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That Insta-smile!
Okay…okay! I’ll admit it. Despite what you see on Instagram, I am not always happy. There. I said it. And in times like these–with the people of Ukraine suffering in the most dire and frightening of circumstances–all I want to do is cry. But instead I smile. Because that’s what you do on social media.…
Read MoreThe Fallacy of Free
There’s this thought in the world: if you offer a good or a service, you should give it away for free to all your friends and family. And perhaps to various, sundry acquaintances, as well. It seems “fair” enough. What are friends for, after all? To take care of each other, lift each other up,…
Read MoreBah, Humbug…Well, That’s Too Strong…
New Year’s is not my thing. I may wish you a Happy New Year and, in fact, I probably will. But I am just as likely to wish you a happy Monday, or a happy August 29th (a very good day), or a happy Whateverdayithappenstobe. Truth is: I don’t think there is anything special about…
Read MoreWho Am I To Question Jois…?
I know I will be burned at the stake for saying this, but I find the classic Ashtanga Primary Series video led by Sri Pattabhi Jois to some of his most prominent students……well…….sort of cringy. From the tense-shouldered Urdhva Mukha Svanasana to the Chaturanga Dandasanas that are an inch off the floor, from the splayed…
Read MoreAh! The Naïveté of Youth!
When I was but a wee lass in my pre-yoga 20s, I used to wake up at 4am every day to go to the gym before work. Every day, it was the same group of worker-outers. Always the usual suspects. Among us was a man in his early 90s, who not only did an hour…
Read MoreYou’re Getting Sleepy…Sleeeeeepy….
One thing (if I can possibly name one thing) that everyone is talking about these days is how hard is has been to get a good night’s sleep during the pandemic. A year-and-a-half into all this craziness, that’s a long time to go sleep deprived. Sleep is such an incredibly important part of not just…
Read MoreWell…I Gotta Have Faith…
In a recent personal exploration of faith, I came to an unexpected conclusion: that one can be a person of tremendous religious devotion without being a person of faith. Typically, these words are used more or less interchangeably. Devout, faithful…same thing. And yet… My revelation emerged from an examination of prayer itself. The act of…
Read MoreFinancial Abundance…Beyond Wealth
I have financial abundance. Not because I am rich. Not in the conventional way, at least. In fact, my financial abundance has nothing to do with with what I have and everything to do with what I have to give. Like many, this past year-and-a-half has been a rough one for my business. When you…
Read MoreHappy Memorial Day?
Pop quiz! Quick! What is Memorial Day? Time’s up! If you said it is for honoring our servicemen and women, you are wrong. That’s Veteran’s Day. Memorial Day is a day of commemoration of those who lost their lives in the line of duty. So, it always rankles my nerves when people wish each other…
Read Moreit’s just so easy for me!
easy peasy, lemon squeezy. it always takes me aback when people comment on my photos or videosthat they will never be able to do something but it’s just so easy for me. or even better, that everything is easy for me. first of all, i’m not going to lie. most of the stuff that looks…
Read MoreSoul Purpose
Do you believe in reincarnation? I sure do. And I always have. Waaaaay before I knew a single thing about yoga, I just knew. I believe that a soul is eternal. And recyclable. I believe that child prodigies are reincarnated souls that remember. I believe we are all here to learn the lessons we failed…
Read Morelesson learned
I had been teaching almost a full decade when I decided to take a second, entry-level 200-Hour training with Sri Dharma Mittra. I was already highly experienced, already teaching at studios all over the world, but I really wanted to train with the master. Anyone who knows me–who knows my teaching–knows that I love alignment.…
Read Morei 💚 you
quick! when i say “love”, what color do you think of? bet you said red! of course you did! red is the color of fiery passion and romantic fire. red burns. it excites. it ignites. it’s the color of hearts and roses and valentines. how interesting, then, that the color associated with love in yoga–the…
Read Morewhen you give a yogini a pillow…
i’ll admit, it’s been hard for me to sleep lately. not for the normal covid reasons. it’s not anxiety or stress or depression. it’s my neck. and shoulders. living massage-free for the last eight months has not done my body well. and i wake up repeatedly during the night because my neck and shoulders just…
Read Moreis yoga a religion???
you’ll probably be surprised to hear that my entire yoga career started by teaching extensively throughout the ultra-orthodox jewish community (with both women and men). and one of my other first clients was a traditional catholic school. this, despite the vocal objections from some extremely religious people (of all faiths) that “yoga is a religion”…
Read Moreprop me up! and let me down easy…
love props? you can thank bks iyengar for those yummy blocks, satisfying straps, soothing blocks and blankets, and, of course, paul the wall. props can be used to make your asanas more accessible, deeper, or even more challenging (hello, handstands!). blocks don’t always make things easier! but no matter how you use them, ultimately, they…
Read Morewhy i never had children
i never had kids. the simple explanation is this: no man has ever wanted to marry me. the longer explanation is this: let me begin by saying that there is no one on earth who loves children more than i do. i will concede there may be some who love kids as much, but no…
Read Morethe handstand video that never was
so….i have a lot of handstand tutorials online. on youtube, i have 62 videos in my handstand mania playlist, including 31 handstand drill-a-day vids. and on my vimeo channel, it’s simply handstander’s paradise! but there is one handstand video i’ve been wanting to make for years but just haven’t been able to figure out how.…
Read Morethe full monty
if you follow me on social media, perhaps you’ve heard. or perhaps, you need to follow me a lot closer… my newest vimeo video, “the full monty“, is up and here’s why it gets its own blog post! this is a video i have been meaning to make for years but, quite frankly, i’ve been…
Read Morethe same thing…over…and over…and over again…
it started on april 14. i made a commitment that day to recite the mourner’s kaddish and psalm 23 daily for everyone who has lost his or her life either due to, or during, the coronavirus pandemic, until this nightmare, too, shall pass. every day at 1pm (pacific), i go on facebook live to say the…
Read MorecovidYAMA and coroNIYAMA
as coronavirus sentences us to solitary confinement, we are each given a unique opportunity to step back, take inventory, and think about who we were coming into this pandemic…and who we will be coming out. we are all suffering in our own way, be it emotionally, financially, mentally or all of the above. and while…
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