Archive | July, 2011

Yoga is the union of breath and body, the balance of stillness and movement. So is dancing, if you pay attention. A lovely yoga studio in my vicinity held an open house party last night to celebrate its new space, a dance hall. I went with a friend and we weren’t quite sure what to […]

I’ve been doing a lot of balancing lately. Not so much in asana–I think tree pose with a tree is the last time I really tried standing on one foot–but definitely with my breath and in my mind and heart. I’ve been wanting to write about loss. The disruption of peace in Norway, the death […]

Namaste. It’s spoken at nearly every yoga class I’ve taken, but what does it mean? According to Yoga Journal, “Namaste literally means ‘bow me you’ or ‘I bow to you’.” According to Wikipedia, similar translations like “‘The spirit in me respects the spirit in you,’ ‘the divinity in me bows to the divinity in you,’ […]

I can’t vouch for his morality or spirituality, but I sure do appreciate his sequence, and his yoga changed my life. These are facts, as far as I know. I talked with a friend tonight who has never tried Bikram yoga. I think we’ll take a class together, and I asked her to commit to […]

I took a teacher training this weekend with Street Yoga, and today I did yoga on the street. Coincidence? Definitely not. In fact, it’s the second time I’ve done spontaneous public yoga since training ended, the first being in a park last night. (Turns out sun salutations feel pretty good even when there is no […]

So, my phone was stolen last night. Not a very yoga topic, I know, but I’m struggling with attachment and surrender, two things yoga helps me with, so, close enough for a blog post. Plus, writing almost always makes me feel better, and I really want to shake off the negative vibe that’s rattling me […]

“Bhakti” is a Sanskrit word that in yoga means “devotion.” So, for example, the act of loving fully is sometimes described as bhakti yoga. Yesterday I took a yoga class born from the teacher’s love and devotion for break dancing. She calls her style “breakti.” I call it a blast! Keep it real, come correct, […]

I have recently been twice inspired by Sheryl Sandberg, Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. She took me by surprise because, while I am a devoted (read: addicted) user of Facebook, I’ve never been particularly trusting of its leadership. But when a friend forwarded me Sandberg’s commencement address at Barnard University, I knew right away that […]

So, this would have been the day I wrote about my second successful thirty-day challenge, the one where I not only meditated for ten minutes each day, but also refrained from going on Facebook more than three times a day. But, even though I reported my progress halfway through the month and all seemed to […]