Beyond Asana Blog

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, perfect and whole. It’s overlaid in everyday life with the ups and downs of material existence, which at times can seem and feel so completely imperfect. The image of the nautilus reminds us of a larger perspective, what Ram Dass calls “The God’s eye view of life.”  It...

 “Maman, everything is covered in snow!” 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. It’s a new reality, this lurking feeling that the near future is NOT warm and cozy, and quite likely, at least in the short term, everything is NOT going to be OK. We feel we are poised on the battlefield, being called on to stand up as warriors for the most essential truth we know - the dignity of the human spirit.

And, like so many, I’ve been trying to...

Like cooking a hearty soup in autumn, working your feet is, of course, grounding. And, you'll likely feel a happy resonance of waking up your feet right up into your hips and pelvis. This week, I'm sharing a few favourite Vajrasana variations for enlivening up your feet and ankles. Try this 8-minute sequence at the beginning of a practice and see how it changes your standing poses, and your inversions too.

We have several new mothers in my current teacher mentoring program. For these women, like many of us, finding even 30 minutes for uninterrupted practice is a challenge.

How do we make yoga happen given the reality of our lives?

One way is to expand our ideas of what practice looks like. While we continue to commit to carving out time for regular, formal practice as best we can, we can also remember that yoga is adaptable, and it can and should be used to work for us. It's empowering and enriching to find ways to experience the essence of the practices throughout our day. Here are just a few ideas:

BODY: A few minutes of stretching can bring your focus back to your sitting or standing posture. This not only helps you to remember to release unconscious holding, but also alerts you to subtle shifts in alignment that can restore ease and freedom in your body.

BREATH: Even a moment or two of conscious breathing can be tremendously nourishing, powerful and even transcendent. Focus...

One of the biggest misconceptions about being a yoga teacher is that all we do is teach yoga. Any yoga teacher will tell you that there is a lot for us to do outside of class including e-mail correspondence, class and workshop planning, and schedule organizing. Like many, much of our day might be spent sitting at a desk in front of a computer.

This is particularly true once mid-September rolls around. Life and work tends to moves into a whole different gear. The relaxed, loose rhythm of the summer gives way to school schedules and more structure to our days. While I’m always a bit wistful about the end of summer, there is also something exciting about the opportunity that a more scheduled life affords, including time to apply myself more consistently to the work I love, like reviving this blog!

However, one of the areas in my own body where I can feel the effects of this increased productivity right away is my neck and shoulders. Even with my ergonomically-optimal...

One of the most remarkable aspects of our training was the group itself.  Not only were we presenting the practices of yoga to people who were experiencing these practices for the first time, but from a cultural perspective what we introduced was so new and different. Our work called on our trainees to step out of their expected and familiar roles, to expand their ideas of what they could do and understand what helping people to get out of pain meant.

Responding to the challenges that arose to meet the needs of our unique group of teachers-to-be called on our years of teaching experience, group facilitation and communication skills.  

Initially, Erin and I had expected that we would co-teach a training group of 13 participants together. Our trainees represented the two locations where World Spine Care (WSC) operates clinics in Botswana.  Raquel Rojo-Delgado, the WSC Clinic supervisor, knew the communities well and did a great job in identifying participants for...

Bags packed and coconut offered, tomorrow I will embark on what will certainly be one of the most meaningful adventures of my life. I am leaving for Africa to launch the World Spine Care Yoga Project. This is an initiative that will bring the healing gifts of yoga to people suffering from back pain in rural villages in Botswana.

I am privileged to be working alongside super-dedicated, hard-working and highly-skilled colleagues Erin Moon of Vancouver and Geoff Outerbridge, WSC’s Clinical Director. We will be presenting yoga as a tool for pain management at the Botswana Spine Care Conference next week in Mahalapye. Then we travel to Shoshong to give a 10-day teacher training to 10 brave souls who will teach free weekly yoga classes to patients of the WSC clinics.

This is the first program of its kind in the world. We will be taking what we learn and experience in Botswana into more such trainings in the future.

The abundance of well-wishes and blessings from...