At least in the United States, it appears the humans have really been struggling this year. The pandemic has shined a light on the worst problems in our societies. From systemic racism, to health disparities, financial inequities–we can see it all with better clarity now. Seeing that the problem exists is certainly a step in […]
At the beginning of April I wrote I missed seeing the students in person. Today I write and I am still missing them. The classes are still online and I don’t know when we will be back together at College Hill Yoga. Believe me when I say: I would rather we all be together, in […]
To say that our current pandemic shutdown / shut-in situation is strange is an understatement. At my house some days are okay and other days everything seems hard. I imagine it’s the same for you. Some level of acceptance for the current state of our lives is important. But I don’t think we should try […]
I miss seeing the students walking through the door to College Hill Yoga. Like many other yoga teachers I am conducting classes online for now, until it’s safe to meet in-person again. The coronavirus pandemic has changed life for everyone. Most of the changes are completely unwanted, and we should work hard to undo them. […]
Why do we want to build stamina in our poses? Aaron Fleming doing the triangle pose–a beginner pose! The poses are the playground for exploring how the body, mind and breath relationship. We first learn simple actions within simple poses. (such as the triangle pose, seen here above). Actions such as how to lift the […]
Even if you have never done yoga it is likely you have heard the jingle “Body Mind Breath” before. And it’s also probably likely that you think that improving your Body-Mind-Breath relationship is important. But how do we do that? Start with the Body In Iyengar Yoga we start with the body. Compared to the […]
Is the purpose of yoga to help improve your health? Yes it is. WAIT! I mean… no it’s not. Well, it kind of does. Let’s sort this out: “Classical yoga” (which is yoga as outlined in ancient philosophical texts) is defined as the “cessation of the movements in the consciousness.” This means that yoga is […]
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 […]
Last December I traveled to India to attend classes at the Iyengar Yoga institute in Pune. The yoga institute started by B.K.S. Iyengar and now run by his son and granddaughter. The practice hall at the institute. It’s been less than a month since returning from India. The experience is still very fresh in my […]
At the beginning of class I occasionally engage the students in a short yoga philosophy discussion. The discussions are usually inspired by my on-going reading and contemplation of yogic texts, such as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. (A sutra is a short phrase. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is a book of phrases, which are […]