19th May 2025
Listening In Practice
There is the famous saying from Guruji Iyengar that all yoga is therapeutic. For many people, when we start learning yoga asana, we immediately feel a shift in our energy and awareness. If we are tired going into class, we leave feeling energized. If we start class stressed, we finish feeling more at peace. These are noticeable experiences that keep us coming back to yoga class and showing up on our mat for practice.
Feel Your Way
In my advanced yoga class, we're reading Light on Life by B.K.S. Iyengar. For many years, we've spent the first 20 minutes of class reading and discussing a yoga book. Without any planning, it often happens that the words we're reading seem made for the moment we're living in.
A Gift That Keeps On Giving
In that moment when my mind was somewhere else from my body, I fell. My head was trying to reach my friend in New York back on the phone who a moment ago was telling me about her family in Syria until we got cut off. My body was going to the U-Bahn in Berlin rushing to get to the theater on time. I was texting while walking down the stairs (not smart!), unaware of where I was and missed the last step. I felt my ankle twist out as I landed on the ground and thought, “I'm glad it's this ankle. Here we go again.”
9th December 2024
Something To Return To
I can't believe that this Saturday, December 14th, Guruji Iyengar's birthday, we'll have our last Sadhana Circle meeting for 2024. Before I start to get sentimental (I will save that for later!), I hope that I get to see as many of you as possible live on the weekend. If you're not in Sadhana Circle, you can join anytime.
2nd December 2024
The Hole
This week I climbed out of a hole. For months, I felt like I was getting sick but never really did. My immune system was fighting something and symptoms kept dragging me down. Never recovering and never collapsing, people around me said it was age. That statement only pulled me deeper into the hole.
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25th November 2024
Things That Get in the Way
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18th November 2024
Struggle Then Too
“I don't want to admit that I'm getting older,” a yoga student said recently after class. She's has an on-and-off-again shoulder injury that gets better then worse again. When there's pain, she modifies her practice and as soon as the pain is gone, she happily forgets about her shoulder until it starts to bother her again.
11th November 2024
The Warrior
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4th November 2024
Organic Farming
I've been rereading Light on Life by Guruji Iyengar and I love the part where he writes that yoga isn't about appearances. He uses the example of an apple, how on the outside it can look perfect and on the inside it can be completely eaten by worms. He writes that people get confused about yoga, thinking it's about how it looks outwardly rather than by what the experience is on the inside.
28th October 2024
When Is It Too Much
This past weekend I experienced what I don't often experience - a weekend off. We yoga teachers work when other people are off for obvious reasons, and it gives us odd working hours. In general, I love my unusual work schedule and it fits my life and personality. But lately I've also noticed that having time off is pretty good too.