Chaturanga 

I have a little confession to make:  Chaturanga has always, I repeat ALWAYS, hurt my shoulders.  Yes, I love the feel of power that I have in the pose, and yes my arms are mildly Madonna-like because of doing it, but it hurts.  I have tried blocks between the legs, not lowering down, setting my knees down (which helps a skosh) and a myriad of other modifications but I always feel plank pose a bit in the front of my shoulders.  I have silently ignored that sensation.

My assumption was that I was not strong enough in my core to sufficiently hold this pose until I was able to do a myriad of arm balances.  This latter ability debunked that theory.  I thought my upper body maybe lacked strength, but I rocked handstands off the wall.  Again my ideas were wrong.

Enter ...

Anahata

It has been months since I sat down to write a blog post and actually completed one.  I apologize to my readers for their patience and to myself for taking this great resource out of my pocket when I most needed it.  Truth be told the last couple of months I have been swamped with elf duty, teaching a ton and trying to really focus on those two things.  I have been practicing yoga and delving into some other studies (like Traditional Chinese Medicine and Tibetan Buddhism) but I have not been able to find my yoga off the mat.

Eeks!  I cannot believe I just wrote those words for the public to read, but you know me well enough to expect the stone cold truth from my fingers.  I started this daily blogging series last year to get my asana ...

Hey all… been taking a break from posting but promise a new post up tomorrow or Wednesday.  In the meantime check out where my creative energies have been refueled:  Pinterest.  I am only mildly obsessed with the site and am finding lots of ways to plan classes, keep looking in and forward and mull ideas for future endeavors.

I am cleaning house (literally:  the elves left the fridge door open!) and dusting the cobwebs out of my mental caves.  I am finally re-inspired and ready to get cooking on the blog after a month or so of feeling stuck in the muck.

In the meantime…

Check out my Pinterest boards and if you have ones to sure, put a comment below so we all can follow you there too!  New post coming in 24/48 hours.  Happy Spring.

Anahata Chakra

For the last three weeks I have been delving into the chakras in my classes and off the mat. My wonderful friend Sharon recently taught a similar series of practices and I was amazed at how much I noticed the effects of the yoga on specific aspects of my life that corresponded to each chakra.  She inspired me to learn more, to practice in my body in new ways and to share this knowledge with my students.  The result has been both fun and really fantastic, and my students have responded amazingly to what we’re learning together.  I have loved it!

During teaching the first chakra, Mulandara Chakra, I was settling into this new home: my beautiful website designed by the incredibly talented Corti Cooper of Dot Think Design.  I feel grounded, settled and connected now that my teaching, writing ...

Hey all!  Here is my first test blog post on the new site.  Come check out the amazing work done by Corti Cooper from DotThinkDesign and her team!  I am so excited that she was able to capture what I wanted in a website and that the incredible Lisa Joy and David from Fluid Frame Photography were able to take a few good pics of me for it.

I am going to post a new #365newbie blog later this evening but wanted to share two other posts with you first:

Today I am also over at MindBodyGreen talking about five ways you can practice yoga in only ten minutes.  Also my second site, which I co-founded with Anna from Curvy Yoga, Teachasana  lauched the first giveaway of a pass for the Tadasana Festival in California.  Go check them out and more from me ...

Swadharma

Ok, dear readers, I am back from a weekend at Kripalu that was filled with both contentment and disappointment.  I went to a workshop that was much less than I had hoped, but managed to find kernels of ultimate wisdom in the chocolate and conversations that it engendered.

For the third time in less than a year I signed up for a workshop after hearing wonderful things about the teacher.  Truth is, as a yoga teacher myself I am constantly looking for new things to learn and new teachers from whom to learn.  I can do my own practice, go to favorite classes and learn from my friends, but I am still on a hunt for a style and teacher that really grooves with what I want for the long-term.  These workshops are my way of travelling down a road to ...

Sangha

One of the best parts about having an online community of readers, fellow yogis and yoga teachers is that we often get to help each other hone our practice. We discuss ways to teach, ways to do poses, tips for mediation, and we get to show our support through our blogs. I often find my best study ideas from my cyber yogi pals and some of the most interesting ways to do asanas, create a sacred space and book suggestions are found through this online sangha.

So when my dear friend Darla connected with me about a giveaway to get her new food blog off the ground it made perfect sense. We decided to work together to give yogis needing a jump-start on their yoga studies through a joint giveaway on her site, giving it the boost to start ...

Sukha

Yesterday was one of those days that I spent most of holding my breath. When I finally exhaled I realized that it was silly to have not done it many hours earlier.  Writing public blog posts can do that to me and even more so when I share them on sites that are not mine.  Here I have my great readers who know my craziness, my opinions and my truth.  In the wild and wooly world of the interwebs one never can guess who might read and react to what I write.  It can be nerve-wracking even if I know what I write is of value.

Thanks first of all to the multitudes of my friends and readers who raced over to MindBodyGreen to read my post yesterday, commented and also shared the bejesus out of it.  I am so humbled ...

I’m on the road again!

I am posting today over at MindBodyGreen about how we can be our own best advocates for safety and health when we practice the asana part of yoga.  So many of my incredible yoga students are aware that I preach these themes (I am fervent that you MUST listen to your own body), but I felt inspired to write about them for the public as well.  Seemed like a perfect post for our #365newbie crew and a great way to return to the beginner’s mind when we tackle the physical aspects of asana.

Our bodies are our temples, dear readers, treasure them!

Aparigraha

When I went and got my mail today I found a little treat for my furry elf from my brother.  It is this ball thrower called the “Chuck It” and it comes with this really heavy tennis ball and a rad plastic holder that helps you whip the ball far and long.  As an aside, any yogis with rotator cuff injuries and dogs might consider investing in one of these things because it takes no effort at all to send that ball sailing. But I digress.  This Chuck It got me thinking about how heavy our burdens, desires and extra baggage are and how with a little bit of help, how easy it can be to toss them.

Aparigraha, non-coveting, is a life practice for most of us.  We see a body, a practice, a home or a career that looks ...