Journal Posts
Interestingly, if you execute a search for the word gratitude, some of the top results are links to research by academic institutions such as Harvard Medical School. Research has been conducted on the beneficial effects of gratitude on our health and wellbeing and has shown that by expressing gratitude, you decrease the focus on negative emotions and report improved mental health. Gratitude research has also shown long lasting positive effects on brain scans.
Gratitude is in line with our yoga practice as it brings us right into the present moment. We are typically grateful for something that we already have instead of focused on the past or the future. Gratitude acts similarly to one of the antidotes in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras to the fluctuations of the mind. Sutra 1.33 emphasizes expressing compassion, friendliness and happiness to cultivate a favorable disposition of the consciousness.
The holidays may be difficult for many. This is one of the reasons why we practice. So we have the tools for when the present moment is uncomfortable or challenging. Take care of...
posted: 1 year 3 months ago
posted: 9/9/20
I have to admit, I was dragging my feet on sharing a monthly newsletter, which we have done monthly since we launched over a dozen years ago! It happens sometimes, writer's block sets in, and in my experience, I just have to push through it. To be honest to some degree, I have not felt much like sharing on social media at all since the pandemic started. Mostly, because everything feels so uncomfortable, unusual & unsettled during this time.
Everything seems to be moving in slow motion and yet there is so much going on. Thankfully, we have our consistent yoga practices to rely on....
posted: 7/20/20
As we have talked about in previous articles, summer is represented by the Fire element which is our passion, joy, creativity and the quality of our relationships. This period of time of social distancing makes some of these aspects of summer challenging but we must keep these important qualities at the forefront during these fleeting months. For example, now is a great time to dig deeply into connecting or reconnecting with what brings you joy; to discover or rediscover some areas of life about which you are truly passionate. Have you always wanted to learn how to paint, draw, play a musical...
posted: 6/29/20
We are reconciling what we have collectively witnessed with regards to racism and injustice in our society. We stand with our brothers & sisters of color in solidarity and will continue to educate ourselves and foster work that helps tear down the walls of inequality in our communities.
Yoga is a gift to humanity that helps us dissolve ignorance and brings us closer to uncovering the fact that we all come from the same Divine source. We are all one race - the human race - and these horrific events have the potential to wake us up and bring us together in collective action.
This weekend...
posted: 6/4/20
We are all feeling the pain of being apart right now, even though many of us are blessed with the ability to teach and participate in our classes online. It is a very different world and it looks like it has the potential to remain in this evolved state into the foreseeable future. I don’t have a crystal ball but I do not think we are going back to where we were. The yoga studio where I teach has already decided that we will be online at least through the end of August. It is certainly unsettling AND it is giving us an opportunity to change, to innovate, and to get out of a rut.
When we...
posted: 4/17/20
The Full Moon this month is a particularly auspicious moon on many calendars. Native Americans named it the Pink Moon to denote the Pink Phlox which spreads as one of the first harbingers of spring. It is the Pesach or Passover Moon in the Hebrew Calendar. In the Christian Calendar this is the Paschal Moon as it is the full moon that marks the date of Easter or Pascha. And in the Hindu Calendar this Full Moon corresponds with the Hanuman Jayanti Festival celebrating the birth of Lord Sri Hanuman. This full moon is also the largest super moon of the year!
We are celebrating with some stories...
posted: 3/20/20
We are so lucky to have our yoga practice particularly during times of change. One of the ways we remain grounded is by adherence to the Yamas and Niyamas, one of which is Svadhyaya or self study but also includes the study of spiritual texts. I recently began re-reading the Bhagavad Gita during a particularly tumultuous time with my family. The first chapter of the book introduces us to the protagonist, Arjuna, who must go into battle with his family.
The Gita is a mythology to which we are all meant to relate. I was able to relate Arjuna's experience to what I was going through...
posted: 2/21/20
Finally, in February, we welcome the return of the light with Candlemas on Feb 1 - the midway point between the Winter Solstice & the Spring Equinox. You may have noticed an increase in energy as the days become lighter and lighter. Hopefully, you have spent some time in reflection and are starting to feel the call to begin to plant seeds to grow your vision for the New Year. And it's ok to move slowly, like the Groundhog, and return to your Winter's nest for a few more weeks.
February is a great time to get organized and make plans, but it is also a time to continue to nourish...
posted: 1/23/20
We hope you survived the New Years Celebrations relatively unscathed? So what have you learned? Not just from the holidays but from the lessons of the past year. Wintertime, the essential time of annual hibernation, is upon us and despite how our LED-powered world removes the enforcement of winter rest, we really are better served to heed her call.
The Nei Jing, the ancient Chinese Medical Text, says that “The North is the region of storing and laying by.” The extreme cold and long winters in Northern China dictated that people of the North needed to store up as much...
posted: 12/30/19
Happy Solstice!
We approach the end of this year (and Decade!) and the shortest day of the year. We then begin our return to the light from now until the Summer Solstice. For now, we rest in the stillness that the dark nights bring. Now is the time to turn inward, to rest, recover and recuperate. We will be turning the lights down low through the end of the year to spend time with friends and family to restore ourselves from a challenging year.
While we are resting, the elves in our download store will be working overtime to offer you all a gift for the end of the year! Now through the end of...
posted: 12/12/19
Here we are again at the end of what has proven for me and my family to be quite a challenging year. We are encouraged to practice renunciation as we enter the last few weeks of the year or the letting go of the results of our efforts. This is the foundation of yoga as we read Sutra I.12 in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - abhyasa vairagyabhyam tannirodhah - "Practice and detachment are the means to still the movements of consciousness." - BKS Iyengar
No matter what happens. No matter what we are facing we continue to practice the path of yoga and then we surrender our efforts...
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