Beyond Asana Blog

At the end of my retreats, I always conclude by offering a blessing to the group. It’s inspired by the themes we’ve explored and the unique synergy of the participants.

During a recent retreat, the sentiments that surfaced included a wish to “honor the inner wisdom that’s guiding you toward the great beings you are becoming.”

To my surprise, the group responded with a collective chuckle as if to say, Me? A great being?

The truth was, I wasn’t joking. When I looked at our circle, I saw people dedicated to becoming the most expanded versions of themselves. making their lives meaningful beyond self-interest. and contributing to the greater good. From...

In Autumn 2020, I wrote a post called, Let’s Face it, Letting Go Isn’t Always as Beautiful as the Autumn Leaves Make It Out to Be.

It was a response to that meme that floods my feed every Fall, telling me that Nature is just about to show us how beautiful it can be to let go.

Back then, I wrote, “Ugh…if I see this one more time, I think I’ll scream. Of course, letting go can be beautiful. It can also be really hard and not very pretty at all.”

Now, it’s time for an update, because I’ve learned some helpful things about letting go since then.

Firstly, contemplating nature more deeply has helped me to understand, in my bones, that...

It’s fascinating to consider mindfulness as both the starting and ending point of our practice.

We come to the mat or cushion, we sit, take a breath, and get comfortable. In these ways, we begin by paying attention to ourselves in the moment. Redirecting our attention to the body and breath, we remember that we are here and alive in this moment.

That’s the starting point.

Then, everything that clouds the pure awareness of our present-moment experience rises to the forefront like particles floating to the surface of clear waters.

Though what’s revealed when we pay attention isn’t always pleasant or comfortable, becoming aware of how we color our experience of the...

As cliché as it may seem, I still remember the a-ha moment when my 13-year-old self read this for the first time, probably on a mug at the local Hallmark store:

Yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift,
That’s why they call it the present.

Of course! It made perfect sense.

As a young person, I never thought much about the value of living in the moment. I’m certain I’m not the only one who discovered later in life what Eastern traditions have taught for centuries: that the present moment is our most precious asset.

When we’re caught up in worrying about an imagined future, or stuck in regrets or nostalgia for the past, we miss out on the...

In our recent discussion about yoga and studentship, Buddhist teacher Frank Jude Boccio and I hit on a crucial but often overlooked aspect of the enduring nature of the practice.

On the one hand, the essence of yoga remains constant. The roadmap for our practice doesn’t change: turning inward to connect the mind with the body, creating space for the breath within the body, and using the breath to still the mind.

Likewise, we understand that the benefits of yoga emerge from consistency – from repetitive, dedicated engagement with the practice over time, known as abhyasa in the tradition.

However, even though much of our practice remains consistent, we also recognize that...

One of my asana teachers used to tell me that when I first came to him, my poses were like pouring a glass of water. As a flexible body type, I gravitated toward asana because it was fun. I could put my leg behind my head, do a full split, and go deep in backbends simply by virtue of my natural suppleness. I was flexible, but not very strong.

As I got more serious about my practice and learned about the nature of balance in yoga, I worked to build greater strength and stability. I held poses longer and made sure I was regularly working on poses that were hard for me (instead of avoiding them!)

Over time, and supported by my meditation and contemplative practices, getting stronger...

One of the profound themes that emerged from my recent women’s retreat was just how subversive it can be to prioritize balance in one’s life.

Try as we might, many of our learning institutions and work cultures just aren’t set up to support a life that reflects the yogic view of harmony and equilibrium.

To champion balance, therefore, can feel like fighting an uphill battle. It requires us to carve out spaces where productivity harmonizes with rest, and where the pursuit of external accomplishments finds balance with the richness of our inner lives.

Perhaps the wisdom of the body can teach us about what it means to create balance in an out of balance world.

Even the...

Little did I know, the timing my Evolving Your Yoga book tour was perfect. In the months following the book’s release in 2019, I visited over 20 local yoga communities. My travels concluded in February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic.

I wrote Evolving Your Yoga to help fellow practitioners get more out of their yoga practice. Drawing from insights cultivated over three decades of study and personal practice, I sought to distill those learnings into a guide that would help people expand and integrate the benefits of yoga in their lives.

It’s a different world now.

Fast forward four years, and the landscape of our lives - and the context for our yoga - have changed in...

In her book Real Self-care, Dr. Pooja Lakshmin - a psychiatrist specializing in women’s health - explores why the typical self-care practices offered to women today aren’t working. She argues that real self-care requires introspection to find clarity about one’s values and what truly adds meaning to one’s life. 
 
For years, I’ve been teaching, talking, and writing about how to make yoga an authentic self-care practice - one that’s a far cry from how it’s often positioned in the mainstream fitness world. In a recent article I read about her book, Lakshmin made a point that makes the difference crystal clear. 
 
She...