What do you remember about your first time? I asked Jeff, a recent graduate of the 200-hour yoga teacher training at PYC, to share this insanely funny story he told us about his first time. He had us all rolling on the floor laughing. It began something like this…His name was Nigel. My first impression of Nigel was that he was strange! A tall man with the long yogic beard, a turban on top his head and a penchant for not wearing much clothing. …
I recently received a delicious email. I loved the questions it posed so very much, and found it so insightful, that… Read more Pre-Transformation Yoga Nerves Q & A
This January yoga teacher training month was a magical one filled with palm-sized radiant blue morpho butterflies fluttering through the… Read more January Yoga Teacher Training Group Photos
I am full of gratitude to be featured in the premier issue of Mantra Magazine. My #1 hope is that… Read more “My Mantra Is Metta”
Remember the Myth of Sisyphus? Dude condemned to push a boulder up a hill every day and watch it roll… Read more Sisyphus, Effort Aversion, And The Crazy Wisdom of Doing Nothing
It’s been about two years now since I found out I have a minor S-curve type of scoliosis (left lumbar/right… Read more Yoga For Scoliosis: Rotational Strength, De-rotating The Spine
by Alex Lanau
Ever wonder how to be healthy in a never ending sea of information? Me too.
My intention is to find the Tao of Food, the so-called Middle Way between starting every day swirling coconut oil and a colon cleanse or ingesting bacon, hashbrowns, a cigarette, and a chug mug of cola. I want to shine a light on the absurdity…
Today is a day of celebration, a day to lean into joy. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it would not be granting an easement under Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access pipeline to cross the Missouri River, just a half mile upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation.
Last week I checked in with Rachel Irwin, who was at the front lines of the Standing Rock protest. I asked her a few questions for a peek into what the experience was like.
In last month’s newsletter I talked about a mindfulness practice I’ve taken up as a result of a photograph that caught… Read more Friendliness Meditation
For the fifth year straight, non-profits are taking part in #GivingTuesday. It’s a great way to give to causes close to… Read more #GivingTuesday
As I walk into the studio at dawn, a sliver of moon is still visible, like a blessing. I’m empty. I ask myself the question I’ve come to associate with Viśvamitra, the question I ask during the Art of Flow yoga teacher training, and in yoga classes whenever I’m teaching Viśvamitrasana as the peak pose. The theme is tapas but…
What happens when the language cues in yoga superimpose images that don’t match up to reality? It creates a disconnect between body and concept. Unfortunately, because of our mind-dominant culture, it is usually the concept that wins. The body tries to conform. We are quite adept at conforming to outside influences: look at 4-inch heels, foot-binding and spanxs. Yoga becomes another place where mind rules over body; when actually yoga practice should be the place where the body’s inherent intelligence guides the way forward. But just imagine: what if the process of foot-contact exploration held the potential to open a magic portal …?
Bone isn’t going to give.
This anatomical truth, unlike Donald Trump’s stance on pretty much everything, is not going to change. So my heart breaks a little bit when students who have been practicing for years, decades even, some of them past dancers and gymnasts with thousands of hours of flexibility and strength training, approach me after class to ask what they can do to get their shins parallel in pigeon pose….
This cue was all the rage in the late 90s, and I fear it is coming back into fashion, as I’ve heard it a lot recently. Admittedly, I did a lot of micro-bending in my 20s. So much so that, by 30, my knees ached regularly; they hurt just standing in line at the grocery store, in tadasana, mountain pose. It took a great deal of conscious effort and a strong yoga practice to unwind unhealthy muscle memory and create …
