An Unplanned Break from Air Conditioning (and Yogic Physical and Emotional Equilibrium)
I came home last night from my cousin’s funeral to discover that the temperature in the house was 83F (it is now up to 86F). The air conditioning system, which had been serviced last week, is now not working at… (READ MORE)
A Flood of Memories (and Luminous Spaciouness)
I returned home yesterday from teaching my Willow Street classes and having a late lunch with a friend to a message on my answering machine from my mother advising me that a cousin had died. Although I was not close… (READ MORE)
Not just freedom from
Paul Muller-Ortega, who is offering a meditation and philosophy workshop at Willow Street Yoga Center this weekend, says that sadhana (yoga practice, incuding meditation), doesn’t just give us “freedom from, but also freedom to.” The “freedom from” is freedom from… (READ MORE)
Stringing Baby Seed Pearls (and “Opening to Grace”)
Last night I sat down at my kitchen table to string baby seed pearls for a mother-of-pearl charm I had gotten from Manoj a few years ago. When I took the pearles off of the thread they came on and… (READ MORE)
An Environmental Perspective on Yoga
Every once and a while, I poll my students and ask them whether they find that they need less medication and medical intervention (testing and other procedures) than before they were regularly practicing yoga. Students uniformly advise that they take… (READ MORE)
The Svadharma of the Pinky Toe (and Radical Affirmation)
Svadharma, from sva (self) and dharma (duty) means our personal path, duty, calling, or place. The principle of svadharma is a significant teaching in various yoga texts, such as the Bhagavad Gita, especially emphasizing the importance in acting in accordance… (READ MORE)
Track Work on the Red Line
I am writing this post as I sit on the Metro platform at Takoma, waiting for a train back to Union Station. There were already dozens of people waiting when I got here. I have been here for ten minutes… (READ MORE)
Blogging by Blackberry (after thoughts on discipline and freedom)
When I pause to think about it–something I try to do consistently with the fruits of technology–it is an extraordinary marvel that I can be telling stories to the world from a little device I am holding in my hand,… (READ MORE)
Intention, Discipline, and Freedom
One of the primary themes at the Anusara certified teachers’ gathering this week with John Friend has been how discipline and technique serve our yoga. In keeping with the elemental Anusara principles of “attitude, alignment, and action” (iccha, jnana, kriya),… (READ MORE)