Topics from the Yoga Circles book
My first yoga class was in a library, not a gym or a yoga studio. It was a community school class held at the high school I’d graduated from five years earlier. I remember that class well, even though it was decades ago. Even though I fell in love with yoga quickly, I only practiced … [Read more…]
For Christians, Lent is traditionally a time to fast and repent. It’s a time to make a conscious effort to put aside obstacles to our relationship with God. If you’re Christian, or if you know Christians, you may associate Lent with giving up chocolate or alcohol, for example. For yogis who are also Christian, there … [Read more…]
Love is a noun. It’s also a verb. So, when you say you love (fill in the blank), what do you mean? I’ll bet you mean something different almost every time you say it, because you’re defining love by what you do (or feel or think). Many people believe in the concept of unconditional love. … [Read more…]
Have you ever left a yoga class feeling like you’re floating on a cloud? Even if the feeling isn’t so dramatic, I’m sure you’ve experienced a shift after a yoga class that makes you wonder how yoga and the nervous system are connected. Maybe you go into class feeling anxious and you leave feeling calm. … [Read more…]
You won’t escape people asking about New Year’s resolutions or intentions for the new year. If you’re like me (I haven’t made New Year’s resolutions in nearly a decade) you may cringe when everyone starts talking about all the ways their lives will be different after January first. You’ve probably noticed most resolutions or intentions … [Read more…]
It would seem at first that being authentic, while a valuable concept, isn’t really a yoga topic. But it’s come up in my yoga classes more than once recently—and I think I know why. I wrote a while ago about one of my teacher’s dharma talks about vulnerability, and how being authentic isn’t possible unless we … [Read more…]
Yogis are often interested in Buddhism, especially in the West. After all, our yoga practice has roots in Eastern spirituality and is associated with a major Eastern religion (Hinduism). So, it makes sense that at some point, many of us begin to wonder about the connection between yoga and Buddhism. As a new yogi, I … [Read more…]
Last week, I went to a chakra balancing yoga workshop to explore how yoga can help open and balance the body’s energy system. It’s not the first chakra yoga workshop I’ve attended, but it was the first time I had more of physical experience than a traditional learning experience. The teacher told us she was … [Read more…]
A while back, a member of a social media community I’m part of posted about an interesting dilemma. As an Indian native versed in classical yoga, he was wondering how to expose Westerners to a more authentic experience of yoga. It made me think (again) about whether we are truly practicing yoga, and what we’re … [Read more…]
In the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali warns us of the pitfalls of attachment. Non-attachment is a powerful spiritual practice in yoga. Human beings tend to hold tight to what we believe is ours: possessions, identity, the attention we believe we deserve. We may even cling to our yoga teachers. But the best yoga teachers know how … [Read more…]