Courage to Explore. Wisdom to Know the Way.
January is the perfect time to rediscover the things we often take for granted, to look at them with fresh eyes. Today let's address an old yet enduring question: Q: What differentiates yoga from a stretching class? A: Well, on a purely physical level, yoga incorporates strengthening as well. Follow-up Q: So what differentiates yoga …
This video is less a How-to and more a chat about the wacky poses we often see in yoga--and in memes making fun of yoga. Bound twists, arm balances, upside-down and sideways--I thought yoga was about de-stressing and zoning out! https://youtu.be/2_0PnGRtuVo Actually, yoga is rarely about zoning out, even though that might happen now and …
Since we are pretty much smack-dab between Canada's and America's Thanksgivings, I thought I'd put up a short gentle sequence of poses designed to bring out the gratitude. https://youtu.be/wfrFX6HPCS4 Gratitude gets us out from under the pressure of the ego. The ego is the eternal critic: you’re not good enough, fast enough, you’re not …
I love doing yoga with my daughter. The instances are rare because she declares that yoga is a "Mommy thing". However, I have my ways of luring the spirited bat-ling to the mat (costume, video, silliness). Mwa-ha-HA! So for today's journey we've got Halloween shenanigans with the kiddo and me. Can you spot the asanas …
Unless you have a history of dance and/or gymnastics, chances are going upside-down evokes anxiety. I get it. I've been there. As kids, we challenge our bodies every way we can, but as adults, we stay pretty much upright, thank you very much. Some of us still enjoy a looping roller coaster, but even so, …
Early in the week the forecast declared that a 5000-mile-long "river in the sky" (that's over 8000 kilometers for my metric friends) had the Pacific Northwest targeted. Sure enough. All the rain that didn't happen throughout the summer is happening now. I experimented with a new venue. I probably won't use it again--too echoey though I …
I was ten years into regular yoga practice before I "got" Adho Mukha Svanasana, a.k.a. Downward-facing Dog. For that decade, my shoulder-alignment was passable, but it kept me from experiencing the fullness of the pose. There is a reason Downward Dog is one of the most recognized poses in yoga. Despite the differences between various …
I still remember early ventures into the yoga studio where it seemed everyone (except me) had been born doing the Sun Salutation--or at least had picked it up during childhood, some time between crawling and walking. These days, it is pretty much the new normal. If I go too long without starting the day with …
The rain has sent me inside for the second video: It's a rainy Monday morning, here, making it a little tough to get going. What better way to get things flowing than a gentle seated series that wakes up the spine and hips? In this series, I spend time on the feel of the poses. It …
Happy Fall Equinox! Today at 1:02pm Pacific Daylight Time, the sun shines directly over the equator (the plane of the equator intersects the centre of the solar disk) giving us approximately 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night, and popularly the first day of autumn. For many cultures, the day marks a balance …
Yoga Journey 108 