web.

This striking analogy, deeply rooted in the yoga tradition, captures the generative force of consciousness – the source power that births the cosmos and then resides at the center of its creation.

It first appears in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, one of the oldest yogic texts, to describe how all things spring forth from the atman, the innermost Self.

In yogic mythology, it illustrates how Bhuvaneshwari, the form of the goddess as eternal mother, emanates the universe out of her own body and then inhabits it.

Arachnophobes’ discomfort aside, it’s an elegant...

The Timex Ironman is the ideal watch for yoga. I’ve owned at least a dozen. 

With its repeat timer for holding poses and the subtle glow of its blue light for knowing when to lead students out of Savasana, it has been my loyal companion for decades.

While I now use my smartphone for these things, I haven’t relinquished my trusted Ironman either.

It’s a valued reminder of the many seasons of my yoga journey and the depth I’ve cultivated over time. It brings me back to the days of intensified personal practice and cherished memories of in-person yoga communities.

For those of us who’ve been traversing the path of yoga for some time, we have what I like...

"It never ends!” sighed a dear, elderly friend in exasperation.

No sooner had she replaced the bathroom faucet when her Netflix mysteriously stopped working.

“Can’t life ever be simple?” she pleaded with me.

“I don’t think so,” I responded.

In facing life’s ups and downs, there’s a tendency to wonder when it will all end, when things will finally feel resolved.

For me, and everyone I know, that day never seems to come. Life just doesn’t work that way.

What if, instead of wishing for things to be easy, we cultivated the fortitude to meet life on its own terms?

What if we stopped wishing obstacles would disappear and instead saw...

 For at least the first 5 years of my asana practice, every time I did Chaturanga Danadasana I fell flat on my face, until one day I didn’t. I can still remember the feeling of lowering myself down toward the floor from Plank pose when suddenly, much to my astonishment, I was holding myself up.

That breakthrough moment has stayed with me, not just in my mind but in my body. I can still recall the delightful sensation of strength in my upper back as I hovered there, in control for a fleeting second. In fact, I revisit it often to draw steadiness and fortitude when life throws me for a loop.

There’s a lot of attention paid to how the body holds the memories of our...