Getting started

ByAaron Fleming April 24, 2015

In the 2nd chapter of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Patanjali states that in order to get started in your practice one should follow the path of Kriya Yoga. Kriya Yoga is the yoga of action and is comprised of three parts: Tapas (burning zeal / excitement), Svadhyaya (self-study) and Isvara Pranidhana (surrender of the results of your practice to a higher power / God). The three tiers of Kriya Yoga help us to eradicate our afflictions so that we can meditate more easily and therefore approach a state of Samadhi.

Are there differences between class and practice?
ByAaron Fleming August 27, 2019August 27, 2019

I attend class with my teacher, Laurie Blakeney, three or four times a year, usually during her weekend intensives up in Ann Arbor. In between her intensives I try to take class with other senior certified Iyengar Yoga teachers. There’s no certified Iyengar Yoga teachers senior to me in Cincinnati so I must travel to…

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Practice survey results
ByAaron Fleming May 21, 2019May 21, 2019

Last week I published the Beginners and practitioners post. In that article I stated that in order to help beginner students become practitioners I need to first understand why people are not practicing on their own. What is standing in the way. I heard back from many of you. People sent emails or Facebook messages,…

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Physical vs. mental obstacles
ByAaron Fleming March 22, 2022March 22, 2022

Are you experiencing an obstacle that is keeping you from practicing? Is your obstacle physical, mental intellectual or spiritual? And how can you know which one it is? Over the years I have experienced a huge list of obstacles to practicing. Most of the time I wasn’t able to name the obstacle until it had…

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Cultivate your narrative
ByAaron Fleming January 28, 2020September 9, 2021

At the intensive in India, this past December, Prashant Iyengar many times said that he wants us to become our own teacher. That we need to stop relying so heavily on our teachers to tell us what to do in our practice. Which doesn’t mean we don’t need a teacher. You need a teacher so…

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Removing Obstacles
ByAaron Fleming March 29, 2015

In the yoga sutras of Patanjali he states that adherence to single-minded effort prevents the obstacles (Sutra I.32) to practicing. In short… The obstacles to practicing are removed by repeated efforts to try to practice. This is probably not the answer that the struggling practitioner wants to hear. And unfortunately, the practitioner who has truly…

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Practice solutions
ByAaron Fleming May 28, 2019May 28, 2019

Students are still sending me feedback about their struggles / obstacles for getting going in their home practice. I want to share their feedback with you. I think it will helpful for you to hear. Last week three separate students told me they have a hard time practicing at home because they miss hearing my…

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Yoga: It’s all in my headSeptember 20, 2022
When I started practicing yoga, in 1999, I was young and wanted to jump around on my mat. I loved the way the poses made me feel. When one of...
Physical vs. mental obstaclesMarch 22, 2022
Are you experiencing an obstacle that is keeping you from practicing? Is your obstacle physical, mental intellectual or spiritual? And how can you know which one it is? Over the...
It’s better to be stiffFebruary 18, 2022
A vast majority of people, even those of us who are not that stiff, are stiff to some extent. We ALL have tight spots but some of us have to...
Mind Improvement, part 3May 4, 2021
I have been writing a bit in other articles (and this one too) about how the pandemic has impacted my practice. Specifically, the stress of the pandemic has impacted my...
Mind Improvement, part 2February 25, 2021
Back in December of last year I wrote that I thought the stress of the pandemic had shown that my mindset needed improving. I am writing now to give an...

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