Beyond Asana Blog
My weekly blog is a forum for contemplative inquiry into the intersection of yoga practice, traditional teachings, and real life.
Over the next few weeks, Iâll be sharing how to work with the fundamental paradox at the heart of yoga practice  on the physical, energetic, mental and emotional levels.
Sthira Sukham Asanam
Posture should be steady and comfortable.
Yoga Sutra 2.46, Trans. Edwin Bryant, The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
This central teaching, that posture should reflect a balance between steadiness and ease, stability and comfort, provides a context for working with the fundamental paradox of yoga in asana practice. Â
While in the original context of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali was referring to the meditation posture (asana here means âseatâ), sthira and sukha have been extrapolated to become a basic puls
...Itâs the end of March here in Montreal. As all Quebecers know, the arrival of Spring here can scarcely be distinguished from the continuation of winter. Snow is still piled up on the sidewalk outside the studio as I sit down to teach my Friday class. The students, like me, are all bundled up. Though the coats, hats, scarves and gloves came off in the reception area, the layers remain: Leggings covered by legwarmers, socks still on, tank tops covered by long-sleeved shirts and those by cardigans. We feel safe and cozy beneath the layers that protect us from the elements. As we start to move and build heat, the layers slowly come off. For me, there is joy in simply moving the body, free fr
...Hereâs last week's part 1 on the topic of yoga-related injuries that addresses common causes of yoga-related injuries and tips to avoid them.
Thanks to research and investigation, not to mention the woefully infamous 2012 New York Times headline, Can Yoga Wreck Your Body?, the conversation around yoga-related injuries has greatly expanded over the past several years. Notably, through Matthew Remskiâs WAWADIA project, many long time practitioners are now sharing stories that document and explore the multi-layered and often nuanced psychosocial and cultural dynamics at play in both acute and chronic yoga-related injuries.
If youâll indulge me for a couple of paragraphs, Iâd like to share a brief history of yoga and my knees. As a flexible body type I was always able to achieve deep hip opening poses in yoga. Then, after about 10 years of practice, my knees started to feel the impact. The first time was pretty dramatic.  I was in an advanced yoga retreat with my teacher and about 30 senior students. We were practicing Mulabandhasana. As you can see in this photo, itâs a pose that takes the knee into full flexion combined with extreme external rotation of the leg, i.e. bent and turned out. As I moved into the pose I felt the dreaded âpopâ in my outer right knee. It was the tibia, the shinbone that forms par
...If you stick with yoga long enough, and perhaps not even very long, itâs certain youâll be dealing with the question of what to practice when you get injured or sick. Do you forge ahead and get to class even when your sciatica is flaring up? Do you stop practicing completely when your physio tells you you have a torn meniscus? How do you adapt your practice after you injure your shoulder playing tennis? How do you know whatâs right?
It takes sensitivity and awareness to respond to changes in your physical condition and adapt practice appropriately. Therefore, working with an injury or illness can actually be a turning point in your yoga if you approach it as an opportunity for learning
...Here are some ways Iâve found to make consistent and satisfying home practice really happen:
- Schedule it. Put it in your agenda(s) and prioritize it as an important appointment with yourself.
- Have a reliable way to remind yourself (post-it notes, phone alerts and texts to yourself are all good!).
- Think about what youâre going to practice the night before.
- Seek out input from a teacher you trust for sequences and guidance on what will serve you best.
- Commit to a minimum amount of practice times weekly that you will not go below and hold yourself to it.
- Have props visible.
- Have a practice buddy.
- Practice as early in the day as you can.
- Be flexible: If you get sidetracked from yo ...
What is independent practice and is it really necessary?
I learned how to downhill ski in my early 20âs. I avoided it until then because I have a big fear of heights. But there I was, visiting a friend who was working in one of the most beautiful resort towns in the Swiss Alps and decided to go for it. I signed up for a one-week of Swiss ski school. Everyday, our group would follow our instructor down the mountain like little ducklings following their mother. I learned all the basics of managing the various types of ski lifts (one of my biggest fears), and navigating the beginner slopes, stopping, slowing down, making turns. I was in good hands and supported every step of the way in learnin...
The ancient chambered nautilus shell is a potent symbol for our evolution and growth as yogis. As the animal grows, it builds larger and larger chambers for itself to live in. It seals off the smaller ones, which are then filled with gasses that allow it to stay buoyant as it moves through the ocean waters.
The spiral itself is a universal symbol of movement, energy, and expansion that radiates from the center out. In the Tibetan tradition it symbolizes the origin of the universe. In the Yoga tradition Kundalini Shakti, the power of spiritual evolution, is described as a serpent power that sits tightly coiled at the base of the spine, spiraling upward when awakened within a seeker.
Like th...
The nautilus shell is a symbol of proportional perfection. It is a logarithmic spiral, a pattern found throughout nature in the form of spiral galaxies, plants and flowers, animal horns, and even the flight patterns of some birds. There is a sense of perfection, symmetry and order to spirals in nature like the nautilus shell. They remind us of a mysterious yet somehow very real harmony underlying the outer, sometimes chaotic dance of our lives. The beauty and perfection we observe in nature helps us remember the subtle, mystical world that lies just beneath the surface of our ordinary, usual awareness.
Yoga echoes this idea that there is a transcendent, unchanging reality that is full, perf...
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 âMaman, everything is covered in snow!â my daughter said as she woke me up Monday morning. Seeing the first snow is always an exciting time in our house. Looking at our backyard with her I recalled the coziness, comfort and peace I usually feel in that moment. Not so this year. As in so many other ways, life feels different, uncomfortable, and profoundly unsettled since the US election results. I was very much aware of an underlying sense of sadness, fear and concern that I, like many, have been carrying around for months, and which has only deepened over the past several weeks. Itâs a new reality, this lurking feeling that the near future is NOT warm and cozy, and quite likely, at least...