The Story Weaver….

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 the mutable nature of thought, how it can seem so dense, habituated and convincing at times and simultaneously amorphous, shifting and changing in every moment. 

Who is the “me” beneath these fluctuations?

Patañjali goes on to assert that the mind occupies the surface of our being, vailing yet revealing a pathway to our essential nature. 

Who would we be in the absence of  thoughts and opinions about self and “others”?

How does one still the mind?

What get’s revealed?

More questions….

Sometimes the mental story is caked with adversity and sometimes it is not.  Yoga is the process by which we can come to terms with our particular narratives, create a bit of space, and draw closer to our essential nature.

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Sacred Spring Seeds 

Blessings of the spring season.

As the grass ripens, and the days breathe with greater length, I reflect upon the spirit of yoga through the seasons. From one perspective, the state of yoga (union) is a perennial constant, utterly merged with the essence of life-itself; an unbridled instrument of infinite consciousness.  Sounds kind of nice, right?

For many, this may seem a bridge too far, and they may be unable to relate to, much less translate such a vast vision into the clunky mechanics of day to day life. Something like a bit more peace would be a welcome start.

Which brings us to a second perspective, yoga as a means for skillfully navigating the varied seasons and contours of your unique life-curriculum.  The diverse toolbox of yogic methodologies can support our circumstances; bodily, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, with holistic grace.

This body of practice can be quite specific in their application, but the most essential guide post could sound something like “get started” followed by “as regularly as you can.” I sometimes dabble a bit of advice on prospective yogis, by saying “the best yoga class is the one that you will go to.”

With continued practice, we may find that all life experiences–desirable and undesirable–are a part of the yogic course of study; accumulating insights that guide one a more complete view of self and the very nature of existence itself.

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Deeper Tennent & Study of Yoga

Namaste May,

Like a swollen river that winds its way through mountains, and across deserts, before emptying into the primal ocean, yoga unfolds over time–leading to our essential origin.

This month, in our weekly Master Class, we turn our attention to the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a definitive treatise on the aim and path of yoga; leading to complete freedom.

Sounds nice, right!?

The text starts with a declarative assertion: “atha-yoga-nushasanam” or, “Now the study of Yoga.”

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The first word, “atha”, means now. Indicating a possible monumental build up of  life experiences that have led to this moment.  Now, we are in a position to take up the study.

Atha also connotes that we will commence our study, a movement towards future study.

And finally, Atha also signals the eternal present. As in NOW. Yoga study is a total embrace of the perennial-immediacy that touches all of life; past, future and present.

One who awakens to the very first word of the very first yoga sutra can simply lay the rest of the text to rest. And for those who may struggle with present moment freedom, there is more to unpack.

We invite you to join in our study of the phenomenal book of wisdom.

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APRIL RECAP AT DYU

It’s been an eventful April at DYU. And I wanted to recap a few lessons and experiences….

We hosted the spring cleanse and were met with many repeat members; a growing bi-annual tribe dedicated to cleansing mind-body-soul. Their final shares at the closing potluck, glowed with warm sparks of humor and honesty.

Jeremy Wolf joined us and shared his Level II Yoga Nidra Training. I got to participate as a student. I appreciated his recurrent message of the accessibility of the witness perspective, and simple reminders of the entanglement that occurs at other times.

This month’s Master Class featured an experiential immersion into Mantra–a new topic of presentation for me. Briefly, sound is alive, it conveys powerful messages and can shape unique destinies; beginning with the messages we tell ourselves on a regular basis.

What’s more, we collaborate with our friends at the Denver Yoga Summit for a free peep-rally class in support of their upcoming fall summit. There, we were reminded of Aim as a directing force in our practice, to help guide decisions in daily life.

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The Right to Know

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This past weekend marked the “liquid-only” phase of our fall dietary cleanse. This phase is a necessary component of the cleanse and supports “the right to know”.

The liquid weekend used to loom large in my mind. Comparable to how Frodo and Samwise must have felt as they crossed the swampy plains preceding towards Mordo, filled with a bit of dread accompanied by a simple “I must”.

This weekend was different, surprisingly uneventful in fact. I attribute this to one simple principle, what the yogis call adhikara. 

Adhikara loosely translates as “studentship” thought the spirit of the term means “the right to know”. The right to know is two-fold. 

Number one, it is our human birthright and capacity to experience higher knowledge.  

Here, “knowledge” takes on a deeper dimension. It is not mundane facts but rather, direct insight into the subtle layers of creation, accompanied by the will to live in alignment with them. 

As a practical example, seeing that the source of a dysfunctional pattern has its roots in a childhood trauma. And to move towards love once again, is an exercise in adhikara.

“We have the capacity to experience knowledge with a capital K.”

The second order of adhikara–the right to know–has to to do with earning the right to know. The right to insight is earned through some regular practice or even ordeal. There are many myths that tell of the sacrifice entailed before the boon of Knowledge is bestowed. 

And so it is with seasonal cleansing. Cleansing is skill grown through repetition; fear and obstacles are important parts of the curriculum. Adikara is revealed overtime when live in accordance with our higher Self, our natural birthright.

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Yoga Off The Mat

Greetings Yogis,

Greetings Yogis,What is your go-to yogic teaching “off the mat”?
​A few come to mind—patience, acceptance, or the simple act of giving of oneself. These sound beautiful in theory, yet they often stretch us the most when life presents real challenges. 
Yoga, at its heart, is not something we do but something we live into.

The postures and breathing exercises are like a laboratory—controlled conditions in which we experiment, refine, and prepare ourselves. Daily life, however, is the true curriculum, complete with unexpected tests and assignments.

The postures and breathing exercises are like a laboratory—controlled conditions in which we experiment, refine, and prepare ourselves. Daily life, however, is the true curriculum, complete with unexpected tests and assignments.

Which teaching arises most naturally for you in the flow of life, and which ones feels like they asks more of you? Can you compress the responses down to two words? Then carry them with as a self-reflective talisman for a week. 

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RIGHT ACTION IN YOGA

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna offers this timeless wisdom, describing right action in yoga:
“You have a right to your actions, but never to the fruits of action.” (2.47)

This teaching invites us to act with care and clarity, but without attachment to outcomes. Whether we teach a class, do the dishes, or contend with a difficult relationship, we can do so with the spirit of seva—selfless service.

When we adopt an attitude of service, we shift from “What can I get?” to “What can I give?”

This shift lightens the burden of expectation and opens the heart. We begin to show up fully because it’s meaningful to act, not because we’re guaranteed a particular result. It’s a movement from contraction to expansion.

Our energy becomes more focused, and ironically, our actions often become more impactful—because they are rooted in sincerity, not self-interest. It is an ongoing practice and requires yoga training.


This week, try offering your efforts as a quiet service. Cook a meal, answer an email, or listen to a friend—not for praise, but as a conscious offering; exercising right action in yoga.

Act fully. Let go gracefully. And trust the rest.

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ARCH OF YOGA PRACTICE

On one level, yoga practice may seem cursory or extra.  We may even gasp at an advanced posture and overlook its deeper intent–how it influences organ systems or directs the inner breath. We may overlook the greater arch of yoga practice.

Yogic techniques optimize forces implicit to our life-experience, and can be practiced wherever you occupy your body, whenever you breath, and anytime you think.  

 Life-experience itself explicitly occurs in the breath, body, and mind? We don’t experience the world so much as we experience our own energy in relationship to the exterior world.

The practices re-pattern the mind-body-breath complex to function more harmoniously with deeper, natural forces and rhythms. The methods are not bashful about how this attunement might look on the surface, and are willing to sacrifice convenience or “comfort” in service of deeper insight and hidden potential.

Furthermore, regular practice and yoga training, plays out over the long-game, adapting to life circumstances along the way. As the months play out, and seasons pass, and years turn into decades, we may find ourselves a bit wiser, more resourced, and more attuned to the many currents of the life-process and the greater arch of yoga practice

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WHY WE DO YOGA?

The student once asked “why we do yoga?”

My teacher, Baba Hari Dass, responded:

“At first we do yoga to improve our life. Then we do our life to improve our yoga.”

The practices can make us more graceful physically and emotionally, and more in step with life.  And still, we may have habits that don’t support our fullest potential.

Gradually, we may choose to refine our habits; diet, sleep and associations, to name a few; in support of yoga practice. We may be drawn to live in alignment with deeper rhythms of nature, go to bed a bit earlier, and create more space for yoga in the early morning, as a tangible example. The deeper study may lead us to yoga training.

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NOTEWORTHY WISDOM

I’d recently heard that….” Most are more interested in the cure than the cause.” Which struck me as a noteworthy wisdom. This idea certainly comes up in conversations around health and medicine but also pertains to personal relationships.

Ever by-pass your role in a particular dynamic and fast forward to trying to change the “other”? Any parents out there? While this may be semi-satisfying in the moment, if the roots are not tended to, the pattern will likely repeat itself again.

Even after years of yoga training, I notice a tendency to want to rush in with an answer, or “solution” rather than to see and hear the multiple aspects of any issue. In many ways, yoga practice aids us to be less presumptive, more patient, and to perceive with greater depth.

In practice, this noteworthy wisdom looks like a movement of energy away from the alleged “cure” and recentering on the “cause”, a stepping stone towards greater realization and inner-freedom.

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