Recently, I completed another segment of the Colorado Trail. And I got a lot of positive feedback from my prior post on “Lessons from the Trail.” So, I thought to share a few lessons from the long path. Through-hiking offers a unique set of challenges, especially if you are opting to use minimal technology and […]
This last Saturday, a mere seven of us gathered, to delight in one another’s songs, poems and stories at our monthly Bhakti Jam. To tell you the truth, after a full day of teaching, I was reluctant to attend. Perhaps I should go home and catch up on a bit of World Cup action? I […]
Devotion. It can be a charged notion, particularly if one has some unpleasant religious association with it. But that’s just part of the story. In my view, it is not so much a question of “if” one has faith and devotion, but rather, faith and devotion in and towards “what?” Do we place our trust […]
This summer, at age 54, I’ve embarked on a new(er) past-time, hiking half (240 miles) of the Colorado Trail, in 2-4 day installments. Superficially, the hike may seem distinct from formal yoga practice. But, as I sometimes share with students: “you can take yoga with you anywhere you breathe, think or move.” Breath regulation synchronized […]
I write these pieces from scratch. I bring years of study and a bit of self reflection to the page and try to compose something meaningful in about 200 characters. There is no limit to knowledge and inspiration, though it seems to have its own pulse and timing, much like everything else in the creation. […]
Amidst the many uncertainties in life I often remind myself to come back to the basics. And it does not get much more basic than breathing, or so it seems. Breath is vital to our life-process, and often overlooked – essential nourishment, hidden in plain sight, and presumed to always be there for us. Holding […]
Several decades ago, when I first went to yoga classes, the practice was closely associated with “discipline.” People talked about “discipline” the same way we talk about “flow” or “trauma sensitivity” now. It was in the air of practice. Discipline is an essential aspect of what the yogis call “Tapas.” Tapas are the creative friction […]
Oftentimes we may enter yoga with the hope of gaining something, such as greater range of motion or peace of mind, often with success. It is a sensible motivation. On a deeper level, the yoga process reveals a deeper capacity to accept life as it is, independent of our predeterminations–the ability to sit in loss, […]
What is your go-to yogic teaching “off the mat”? A few come to mind: “patience”, “acceptance”–that’s a big one–or “giving of oneself”, all of which read nice on paper and can be much more difficult to put into practice. Genuine yoga practice is something we live into rather than something to “do.” Layer by layer […]
Perhaps you’ve heard Patañjali’s quintessential definition of yoga? It’s quite simple, and simultaneously vast; two signature features of wisdom. “Yoga is the stilling of all thought.” This definition probably conjures more questions than answers and invites us to reconsider our mental space…. what are thoughts anyway? On a practical level, I invite us to consider […]