Dear friends, I recently had the honor and privilege of being interviewed by Anne Marie Schultz for the IYNAUS (Iyengar Yoga National Association of the US) Newsletter 'Student Spotlight' section. I enjoyed working on these questions during my annual week of study with Patricia Walden this summer. The interview eventually went through an editing process, … Continue reading IYNAUS Student Spotlight Interview
Riding the Wave: Adidas, Assessment, Mexico, the Iyengar Centenary Intensive, and Geetaji.
"Yoga should not be taken lightly, as if it were a hobby. It should be approached with faith, enthusiasm, determination, keenness, courage, will, and dedication." -Geeta S. Iyengar Nothing but Divine hands could have sculpted the incredible unfolding of my life the last few months. Leaps of faith, clarity, fear and the going beyond fear … Continue reading Riding the Wave: Adidas, Assessment, Mexico, the Iyengar Centenary Intensive, and Geetaji.
Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Decolonizing Yoga
The following is a piece is inspired by the work I'm exploring in both the Albuquerque Waking up to Whiteness course and Denver Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training. In contemplating my embodied experience of the definitions BKS Iyengar lays out in the introduction to Light on Yoga, I am inequal measures reflecting about the marga, or … Continue reading Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, Decolonizing Yoga
Six Things I Love About the Pelvic Floor.
In preparing for my upcoming workshop, "Yoga and the Pelvic Floor: Anatomy, Asana, and Energetics," I am once again in a place of digging deeper, and becoming amazed at our incredible, vital, tender, strong pelvic floors... how without certain care, our bodies do become problematic in numerous ways as a result of collapse, aging, repetitive … Continue reading Six Things I Love About the Pelvic Floor.
Femur Grounding: Understanding More About This Key to Stability.
Organizing the femur in the hip socket is foundational to nearly every other action we explore in our yoga practice. Similar to “quieting the mind,” femur grounding is not an action we do, and then it is done, rather it is like a search for a holy grail in that it is a moment to … Continue reading Femur Grounding: Understanding More About This Key to Stability.
Koshas, Pratyahara, and Restorative Yoga for Detoxicification
In preparation for my upcoming workshop, "Body-Mind Detox with Restorative Yoga," I am having a fun time exploring how to make some of the more traditional cleansing poses, such as marichayasana II, (pictured below) accessible to folks who don't have the hip organization that would allow these deep forward bends and twists, which utilize tonifying pressure to release the … Continue reading Koshas, Pratyahara, and Restorative Yoga for Detoxicification
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Yummm.... Ready for 2014!!
Favorite Teachers
In the next month or so two of my most beloved teachers are visiting Albuquerque. In my experience it is a rare and profound opportunity to study with truly great teachers, and even if the Iyengar method isn't your route into this work, I sense you'd get a lot from any amount with Francois, or … Continue reading Favorite Teachers
Urdva Hastasana Saves the Day
Delightful, today, to feel the upward rise, like the reach of a candle flame, so deep in my center. I was practicing Urdva Hastasana, or "Upward arms pose." Tadasana, with arms raised high, heads of the humerus (upper arm bones), outer heads of the femurs, or greater trochanters (top of the thigh bones) and center … Continue reading Urdva Hastasana Saves the Day
Yoga for Self Love…?
This weekend's workshop, Self Love Through Yoga, may seem like a nice thought... but what will this look like in terms of practice, and experience? When we perceive our thoughts, feelings and actions to be "good," it's easy to "love" ourselves, or at least feel capable of receiving love, appreciation, acceptance, or attention. These feelings build up a healthy … Continue reading Yoga for Self Love…?
Yoga as Survival
Our human life expects so much of us. All these tender layers of self, moving through a vast, complex world. And especially now, when we have had little time to evolve to cope with the pace, technological stimulation, societal structures, expectations, and chemical environment of our modern world; when so much has changed in the last 100 … Continue reading Yoga as Survival
Pincha Mayurasana Thoughts: Motivations for Stability
As we dive into the new year, I have been enjoying a return to the structure and routine of daily life, and the psychological stability that gives. Around the time of solstice my practice became more restorative, introspective, and a way to assimilate the flurry of holiday experiences. While I like to keep a thread of restoration … Continue reading Pincha Mayurasana Thoughts: Motivations for Stability