Your efforts in practice are meant to feed the ideal images that you are shaping within your mind and body, and this maturation takes place nearly imperceptibly, little by little, day by day. Part of establishing yourself in the discipline, is learning to
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
So how can I be realistic about the effort I do put forth? How do I accurately assess whether I practice too intensely or too mildly and in either case effectively? And what level of mildness or intensity is right for me at this time? How do I know the dif
A significant part of asana practice is to encounter physical hardship, it is by challenging yourself physically that the body becomes firm, strong, and healthy–the strong body enables you to work with your mind.
Stepping on your mat each day is walking into the forest, practice is sitting down in the middle of that scary place and undertaking to meet the source within...
During the discussion there was an interval of cross talk and commotion, and during this time Guruji looked at me, and for a moment it was as if it was only he and I in the room.
One of the most important maps is visualization or imagery. So that rather than being physical first, you approach practice from a place of imagery or visualization. This is one of the most fascinating aspects to the work.
