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Get Your Perfect Body…100% GUARANTEED!

Hi, You! So…you want a perfect body… Don’t we all! Well, you’re in luck, because I am about to make you a promise that holds a 100% guarantee. YOGAthletica will get you that perfect body. Period. In fact, if you practice yoga correctly (even with some other teacher 🤨 ), you will get a perfect body. How…

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Not That Person

Last month, my BFF Nicla and I went to Costa Rica for my 52nd birthday and there was one particularly interesting leg of the journey.  We went on an amazing horseback ride through the rainforest and across the black sandy beach (side note: if you haven’t been to Costa Rica, go.). It was pouring rain–as…

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My Handstand Teacher

A very famous yoga instructor taught me how to straddle press to handstand. That may or may not surprise you, but this will: She was never my teacher. Not online, not offline, not ever, anywhere, any time. But then again, she was. You see, this woman and I used to take all the same classes…

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yoga is worth nothing

By Shana | April 10, 2020

ah! yoga in quarantine! it helps us stay connected. it helps us stay strong. it helps us stay sane! and it’s worth…nothing. or at least that’s the message the world is sending: “online yoga rocks!” “online yoga is a life saver!” “online yoga is free! or else, i’m out.” hey, i understand that everyone wants…

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how many times have you said this???

By Shana | February 27, 2020

i would assume i am not alone in saying that, as a yoga instructor, the comment i hear from students the most is, “i wish i started yoga ten/twenty/thirty years ago!”. heck, i’ve said it myself! (i didn’t start yoga until just before my 30th birthday). well, unfortunately, we don’t have time machines, but we…

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meditate for your life!

By Shana | January 1, 2020

if you have ever spent any time studying yoga, you know that meditation (not asana!) is the cornerstone of the practice. meditation teaches us how to calm our bodies, still our minds, and move beyond the attachments of this world. for most casual meditators, the process is accessible–and even enjoyable–when the conditions are just right.…

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I Gained Weight with Intermittent Fasting. And Here’s Why…

By Shana | December 1, 2019

It’s funny how brain waves and the shared conscience works. In January, I had never heard of intermittent fasting, but I stumbled into it anyway. I had no idea that it was a huge trend or even a thing for that matter. It just made sense to me. I was teaching my 200-hour Teacher Training…

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your worst day

By Shana | September 27, 2019

you know those days? the ones when you really don’t feel like getting out of bed? and everything seems to be going wrong? and everything is just off? yeah, we all have those days. i have them more than i care to admit. so, i won’t. most people back off their practice when their energy…

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Self correcting…

By Shana | August 26, 2019

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…

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mental override

By Shana | July 18, 2019

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…

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yelp me out here!

By Shana | June 28, 2019

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…

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Westside Walky-Talky by POEMliving

By Shana | May 28, 2019

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…

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POEMliving

By Shana | April 27, 2019

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…

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spiritual but not religious

By Shana | February 22, 2019

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…

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Why Me? 10 Great Reasons.

By Shana | January 8, 2019

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…

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the truth hurts

By Shana | January 4, 2019

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…

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how to love your job (even if you aren’t a yoga instructor)

By Shana | December 29, 2018

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…

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the new yoga competition

By Shana | November 1, 2018

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…

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instant karma’s not gonna get you

By Shana | October 5, 2018

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,…

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what would bob do?

By Shana | August 29, 2018

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.…

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love. yoga.

By Shana | July 21, 2018

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,…

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we are not yogis (or yoginis)

By Shana | June 24, 2018

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…

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top 6 reasons NOT to come to YOGAthletica teacher training

By Shana | May 31, 2018

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…

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losing the game

By Shana | May 3, 2018

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.…

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