Practice only because you want to practice. End of statement. Don’t do it for any reason at all, not for following a lineage, for weight loss, to get in shape, fun, health, spiritual growth, realization, prayer, or devotion. NOT FOR ANY OF THOSE REASONS.
Ashtanga is not arbitrarily difficult or demanding—no, the practice provides you with a perfect, explicit model of what it takes to come to the mastery of anything. And the requirements of Ashtanga’s sacrifice are so blatant, physical and explicit.
To me the ashtanga family is like a fragile eco system and thus your own internal relationships and the external relationships with others in the family have to be tended to very carefully in order maintain a balance. And so even though I may disagree wi
The hatha yogi uses his body to create an inward, symbolic sand mandala each morning, and thus he mounts to a similar pinnacle of devotion, a turning away from the pull of materiality in favor of turning towards the sublime spiritual realms within. In ma
Baddhakonasana, Bound Angle Pose, is an important hip opening seated posture that is found in the primary series. In this blog post I provide instruction for the upright phase and the two forward bending phases...
I recently posted about the importance of spinal positioning in asana study, and also how the asana allies can help you to position your spine in the center of your asana. When I say asana ally, I mean that in response to the mind’s tendency to be turned o
To learn yoga you must stop seeing things LITERALLY, because nothing is as it appears to be. The world does not exist in the terms that my calculating mind fools me into thinking that it does. To become properly involved with this world, first I must rea
Its not extreme. It doesn't mean there aren't physical or mental benefits but it's like trying to fit a square peg through a round hole.
Asana practice can teach me the necessity of allowing thought to be born out of bodily awareness, out of feeling, sensing, and perceiving in a very distinctly animal way.
Often I'm trying to create a new pattern where an old, rutted pattern exists. And the chances of that rutted pattern continuing are great and so to create a new pattern takes a total investment from the student and I have to have that agreement.
