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...]
Meditation 101
This morning kicked off a four-week meditation course I'm teaching at Journey Yoga in Arlington, VA. It was exciting to see 14 yogis I've never met before truly interested in learning how to meditate. It was also fun to share with them that yoga is so much more than the asanas -the yoga poses. The physical postures of yoga are just a sliver (seriously, like 1%) of what makes up the practices of yoga, yet they are what we most think of when we hear the term "yoga". Yoga, as defined by … [Read more...]
Yoga Secrets – in the heart of NYC
After spending this past weekend with Sri Dharma Mittra, I am convinced there is no reason to travel to India or some far away land to experience the best of yoga. Teaching yoga since 1967, Sri Dharma founded the first independent school of yoga in NYC in 1975 and is known internationally as the "Teachers' Teacher". Smack in the heart of Manhattan, he has been sharing the secrets of success not just in yoga but in life. As he stated on Sunday, there are just four things you need to do to … [Read more...]
Beyond OM
As Sri Dharma Mittra often states at the start of a Master class, "all yoga practices begin and end with the sound of OM." True to form, this video captures this instruction at the beginning of his full day of teaching at the Washington Convention Center April 6, 2014. Beyond the sacred sound of OM, which is said to be the oldest mantra in the world, there are many other mantras frequently chanted in asana classes at yoga studios around the world. Mantras exist for many things including … [Read more...]
Moderation is Key
At least twice a year I recommit to stop buying books on Amazon.com and instead read one of the many I already own (and this is one of those times!). Regardless of this commitment, almost daily I pick up one of my many versions of either The Yoga Sutras or The Bhagavad Gita - both are key if you wish to delve deep into the philosophical heart of yoga. So while the rain poured and poured outside this morning, I huddled reading a few slokas (aka verses) of my favorite version of The Bhagavad … [Read more...]
What is Yoga?
I teach yoga as a one-credit undergraduate course at GWU in Washington, DC. At the start of each semester, I ask the students to pair up and define within a couple sentences "what is yoga?" As they're crafting their answers I remind them that whatever they come up with, it's right. Yoga is a very individual experience so for each person the definition will vary. Here are a few of the responses I received in last week's class: - Yoga is a way to improve posture - It helps reduce … [Read more...]
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