Beyond Asana Blog
Bursting The Bubble
A studio owner once told me that she wanted her space to be like a bubble, a place where students could temporarily escape their worries and be surrounded by an atmosphere of love, acceptance, and good vibes.
I really like and respect this person, and actually, I love what she’s created. Yet, something didn’t fully resonate with the bubble idea. It got me thinking about how I approach practice and teaching.
I completely agree that we all need healthy ways to escape, regularly. Time alone, self-care appointments, things that give us relief from the stresses of daily life are rejuvenating and VERY necessary. I love those “Calgon – Take me away!” moments of my day (for those of you who remember those old commercials). Yoga practice can certainly fill this important need to just get away from it all for a while. ESPECIALLY on a day like today, when the weight of the world weighs so heavily on us. You can bet...
🎊Beyond The Bells And Whistles 🎊
When I teach at conferences and festivals, I always find that the exact right people show up for my session. This weekend at Expo Yoga in Montreal was no different. As usual, I was delighted to be with a group of curious, engaged students interested in taking their yoga a little bit deeper, getting some input on refining their practice and exploring how to integrate the lessons of the postural practice into their lives.
And, as usual, I’m the teacher without the awesome playlist, without the elaborate ritual, without the bells and whistles.
Don’t get me wrong; I have nothing against a great playlist. I LOVE to groove out in my practice from time to time. And, I LOVE ritual, sacred circles, ALL OF THAT. It’s just that for me, the bells and whistles often sound loudest when I get to go deeper INSIDE my experience. Awakening a new awareness, discovering a new connection, inhabiting my own strength or softening into a deeper release – these are the...
Making Your Sacred Offering (&Your Offering Sacred)
May you awaken like the sun at daybreak,
Ready to make your sacred offering.
Set forth with delight, like a pilgrim on his journey.
O heroic one, move forward with resolve
To make this sacred offering of yourself to life.
May you plan the banner of victory
In the service of humankind.
Rg-Veda
When I returned from living in India for 4 years, one of the things I dearly wanted to hold onto was the awareness that everything I do can be approached as an offering. I wanted to remember, no matter what, that my highest goal in life is to be of service to others.
To remind myself of this intention, I put a small candle on my desk and lit the flame each day when I began my work.
With time, I stopped lighting the candle on my desk, but I found other ways to remember and uphold the spirit of offering in my daily life. It continues to be a treasured and guiding force. It elevates work and family life to the realm of dharma, and allows me to see that even my most...
What Really Matters?
I almost skipped (or at least postponed) my morning meditation today in favor of being “productive.”
As my coffee was brewing, I glanced at my Facebook feed and saw:
- an account from someone in Montecito, CA about the devastation happening there.
- a crowd-funding campaign for a friend who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer
- A tribute to an old friend who recently passed away.
- A blog post from a colleague about her experience of grieving a recent miscarriage.
- Many, many messages of support and good wishes from friends all around the world for what all these people are going through
Struck by the intensity of all this (especially at 6:30 am, and especially before I’d had my coffee), I felt a sudden sense of urgency. Immediately, I sat for meditation.
I sat because all this news was a stark reminder that, for me, there is NOTHING more important than taking time DAILY to get perspective on what really matters, to remember the preciousness of life, and to...
How Does it Feel to Begin Again?
How was your practice over the holidays? Interrupted? Sporadic? Non-existent?
I can relate.
Over the past 25 years, I’ve experienced the full range of what I think of as ‘seasons’ in my yoga practice. There have been long stretches when I could practice uninterruptedly for (sigh) 2 hours a day. And, there have been times where yoga couldn’t, or didn’t, happen regularly. Whether due to travel, family or work responsibilities, injury, illness, or just plain-ol’ laziness, I have slacked on many occasions.
And I know I’m not alone. For anyone who embraces yoga as a path of practice over the long haul, this is how it goes. Life, or oneself, sometimes get in the way.
But here’s the thing:
It’s okay with me. It's okay because I know I will start again. I always do. I’ve learned that I can trust myself to get back to a scheduled, regular practice time and begin, yet again. That’s what I’m doing this week.
...
Top Cold-Weather Yoga Hacks
I asked my Canadian yoga-teacher friends from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, to share their top tips for getting to the mat when the temperature drops. They responded with some really enticing and cozy ideas, none of which involve practicing in a 35-degree room. Clearly, we Canadians have got this winter-yoga thing down!
Thanks to Christine Guenette, Eliot Acuna, Erin Moon, Melanie Richards, Nathalie Keiller, Robin Golt, and Sara Lamb for weighing in!
GETTING READY
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I light beeswax candles, definitely! Sara
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Wear layers - this way I can start feeling warm, then peel off the layers as my body heats up, and have everything near by for a cozy savasana. – Christine
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Playing some chants or other slow, steady music seems just right for winter. - Sara
- I have discovered that the warm red glow of a simple infrared bulb draws me to my mat on chilly days in winter, especially when I have been at my desk for a while and feel creaky. Available in the reptile section of your...
Top Cold-Weather Yoga Hacks
I asked my Canadian yoga-teacher friends from Nova Scotia to British Columbia, to share their top tips for getting to the mat when the temperature drops. They responded with some really enticing and cozy ideas, none of which involve practicing in a 35-degree room. Clearly, we Canadians have got this winter-yoga thing down!
Thanks to Christine Guenette, Eliot Acuna, Erin Moon, Janie Pelletier, Melanie Richards, Nathalie Keiller, Robin Golt, and Sara Lamb for weighing in!
GETTING READY
-
I light beeswax candles, definitely! Sara
-
Wear layers - this way I can start feeling warm, then peel off the layers as my body heats up, and have everything near by for a cozy savasana. – Christine
-
Playing some chants or other slow, steady music seems just right for winter. - SaraI have discovered that the warm red glow of a simple infrared bulb draws me to my mat on chilly days in winter, especially when I have been at my desk for a while and feel creaky. Available...
Q & A: How to Combine Different Practices
A student in a recent retreat shared the following with me:
It was my first time attending a day dedicated to Yoga and the many forms of practice. Importantly, I understood that asanas are only one part of the yogic practice. This simple but powerful insight helped me understand that meditation, chanting, breathing, intention and visioning are part of a system.
Though we may chant in class, meditate, practice breathing exercises, it may not be obvious that postural practice is a part of a holistic system that involves and addresses all parts of oneself.
If you’ve been attending class for sometime, you might have been doing this more than you think. A student in a recent meditation course shared with me that while the course was helpful to understand how meditation actually worked and provided the motivation and group support to actually do it, she also realized that through her years of practice in classes and retreats, she not only was familiar with many of the...
When Yoga Gets Boring; 6 Ways to Refresh Your Practice
Free Home Practice Guide! If you didn't already receive my new 16-page Home Yoga Practice Guide, you can DOWNLOAD IT HERE! It’s full of practical tips and suggestions to support your independent practice, and includes a pose syllabus and practice sequences if you have 15, 30 60 minutes or more. I hope you enjoy it!
With all that's going on in our world, I thought I couldn't write about yoga this week. It felt superfluous and even self-indulgent to talk about practice amidst the tragedies we are dealing with these days. However, the truth is that yoga is precisely what allows me to build resilience in the face of struggle. Practice is what restores my inspiration when I'm feeling hopeless and calms my agitation so I can show up for others in a way that is truly helpful. It's actually what I need to do most. So, here's to continuing to think about practice and continuing to practice, even when it feels hard.
6 ways to Overcome...
Traversing The Plateaus: How to Maintain Enthusiasm For Practice
“Only a few classes and my back pain is gone! I love yoga!”
“I’ve been meditating for just a couple of weeks and I’m already sleeping better. Amazing!”
“Learning to focus on my breathing has made a huge difference in how I deal with stress at work. Wow! Yoga really works!”
Yoga is powerful. It often doesn’t take long to feel its positive impact. Many of us have experienced shifts - both small and large - pretty quickly. Fired up, we commit to making yoga a consistent part of our lives.
However, the pace of transformation doesn’t often continue at such a dramatic rate as these initial shifts. Yoga begins to feel dry and boring. Motivation wanes. Practice becomes a chore rather than a delight. You might feel as if nothing is happening, or that yoga isn’t helping you anymore. You certainly don’t feel the exuberant joy for practice you once did. As we continue, enthusiasm for practice is something we...
