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Self correcting…
I was wrong (or at least only half right). When I wrote about Svadhyaya about a year-and-a-half ago, I did reveal the big yoga truth about this elusive Niyama. (You’ll have to read the blog to find out…but it’s not what you think. Really.). Within the concept of Svadhyaya lies the practice itself and in so…
Read Moremental override
it seems that every yoga studio on earth has made the (odd) decision to install air conditioning units that require three master degrees in engineering (and perhaps a doctorate or two) to make them work. people are always asking me to set the temperature and, as hard as i try, i just sit there punching…
Read Moreyelp me out here!
sorry for the rant, but yelp hates me. and if you are a small business, chances are that they hate you, too. i am not talking about the reviewers (they love me! all five stars!). i’m talking about the actual app and how it is nefariously and deliberately aligned against small business. very un-yoga-like. it’s…
Read MoreWestside Walky-Talky by POEMliving
What is Walky-Talky? Well, it’s pretty much what it sounds like. We walk together and we talk: honest companionship that helps you transcend the isolation of the digital age. Too commonly, we lose ourselves inside our tech, work 24/7, and completely miss out on the broader spectrum of living. Human interaction has largely disintegrated into…
Read MorePOEMliving
It’s been a while in the making and today I officially launch POEMliving. Personal Organization, Empowerment, and Motivation. A perfect complement to any yoga-minded lifestyle, I started POEMliving because so many people come to me from so many walks of life, just walking in circles, lost, confused, frustrated. I guess it’s the Virgo in me…
Read Morespiritual but not religious
if social media is any indication, most “yogis” under about 50 years old consider themselves “spiritual but not religious”. i find this equal parts depressing and hilarious. depressing, because it seems like there is no place for God (however you like to identify and name him, her, it…) in today’s world. even in the yoga…
Read MoreWhy Me? 10 Great Reasons.
So, you’re considering YOGAthletica Teacher Training. Awesome! Oh…and you’re considering a bunch of others, too. Okay. Here is why YOGAthletica 200-Hour Teacher Training Intensive is your best training option: 1. Shana has been teaching yoga full-time since March 2002. Her extensive experience and proficiency with the practice is almost unparalleled in the industry. 2. Shana…
Read Morethe truth hurts
i’m 47. i know it’s generally not smiled upon for a woman to shout her age to the hilltops, but smile away. there are things i can control in this life–my attitude, my diet, my practice–and there are things i can’t. aging is way up there with the things i can’t. honestly, i wear my…
Read Morehow to love your job (even if you aren’t a yoga instructor)
does the acronym “tgif” mean anything to you? do you live for the weekend? hate mondays? if so, i have some bad news for you. you’re wasting 5/7th’s of your life. and that sucks. life is short enough as it is. let’s assume–like 98% of the world (according to my own very unscientific survey of…
Read Morethe new yoga competition
i remember when i first heard about bikram’s asana championship (was it in 2002?). i was absolutely appalled. how could there be an asana championship when asana is a state of mind far more than a state of body? were they going to attach electrodes to competitors’ heads to see who was the calmest? fast…
Read Moreinstant karma’s not gonna get you
bad news. instant karma is not gonna get you. worse news. there’s no such thing as instant karma beyond the beatles. as my mom always told me, “life is not a meritocracy.” and as an adult, i can now attest (excuse my french), “no shit.” i say this by way of justifying the karmic concept,…
Read Morewhat would bob do?
when i started yoga–around the turn of the century–each asana had two names. one was the sanskrit name and one was the translation. bhujangasana, cobra. dhanurasana, bow. natarajasana, king dancer. these days, it seems every pose has a hundred names. none in sanskrit and none in translation. classic asana nomenclature has transformed into modern slang.…
Read Morelove. yoga.
the other day, i was asked the simple question, “what is love?”. though, of course, there is no simple answer. i may love yoga, my husband (the imaginary one), my cat, and my iphone, but each manifestation takes a completely different form than the other. i’m not going to have intercourse with yoga, my cat,…
Read Morewe are not yogis (or yoginis)
hey ho, all ye seekers of truth and bliss! ye journeyers upon the yellow brick road to samadhi! o’ enlightened ones! have you picked up your copy of the yoga sutras of patanjali? you’ll want that one. it’s the roadmap for all good little yogis and yoginis. here are the cliff notes, in case you…
Read Moretop 6 reasons NOT to come to YOGAthletica teacher training
so, you’re thinking about getting your yoga certification. good for you! great for you! spectacular for you! there are ten million teacher trainings out there. perhaps mine is one you are considering. terrific! i’m here to help you make the best possible decision…and offer the top five reasons why you should NOT come to YOGAthletica…
Read Morelosing the game
oh, wow. i’m blogging about instagram again. the beast. it seems that instagram holds the whole yoga world captive in its far-reaching facebook-y tentacles. as hard as i have tried, it seems i have been fighting an uphill war of attrition. i keep my eye on other people i know with skyrocketing numbers of followers.…
Read Morethe satya superpower
if you have ever read the yoga sutras of patanjali, you may be a bit cynical about some of its claims. for example, you may not actually believe that through the practice of perfect meditation and mindfulness you can make yourself invisible (3:21), read minds (3:19), or levitate (3:39). (then again, you might…and i would…
Read Moreit’s not what you think…really.
Let’s talk about svadhyaya, shall we? Svadhyaya is the fourth of the niyamas (which are the second anga of the ashtanga) and certainly the most misunderstood. Literally translated: self-study. People bandy this word about in very fancy ways. On Facebook, on instagram, in blog posts. Very profound. They go on and on about deep, deep…
Read Moreyour strongest muscle
2017 was, well, crappy. Let’s not mince words. Among other things, I spent the entire second half of the year with excruciating tendinitis in both elbows (golfer’s AND tennis elbow in each)…and knees…and in my right biceps. Add to that two bad shoulders (that I have lived with for over a decade) and a neck…
Read Morethe yogi in my trashroom
there’s a yogi in my trash room. ask patanjali. he’ll tell you all about it. in the astanga of the yoga sutras, there are eight limbs. the first two are yama and niyama…the code of conduct for living. and the culmination of the niyamas is ishvara pranidhana, submission to a higher power. the final limb…
Read Morei will make you sing!
i consider myself a pretty competent human being. i can at least sort of do everything i set out and try to do. that was until i tried making a singing bowl sing. 😆 thinking this would be another fabulous skill to add to my vast repertoire (think yoga, eating and sleeping), i got this…
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