We're in the midst of the second week of 2016. How are your New Year's resolutions progressing? It is said that about 45-50% of us make New Year's resolutions every year; yet only about 8% of us achieve them. For many, we have several things on the list we want to accomplish in the New Year. One problem with having "several" things is we become overwhelmed and then frustrated when we're not making the progress we intended. Rather than work on several resolutions at once, pick just … [Read more...]
The Business of Yoga (part 1)
I'm sure you've heard it multiple times...when you're passionate about what you do professionally, it doesn't feel like work. I'm lucky to say I've been experiencing this for the last six plus years teaching yoga full-time in the vicinity of Washington, DC. When I left my last marketing gig, I realized I no longer thrived in the corporate atmosphere like I once had just a couple years prior. Already an Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), I wondered how I could possibly make a living doing … [Read more...]
Karma Yarma Smarma
No, the title of this post is not Sanskrit for something particular or grand. It's simply me being frustrated with myself for not fully understanding karma. I realized today (after pondering this topic the entire month of September & not posting a single thought about it) that maybe that's the point of karma. As with many of the yoga sutras & other yoga philosophy, they're often easier to read about and get vs. live. Further try to apply them in full-blown action and whoa! life wakes … [Read more...]
Are You a REAL Yoga Teacher?
As part of the 2012 Arts Festival Day at an elementary school in Alexandria, VA, my yoga teacher-friend Brittanie DeChino and I volunteered to do a few yoga demonstrations to third, fourth and fifth-graders. We taught them sound breathing (a breathing technique we learned from our teacher Sri Dharma Mittra), sun salutations, balancing poses, partner yoga and a few other fun things. It was a nice change from my daily office yoga gigs. At the end of each 20-minute presentation, we opened it up … [Read more...]
2012: A Year of Challenge
With permission I have copied & pasted Sri Dharma Mittra's latest message from the Dharma Yoga Center 12/31/2011 newsletter. I admit it's a lot to take in. My suggestion: Read it here, then print it to have on hand so you can reread it several times, contemplate upon it and decide what it means for you. Enjoy! HAPPY NEW YEAR! A Message from Dharma: All suffering and pain experienced on the material plane is for the purpose of purification - the gradual cleaning … [Read more...]
Karma Yoga Defined
Yoga is Sanskrit for the word union. Yoga means uniting body, mind and soul. Yoga also means uniting with other souls. This to me is where Karma Yoga comes in. A main component of my yoga teacher training with Sri Dharma Mittra is Karma Yoga. So beyond just performing my hours of karmic duty to fulfill my training requirements, I've been really thinking a lot about how so many small and daily actions can be considered Karma Yoga. Karma Yoga is defined as selfless service. When selfless … [Read more...]