Beyond Asana Blog

When I started yoga in my twenties, I could "do" all the poses. With a naturally flexible body and a background in dance and gymnastics, even some of the most advanced asanas came easily to me.

Yet despite my physical abilities, my inner dialogue was anything but yogic. Long-standing patterns of perfectionism and self-judgment dominated my mental chatter. It wasn't until I learned about yoga's deeper vision of the human being that this began to shift.

The nondual philosophies of yoga view each of us as expressions of a singular, unified, and divine consciousness.

While all paths of yoga recognize an essence within each person that is fundamentally good and noble, it’s only the nondual ...

The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don't tell you what to see.

- Alexandra Trenfor

Years ago, a student approached me at the end of class to thank me for a suggestion I’d given her months earlier - one that had significantly improved her Side Plank pose.

“I don’t remember what you said.” she told me, “But I remember how it felt, and the difference it made.” She described how my guidance had enabled her to practice the pose without the shoulder pain that had plagued her for years.

Her words delighted me because they captured something essential about learning in yoga, and yogic knowledge itself.

Unlike academic subjects, yogic knowledge - jnana in Sanskrit – i...

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The first yogic teaching to bring tears to my eyes as a new seeker went something like this: Once you see with the eyes of true knowledge, you will understand why the true religion is to welcome another human being.

This vision of equality – of our essential oneness and sanctity - pierced beyond intellectual understanding and spoke directly my heart. This is yoga’s ultimate aim: to cultivate this elevated way of seeing ourselves and the world. 

Early yogic texts like the Upanishads recognized a sacred essence within each person, known as the atman. This indwelling, unchanging Self is understood to be a universal source power, linking us to all life. 

Later, nondual Tantric traditions d...

Writing is like driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.

― E.L. Doctorow

In yoga—as in writing, and life—you can’t always see the full path ahead. Often, you’re just following the next cue, breath by breath. And while that uncertainty can be uncomfortable, it can also be liberating.

I learned this years ago in a workshop with a teacher known for her unconventional approach to arm balances. I had been working toward Eka Pada Koundinyasana (One-legged Side Crow) for months, with little success and plenty of face plants. 

Rather than beginning with the usual drills and prep work, she led us through a completely ...

I'm on the road this week, so I'm re-posting a piece I originally published in January, 2022, shortly after the passing of Vietnamese Buddhist master Thích Nhất Hạnh.

I recently learned that West 109th Street—between Riverside and Broadway on Manhattan's Upper West Side—was co-named "Thích Nhất Hạnh Way." This block is near Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University, where he lived and taught during a formative period of his life.

Fittingly, it's just a few blocks from Riverside Church—where my own formative encounter with him took place. Here’s that story: 

Remembering Thích Nhất Hạnh

To be beautiful means to be yourself. 

You don’t need to be accepted by others. 

You...

Is yoga meant to be an escape from the world’s chaos, or a way to prepare us to engage with it more effectively?

This question reveals a central tension between two foundational texts of yoga philosophy: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.

In her insightful essay Arjuna is Us, Nina Zolotow explores this contrast by imagining what Krishna might have advised Arjuna if he were speaking from the perspective of Patanjali’s Classical Yoga.

As you may know, Arjuna is the warrior hero of the Bhagavad Gita, who is overwhelmed by despair at the prospect of fighting a war against his relatives and teachers. He turns to Krishna - his charioteer who also embodies divine wisdom - for coun...

This year marks 10 years of writing my blog and to celebrate, I’m sharing a new (free!) offering I think you’ll love. But first, a heartfelt thank you...

As I reflect on a decade of sharing and connection, I feel deep gratitude for this platform, and for all you readers out there.

Every Thursday morning, I look forward to your messages. Hearing how my posts have arrived at just the right moment, and how they have touched and inspired you has been such a joy!

I began Beyond Asana to share the teachings and practices that have most profoundly impacted my life – and to help you benefit more fully from the gifts of yoga in your own.

Over time, these reflections became the foundation for Evolving...

Across time and tradition, the sacred feminine has been revered as the source of life, wisdom, and transformation.

Two ancient embodiments of this energy—Gaia from Greek mythology and Gayatri from the Vedic tradition— arise from different cultures and linguistic roots yet offer parallel insights for a yoga practice rooted in life’s creative power and the underlying unity of all things.

In Greek mythology, Gaia is the personification of the Earth—a primordial mother goddess who birthed the cosmos. She represents the world’s foundation and its ongoing creative unfolding.

Gayatri originates from the Rig Veda, one of the oldest and most sacred texts in the Hindu tradition. The Gayatri Mant...

Last week, I introduced the Three Stories of Our Time as a useful orientation to being alive at this moment: Business as Usual, Great Unraveling, and the Great Turning. In this post, I'll explore how yoga contributes to this third narrative—the transition from an industrial growth economy to a life-sustaining society committed to the recovery of our world.

Author and activist Joanna Macy describes the Great Turning as an "ecosystem of response" with three mutually-reinforcing dimensions that work together to create meaningful and lasting change:

1.  Holding Actions

The first dimension of the Great Turning encompasses actions that slow damage to our planet, protect our social fabric, a...

Whichever way it goes, my work is the same. My work is to quiet my mind and open my heart and relieve suffering wherever I find it. - Ram Dass

The three stories of our time is a foundational teaching of Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects. It describes three concurrent narratives unfolding in our world that shape the backdrop of our lives. This framework has provided me with a valuable orientation for making sense of and responding to our current reality.

The first narrative is Business as Usual. This is the story of our modern lifestyle with its comforts and conveniences, and all the technological and economic developments that have made many aspects of our lives easier and safer.

In t...