tradition: ashtanga, vinyasa & 8-limbs lite™
The yoga history thread is on hold as I’ve picked up too many books on the subject to continue until they’re parsed. Much has been published since I first read up on it ten years back. If you must read something now I suggest Joseph Alter’s Yoga in Modern India. For a break, I’ll address [...]
yoga etiquette 201
Yoga Etiquette 101 covers the basics of getting to the mat. This will get you through class and out the door. Keep in mind that it’s not the end of the world if you transgress once in awhile. It happens to everyone. But do avoid making these things a habit. Try Not to Be Territorial [...]
yoga etiquette 101
Like most subcultures, yoga has an unspoken etiquette. When it is spoken, or posted on signs in studios, it’s often ignored. Who reads signs when they could read a flirtatious text on their phone? Probably the person trying to get by, annoyed that someone is blocking the hallway, texting, totally unawares. But she already knows [...]
how to find a yoga teacher/studio
Students frequently ask me upon graduation or a university break “Do you recommend a good yoga studio around here?” Unfortunately, I don’t. Finding a yoga studio, or as you become more advanced, finding a teacher, is an extremely personal endeavor. It’s a mix of solid logistics, such as location, cost, and schedule, and an indescribable [...]
the thing about gurus: a kumaré review
Gurus have always been problem for me, perhaps my biggest in the yoga and meditation worlds. Though perhaps it’s the strange and often appropriated spirituality that bothers me, and gurus are an offshoot of that. The reason I’ve left most sanghas (communities) is because there comes a point that if you aren’t into the guru, [...]
yoga & film: kumaré & five ways
Hey, Art & Yoga people: Purva’s Kumaré opens this week at IFC, screening on Wednesday and Thursday. I first saw Purva in East is East at MTC in 1999. Seven (?) years later she showed up in my yoga classes, and is still a Sunshine fan. The documentary is getting lots of great press and [...]
art & yoga :: five ways to leave your lover
This Saturday night at Columbia, Lukas (you know, the creator of the “emo” playlist) has a short in a film festival at Dodge. The other Dodge. Details: Saturday, April 23rd, room 511 of Dodge Hall. 7:00pm ~ 9:00pm. Lukas says: Lots of cool short films from Columbia University film students. I’m premiering the third vignette [...]
chain yoga ~ so it goes
Mysore Intermediate Class, Mysore, India. Photo care of Govinda Kai. Just when it seemed they’d gone silent on our requests and the decision was final, we learned they won’t be canceling Tuesday-Thursday Mysore. It doesn’t feel like much a victory, though, as it’s coming at our instructor’s expense. So YWs puts its clients before its [...]
ashtanga uprising. who cares?
Many thanks to Govinda Kai for use of his image (Gurubanda) “So do yoga at home twice a week. Or sleep past 5am like a normal person and skip it,” you say. “Get over it. Look at what’s going on in the world and you complain about this?” No, no, no. That’s not the point. [...]
corporate yoga and what you’d imagine
I practice a style of yoga called Mysore, the traditional style of Ashtanga. I wrote a bit about how I came to this practice in the last post if you are curious, so I won’t go into it again here. We practice six days a week, early in the morning. We practice daily not only [...]
how to find a good yoga studio
I don’t talk about my own practice much here, but it’s time. For two reasons: because when my students leave Columbia, they always ask, and because of the happenings at the studio where I practice. My own yoga has always shaped my teaching, and it’s taken its share of twists and turns over the years. [...]
locked house this weekend
Come see Sam’s play, Locked House, this weekend. It’s on at the black box in Shapiro. Free! Support your fellow yogi. :) ,,,
