on the time i saved someone’s life after a backbending class with genny
or at least his leg After the non-cheesy yoga post, how about a cheesy yoga/meditation story and an intro to the backbends category. Why backbends? Because they’re my weakness, my Achilles’ heel. I don’t hate them. By no means. I feel great after, and sometimes when, I do them. I just don’t do them well. [...]
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 history & hatha yoga : 101x
Last week when I wrote the “Wait. What is Hatha Yoga?” piece, things got out of hand. My intention was to explain simply that Hatha yoga is all physical yoga, not a style of it. But that exploded. Hatha yoga has a long and complicated history, which has thankfully gotten much more attention in the [...]
how often should I practice yoga?
Why not everyday? Because yoga is not my life, you say? Oh. Okay then. The answer varies. Yoga? But I’m Not Flexible (Beginners) When I first practiced yoga, it was very sporadic. Probably not even once a week. Are there any benefits to practicing once in awhile? Yes. Most people feel good during or after [...]
new topic: cheesy yoga/meditation stories
Who wants more stories about how yoga opened a heart to the love and abundance of the universe? Or, say, how yoga teacher training “transformed” a life and taught a budding yogi to unconditionally love everyone present. “Even the most difficult people!” That, gentle readers, is not transformation or yoga. That is repression. But I [...]
art & yoga: photography as a daily practice
Photography has always been something that brings me into the moment (except, perhaps, the few years I worked full time as a photog). It also makes me happy. Seeing something that strikes my interest and playing with it via the camera brings me joy. I’ve noticed that on these walks, a few shots can turn [...]
to practice or not to practice: ladies’ holiday
There are as many takes on yoga asana practice during menstruation as there are euphemisms for it. Ladies’ holiday, your moon (not to be confused with the moon), ladies’ days, your flow, the curse, crimson tide, the rag, that time of the month, and, refreshingly, your period, are a few you’ll hear in wider yoga [...]
yoga :: what to wear?
“preferably something opaque” endures all trends Because my shala is closed on the weekend, yesterday I took a led power class. This class is such a circus, and so different from quiet morning Mysore, that I take it almost to test my ability to focus. You know, kind of like how the aging Gandhi told [...]
why meditate?
I had promised myself I’d do a meditation retreat back in May, when I’d finally have some time. But, May is a festive time for university people and I had a lot of celebrating to do. Then it was June and I am a summer girl. I couldn’t dedicate a week or more to sitting [...]
sexytime with william broad
Oh dear. I somehow managed to ignore most of the uproar over William Broad’s “How Yoga Can Wreck Your Body” in the NYT. I didn’t really get his point, as it seems like a no-brainer. You can hurt yourself doing any physical activity, and that’s why you’re selective about what yoga you do and classes [...]
yoga at home for the holidays
Last week I was commiserating with a student who’d missed class about how difficult it is to establish a home practice. It took me about two years of consistent led classes to really get into practice on my own. Establishing a daily home practice took not only dedication, but concentration. It’s much easier to make [...]
ouch. my wrists/hands hurt in adho mukha svanasana (downward-facing dog)
I’m reposting this as many of you have had questions about wrist and hand pain in down dog. This is a quick post to answer MM’s question about her hands—the base of her hands hurt in down dog. This is a great question, because it’s a common problem. Often the wrists hurt for people who are [...]
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. [...]
more yoga in the news::slim calm sexy spirit
Jon Kabat-Zinn is going to be featured On Being this weekend. I imagine you can listen here after it airs, or just check out where it airs in your area. In NYC it’s on WNYC-AM 820, Saturday at 3:00pm and WNYC-FM 93.9, Sunday at 7:00am & 10:00pm. The site has a number of excellent resources listed, [...]
MIT-trained scientist on meditation
Oh yes, you know I’m trying to lure you brain-mongers with that title. You know I don’t care if Jon Kabat-Zinn, one of my heroes, is a scientist or a car salesman, as long as he talks such good sense. I know we’re still on break and you just want to relax a bit. But [...]
innerspace
Stay present this holiday season. :) I’m posting a bit from insideowl, because I think it speaks to the intellectuals among you. Sometimes, it is a lot: to ask intellectual people, people of the screen, to go in to the gross body. To ask them to redirect their valuable awareness to something that’s been the limiting [...]
yoga and weight loss—your mindset
Over a year ago I mentioned a post in the works about yoga and weight loss. Or maybe I said yoga and calories. I don’t recall. But it was something sexy, because god knows that’s why we do yoga. Ohhh, it hurts to write that, even in jest. But the fact remains, weight loss is [...]
art & yoga: student show
Linda has a show opening tonight at the LeRoy Neiman Gallery from 5:00-7:00pm. If you don’t have time for a break to end your week with some art and wine, the show will be up through next week (only). The LeRoy Neiman Gallery presents work from the Fall 2010 semester printmaking classes. 310 Dodge Hall, [...]
is yoga Hindu?
Yes, another yoga article in the NYT (like Sarah Palin, I do read other things. I just can’t think of any right now). I often find articles not directly about yoga much more interesting than those that are. There’s a debate on about yoga’s origins, and it’s gone viral “—or as viral as things can [...]
Namaste नमस्ते
Months ago, a friend living in Beijing complained about yoga teachers using Sanskrit and not explaining the meaning. She was especially annoyed by closing class with “namaste,” when many didn’t know what it meant. I believe my friend and college Ben also takes issue with this. I’m guilty of it, I admit, largely because I [...]
the yoga of sylvester graham
Jessica’s fantastic comment a few posts back reminded me of my undergrad thesis on health reform. Sylvester Graham was an activist of the 1800s. He had many interesting beliefs (and followers, like Ralph Emerson and Upton Sinclair), some of which parallel those of yogis. He was generally severe, believing that such things as cold cereal [...]
