I recently tweeted "I love when people say they don't have time to #meditate. Get this: there are 1,440 min/day & 5 min is just .03% of the day. #breathe" Whether you live in a city like Washington, DC or not, most of us live in a chaotic world. Remember "back in the day" when technology was touted as a way to make life easier? In some ways it has offered many conveniences (my favorite is I can deposit checks via my phone). The drawback is people are ON 24/7 which means their minds … [Read more...]
How Yoga Changes Your Body
I absolutely had to share this infograph from the Huffington Post article How Yoga Changes Your Body, Starting The Day You Begin. It's an amazing representation of what you will experience immediately after a yoga class (even your first class) and the benefits you'll discover after practicing yoga for several months. The key is practice. Simply getting on your mat, moving and breathing on a regular basis. As Pattabhi Jois said "practice and all is coming." Beyond the infograph, the … [Read more...]
Anywhere, Anytime
A few nights ago I had the pleasure of teaching yoga outside to a local Mom's group. For a summer evening, the weather was perfect! The sky was clear and it was much cooler than the usual Washington, DC hot, humid nights we've been accustomed to lately. The location for the yoga class was amazing - Fort Hunt Park in Alexandria, VA which is a historic spot about 10 miles from DC. There were 9 of us enjoying the lush green space and open sky. For me it was a nice reminder the beauty of yoga … [Read more...]
How I Love Teaching Office Yoga
Last week I was grateful to teach a series of office yoga sessions for a huge global real estate company with several DC locations as part of their employee health & wellness program. After spending three days in a row in Bethesda (Tues), Washington, DC (Wed) and Tysons Corner (Thurs) teaching the benefits of yogic breathing and movement (yoga asana) in conference rooms, I realized a few things: Yoga is accessible to everyone, anywhere, anytime. In these office yoga sessions I actually … [Read more...]
Yoga’s Little Secret: Pranayama
"...the movements of inhalation and exhalation should be controlled. This is pranayama." sutra 2.49 "Or that calm is retained by the controlled exhalation or retention of the breath." sutra 1.34 Pranayama is yoga's little secret. Outside of the yoga world, no one talks about fully dedicating attention to your breath unless you're hyperventilating or experience some other health issue like pneumonia or asthma. Even then, in my limited experience, the medical world rarely knows what the … [Read more...]