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Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ask the AYP, Teaching Ashtanga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Will Not Keep Bad Things From Happening
Yoga is not an inoculation against bad things. It is the science of learning how to deal with bad things when they happen. If you are lucky, you start to view “bad” things as just events and you don’t label them at all. On my last post, someone commented and asked, “how can you hurt yourself when you are practicing Ahimsa?” Easy. Most people don’t wake up in the morning and say. “I feel like hurting myself today. I really want to get in a car accident, maybe get a cold, catch my husband in bed with his co-worker, rip my hamstring, and have to bail my son out of…
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Yoga and the Path of Forgiveness
Why do people love Ashtanga? It works. It heals. It has changed their lives. In the science of Yoga, firsthand experience is seen as the highest proof. 99% practice, 1% theory. Every day people are having the firsthand experience of how this practice is a catalyst for positive change in the world. This practice can work without our commentary. It can work without being announced on social media. It works in the wee hours of the morning when people silently come together in Shalas. It works in home practice rooms where lone practitioners practice to the sound of their loved ones moving around them. Yoga gives its gifts to anyone,…
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Ask the AYP: What is an Established Yoga Practice?
I was asked by Natalie to define Sutra 1:14-“Practice becomes firmly grounded when well attended to for a long time, without break and in all earnestness.” What feels like a long time is different for everyone. I have seen students give up on Ashtanga because they can’t go past Marichyasana after a month and that feels like a long time for them. While other students are at Marichyasana for 2 years and they are totally content and unbothered. I am not going to focus on the time because it is an illusion. What feels long for one, feels short for others. While commentators have definitely taken a stab at what a…
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Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ask The APP, Ask the AYP, Social Media, Uncategorized, Yoga Sutras
Ask the AYP: Cultivating a Home Yoga Practice
This comment came through on the AYP this week. I have very little trouble getting up. Trouble begins when I hit my mat. I find it very difficult to keep myself going in my home practice. It just doesn’t flow in the same way. Every asana is a struggle and a negotiation with myself to just do one more. Would love any advice anyone has on this particular struggle…. 🙂K. I used to be a home practitioner. I am not going to lie. It is extremely difficult. Like you, I had no problems getting on my mat, but once I got there, my energy and enthusiasm waned. This is what…
