Nature as Your Sacred Yoga Studio – Happy Earth Day
What do I do when I’m homesick for the call of the wild? When my South African roots have me longing for the serenity of the savanna, instead of driving south to the airport, I head west to the Everglades. Within minutes of getting into a kayak, there’s this mushy thing that happens in my belly as my stomach muscles soften...
Yoga Myth Busters : “Real Men Don’t Do Yoga”
If you’re a guy who won’t go near a yoga studio because you think it’s full of flexible, fit, slim, young women, that’s completely understandable. (Although I have male friends who would see that sentence as immediate motivation to rush to yoga quicker than you could say Om). For thousands of years, yoga was taught and practiced mostly by men, in...
Yoga Myth Busters : “I’m Not Flexible Enough To Do Yoga”
If I had received a secret yoga power for every time I’ve heard that statement, I’d be enlightened by now. As yoga teachers, we shake our heads in frustration when we hear it, because that’s as illogical as saying I’m too dirty to take a shower. It’s precisely because you’re inflexible that you need yoga. Can’t touch your toes? Perfect!...
Yoga Nidra and the Power of Intention
You’re in a Yoga Nidra class and you’re asked to set an intention . . . is your mind immediately paralyzed into a blank screen of zero inspiration? If you’re unable to conjure up, at the drop of an Om, a statement any more profound than, “I will remember my shoes when I leave yoga tonight”, all that’s needed is some...
Muy Bien — My Top Ten (Costa Rica) continued …
(Here's the first part of the Top Ten list in the previous post). 6. Pipa Fria Who needs Whole Foods, when you can pick up fresh coconut water at the numerous roadside fruit stands? Pull over immediately (smiling and pura vida-ing) and don’t be alarmed by the machete the fruit guy is holding. Watch, as within seconds, he hacks open an unripened,...
Muy Bien — My Top Ten (Costa Rica)
I tried to keep it to just Five Fab Reasons, I really did, but it was impossible. I couldn’t condense a week of immersing ourselves in the splendor of our Costa Rica yoga retreat, to just five little cameos. So, I opted for a Top Ten (out of a shortlist longlist of over thirty), and here they are, in no...
This May Tempt You To Try “Yogic Sleep” — The Ancient Practice of Yoga Nidra
My body sleeps, but my mind stays awake … huh? How does that work? Welcome to the paradox and the power of Yoga Nidra; exploring the state in between being asleep and being awake. This is not pretzel yoga, or kick-butt yoga, or sweat-your-bits-off yoga … it’s Anyone-Can-Do-This yoga. You need nothing more than your desire to create a sense...
Inaugural International Day of Yoga – What’s It All About?
June 21, 2015 marks the first ever International Day of Yoga, formally recognized by the United Nations. The day has been devoted to this ancient discipline, to highlight the benefits of yoga “for the health of the world population”.
Today, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, did yoga with a crowd of over 35,000 in Delhi, and yoga events are being held in 251 cities on 6 continents.
I’ve read that
30,000 yogis and yoginis are set to do yoga asanas today in Times Square, NYC. That’s a lot of OMing, breathing and Downward Dogging!
Yoga may be an ancient tradition (over 5,000 years old), but it’s
10 Reasons To Go On A Yoga Retreat (on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala)
1. Your Destination Is Dramatically Beautiful Set in the highlands of Guatemala, Lake Atitlán is celebrated as “the most beautiful lake in the world” — as famously described by German explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. It’s the deepest lake in Central America, a crater lake (caldera) formed by the very volcanoes that surround it today. The three giants rising up over...