Courage to Explore. Wisdom to Know the Way.
Over on my youtube channel, I'm working on two series of videos--one vinyasa, one yin--to provide a sequence for each day of the week so that by the end of the week we cover all the areas of the body and the principle poses from the respective type of yoga. The organization of each series takes …
As autumn colors the world with leafy vibrance, it’s the perfect time to reflect on surrender. As natural beings, our bodies and minds move eagerly to the rhythm of the seasons. In the natural world, the trees break down the chlorophyll to free up nutrients. Once that's complete, plant hormones send messages each leaf stem …
Continue reading "Letting go the Autumn Leaf of Approval Seeking"
There is alchemy in the season, an alchemy we kindle in our hearts, burning away the dross of our own limiting beliefs to let our genuine selves radiate outward.
Again and again in the literature, the mind is compared to a lake reflecting reality. The smoother the surface is, the more pure the reflection. By analogy, the vritti ruffle the surface with eddies, making it harder to understand ourselves and our place in the universe at any given moment in our brief lives.
Let's talk the chakras. First, let's get grounded in the truth of the matter. The chakra system that has taken hold in the West is probably familiar to you: seven "wheels" of energy aligned along the column of the body (actually, six plus the crown perched atop the head) colored according to the rainbow. There's …
Continuing from the sutra 1.3, in which the writer sums up the whole goal of yoga (to abide in one's true nature), we come to 1.4: Vritti Sarupyam Itaratra "At other times, [the Self seems to] identify with the mind's fluctuations" Vritti = "modifications" (of the chitti, mind-stuff, mentioned in sutra 1.2), sarupyam = "assumes the forms …
Tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam Tada = "then", drastuh = "the Seer", svarupe = in one's own nature/form (sva--in one's own, rupe--form/nature) avasthanam = "abides/resides" "Then the seer [Self] abides in its own true nature" Aaaand... we get to our first verb: abides. [Who can hear the word "abide" and not think of the Big Lebowski? Anyone? Dating myself here?] With "abide", …
[This is a series of commentary on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a classical text compiling yogic wisdom. The author may be a single figure (the sage Patanjali), or may be various sages using the same title. Claims date the writing anywhere from 5000 BCE to 300 CE. It is often regarded as a core …
NOW... The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali start with a simple word: Atha. It's a Sanskrit work meaning "now", and if you read my previous post, you might have noticed the attention to the present moment. Okay, back it up. Yoga Sutras? Formerly known as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, they come from across the centuries like yogic …
January is the perfect time to rediscover the things we often take for granted, to look at them with fresh eyes. Today let's address an old yet enduring question: Q: What differentiates yoga from a stretching class? A: Well, on a purely physical level, yoga incorporates strengthening as well. Follow-up Q: So what differentiates yoga …
Yoga Journey 108 