We often believe there is some secret formula that will give us success in yoga practice or some magic pill that will give us health and longevity. We rarely look to ourselves as personal healer or guide. Yet the yoga texts tell us that all that is required is faith and perseverance on our part …
Lately I get more messages in my inbox from people trying to sell me yoga stuff than real student inquiries. Offers of anything I can possibly need for a successful yoga practice. But to achieve yoga we are told we need to give up everything. Yoga texts clearly indicate that all desires must be dissolved. …
According to yoga texts it is contraindicated to perspire excessively. They go as far as saying to stay out of the sun and avoid being near fire when practicing. The understanding is that it leads to a loss of energy and vitality known as Ojas. If sweating does occur, they do not recommend showering after …
One simple thing to do every day is to take care of our feet. By keeping the ankles and toes open and receptive we aid the body in proper circulation of fluids, lengthening the lifespan. As the saying goes, ‘we die from the feet up’. Meridians have their end points in each toe and internal …
The filling of the feeding tube is a constant in our lives. The question we must ask ourselves is if we live to eat or if we eat to live. Yoga demands the latter. Whether it’s through food, drink or media, we are usually ingesting something at any given moment in our day. Yoga asks …
Yoga is not activism. The very method of obtainment demands complete inactivity. We are told by the texts that to get to the state of Yoga we are required to be inactive, not moving, in body, thoughts or breath. But it seems like yoga today is more about community and festivals, supporting a cause, saving …
Drivers are taught to yield to oncoming traffic and to be prepared to stop if necessary. To merge is to permit what is already flowing to have precedence over our wish to continue as desired. Both require adaptability and skill. If we impose our beliefs and desires and not see clearly what is actually going …
Ancient yogis were illiterate, homeless and penniless beggars, yet they claim to have found freedom. They arrived at such understandings of the body, mind and the universe it puts most high priced experts to shame. Are the comforts we seek and the free information we receive liberating us or placing us in deeper bondage? We …
Yoga texts endlessly communicate the importance of having a teacher. Without one we fall blind to our conditioning and habitual ways of self-sabotage and deceit. The student must seek out a teacher that can patiently penetrate their resistant armour and not simply coddle their insecurities. There must be a connection from the start on both …
Our external environment cyclically brings changes to the elements we are made up of regardless of our unique constitutions. Each Ayurvedic dosha has its natural time of accumulation, vitiation (aggravation) and balance. Kapha (water and earth) accumulates in the winter, is vitiated in the spring and balances in the summer Pitta (fire and water) accumulates …
