So…full disclosure – I got an email from Source Yoga the other day saying, “we haven’t seen you for a...
Photo courtesy of Liz Gill “When times are uncertain, difficult, fearful, full of change, they become the perfect place...
Only a week later, my inner yoga teacher shows up again; she too, has gone on retreat. She reminds me of the definition of the word mindful, as used by Jon Kabat-Zinn, the originator of MBSR in the West. Mindfulness is about paying attention in a non-judgmental way. I can pay attention mindfully, I like to think. I have a much harder time paying attention without judgment. So my inner yoga teacher says: What if your discomfort isn’t something for you to analyze away? What if you don’t need to do anything about your discomfort? What if you just noticed it?
“Mindfulness, cultivated even for a few minutes, draws the heart toward itself. It invites the intimacy we yearn for and...
One of the conversations we have been having in our current Yoga Teacher Training is about the value or detriment...
When I taught on New Year’s Day morning, I was happy to see my regular Monday morning crowd. I am not a rah-rah kick butt yoga teacher, and if you come to my class regularly, you probably know this about me. I just couldn’t get fired up about inspiring my...
Normally, I’d be all about the homework. I am one of those people who’s ridiculously happy to be a lifelong student. I have 2 grad school degrees, for goodness’ sake. I miss taking classes besides yoga. But I have to admit that the MBSR homework is a struggle.
My whole young life, I remember my father getting up before dawn and going for his daily run, long before...
When we first begin to meditate, we might notice that there is very little space inside our minds. It might seem like just as we are trying to sit down and settle down, our brain goes into hyperdrive. We might be making to do lists, we might be replaying something...
Photo courtesy of Liz Gill Where can you pause? For me, it started in the fall. I had just dropped...
I stood at the front of the room, my breath a bit shallow, a little nervous to look at the...
“In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow. In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention. And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.” – Pico Ayer, The Art of Stillness,...