If it comes from a place of fear, that’s resistance. I recently attended a workshop with West Coast Yogini Kathryn Budig. Budig urged her class to “move from a place of love not fear.” For example, she spoke of the first time she went skydiving and realized that the fear she felt wasn’t about dropping 14,000 at 150mph, it was the fear of the unknown that scared her. Now she skydives all the time and loves it. When we replace love with fear we can live life to the fullest. When I started to practice Yoga, I was always in a state of fear and resistance. I had anxiety that I was going to hurt …
Ninety minutes of yoga away from daily stress is heaven. However, to really get away from it all, find a stretch of time (4-10 days) for a vacation and go on a yoga retreat. For most of us, a yoga vacation is a luxury, but a retreat can help maintain balance in our very busy lives. Going on a yoga retreat incorporates the luxury of getting away and our love of the practice. Also, it’s a healthier choice, returning from your vacation, renewed, rejuvenated and reconnected to yourself. With spring break fading fast and summer vacation on the horizon, consider the options. In no particular …
Have you ever been in class, in the middle of a sequence and all of the sudden, something starts hurt? I don’t mean a, “Ugh, this is so hard and I am so tired” kind of hurt, but that your actual movements are causing pain or even injury? I have. At first I felt angry and wanted to place blame on the teacher. I'd say things like, “that teacher, made me hurt my back” or “my hip hurt for weeks after that class.” In reality, I chose to place full trust in the teacher and I didn’t practice my yoga within myself. I didn’t apply my knowledge as a teacher or as a student. Nor did I apply it to my …
Balancing postures take not only balance in the body, but also balance in the mind. Standing Half Moon posture, or ardha chandrasana, requires your focus (dristhi), your breath (pranayama) and the will to find stillness in a very strong posture. This posture helps align the spine and strengthens the hips, legs and heart. It creates inner lightness and allows us to glow like the moon, inside and out. When I teach this posture to beginners, I offer them the wall and a block to help build strength for the posture. (See the photos of yoga instructor Thom Taylor demonstrating this technique.) And …
Last May I wrote, Yoga Etiquette. I knew at the time I would want to do a part two because there are so many things that we can do to help make a community practice more enjoyable for everyone. I never want anyone to feel uncomfortable or unwelcome when entering into their yoga practice. These are suggestions towards being a little bit more mindful towards yourself and towards your community, not rules. We can all, students and teachers, help our community to feel more comfortable with each other, to feel more connected. There is enough Dukkha, misery, in the world, let’s not let it seep …
Recently, I was talking to Nathan Bangs of Yoga Tampa Bay. He was telling me that he missed going to his regular yoga classes, but had to “get rid of his cold before I go back into a studio to practice.” It got me thinking: Should you go to the studio to practice or stay home if you have “a little” cold? Although the practice of pranayama, asana and diet can help us avoid the common cold, we should take the same this opportunity as Bangs did and practice at home until we feel better. Here’s how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describes the symptoms of the common cold: …
"Yoga is an art and science of living." — Indra Devi We are all artists in some way. When a yoga student transforms into an animal through a posture like downward facing dog, or into a tree, there is a moment of abstraction and distilling. You take on the essence of a posture and in the becoming re-create it. In the art of asana yoga, in every posture we become a witness to ourselves. In the finding of new pathways, your creations are realized. Today’s yoga class contains all of the right ingredients to open the imagination. Thoughtful dialogue, strength of movement, enchanting music and …
Fierce pose, or utkatasana, is one of the strongest and mightiest postures of them all. This posture is a great strengthener of the whole body. However, when I hear we'll be using fierce pose in class, my mind sometimes screams, “OH NO!” This voice I call resistance comes from a dark part of my mind that I identify as self doubt. This part of the mind resists finding physical, mental and spiritual strength. And although at times you might feel overwhelmed by doubt, in time you learn that the fierceness of the pose can be used as a tool to quiet the chatter in your mind. This posture helps …
Thanksgiving is a great time to get together, see friends and family. Laugh and talk, catch up with everyone and fill our bellies with an assortment of yummy food. It’s also a great time to sit down with pen and pad and write down, yes WRITE, with pen in hand, what we are grateful for. I did this the other day. I found a quiet spot, in my house; it’s the home office/yoga room. Then I closed my eyes and sat comfortably in my desk chair. I took a few moments of pranayama and used the mantra I am thankful for, I am thankful for, I am thankful for. After a few minutes, I sat up, planted my …
There is no feeling worse than being completely run down during the holidays. With 2012 rapidly approaching, we tend to get swept away in the undertow of a succession of holidays from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah to New Year's, and we can begin to feel as though we are drowning in dukkha: expectation, disappointment and anxiety. We run around from event to event, house to house, and lose the present moment in the whirlwind of it all. We think we are missing out amid the pressure of personal and professional obligations. This rush and hustle can lead to stress, illness or even disease if we don’t …
This week we transform ourselves into human's best friend, the dog. In downward facing dog, or "down dog" for short, each of us is a unique breed. I remember the first time I tried down dog. I felt upside down, confused, weak, frustrated and in a bit of discomfort. It did not feel relaxing to me at first — I felt like I was straining in my shoulders, arms and legs, and I used to get anxious about going to a power or vinyasa class, where down dog is freqently used. Eight years later, down dog is one of my favorite postures. I now find it relaxing and invigorating. Down dog is a full body …
I learned to love reading at a very early age. Reading has helped me, as yoga does, find peace of mind during troubling periods in my life. For me, the art of reading is like the art of yoga — it heals my body, mind and soul. Our yogic path can be lifelong. It is our nature to want to learn. The concept of learning and teaching others is an attribute of all intelligent creatures, but we are the only creatures on the planet who can transport ourselves in our imagination through the written word. To learn from a book makes us uniquely human. Inspiration is born in the written word. I have been …
Generally taken at the end of each class, corpse pose is a way to let go of each practice with awareness and rest.I wish the posture was that easy. In actuality, it’s one of the hardest asana we will cover. The stillness and quiet that we find in corpse pose, also known as savasana, is the same stillness and quiet we need to find in balance postures like tree pose. I know what you are thinking: "How can that be, Erin? Savasana seems so simple: Lie on floor, shut eyes, be quiet."The goal in yoga is to find stillness among the chatter. Like a ripple, the quiet and stillness will spread over …
When I was growing up, about 90 percent of the people I went to school with were obsessed with Calvin Klein jeans. I remember teenage Brooke Shields asking us, “Do you want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing.” In a yoga class, it’s no different. The lovely models who grace Yoga Journal and other magazines in the highest-end athletic wear are nice to look at, but the clothing is not always practical or affordable. Since starting my yoga practice, I have been on a continuous search for not only clothes that fit me and my unique body and frame, but also items that are worth my…
Last week we found balance for the fall season. How apropos that we find physical balance with our newest posture, vrkasana, (pronounced vrik-shah-sa-na) or tree pose. Using our breath (pranayama), or gaze (dristhi), and the posture of tree, we will have the tools to help us not only stand on one foot, but feel the roots of our metaphorical bodies and in that find strength and acceptance for our whole self. If we accept our limitations, then it is easier to find our truth. Finding truth in our approach to practicing this posture and finding the joy within it is the best part of the journey, …
Who says there's no fall in Florida? This is the perfect season to shed your own rusty leaves and old patterns, and make room for health and wellness to carry you through the tough cold and flu season. Leaves can fall from a metaphorical place, too, you know. I love the fall. Even in Florida, there are elements of this season that make me remind me of the fall I experienced in New York as a child. Yes, it’s true that we don’t get the dramatic changes in the landscape or those cold fall mornings and evenings. But we do get a break in the humidity and cool breezes in the morning and evenings. …
This week’s posture - Parsvottanasana or Pyramid Pose - is another example of finding distinct shapes within the body. We can easily transition to this pose from last week's Yoga 101 pose, Trikonasana. Sometimes referred to as Pyramid pose, Parsvottanasana is an extended, intense side stretch. The intensity of this posture, as with most, can be controlled through modification. As with other shape poses such as Triangle and Goddess, Pyramid pose can be deceptive. Without proper alignment, you can be in the posture but still not be totally engaged. Remember that the opposing position or arms…
Like a lot of things over the course of human existence, yoga didn't involve women in the beginning. Women were not permitted to practice yoga, let alone teach it. Now women make up most of the population of yoga teachers and practitioners globally, and we're taking yoga to a level of popularity never seen before in its existence. These four great women guided me through some milestones on my journey into yoga: Laraine O’Neill, one of my first yoga instructors Shelly Happel, the first teacher to help me “find” my body in a pose Adrienne Reed, who taught my first television Power Yoga class …
This week, we will focus on a standing posture, utthita trikonasana, or extended triangle. Although the triangle is a simple shape, this is a deceivingly complex posture. The triangle I teach will be rooted from the Iyengar style of yoga. The energetic balance that is built through this posture is limitless. At first, you may feel off balance and awkward, so try the modifications below to find the balance that fits you. Focus on connecting your body, mind and spirit. When your mind wanders away in this posture, just come back your breathing. Always be cleared by your health professional …
Most everyone, including myself, who tries forward fold for the first time thinks the destination is to touch the toes. I hear this all the time: “OMG, look, I can’t even touch my toes!” Not so. The destination in standing or seated forward fold, or paschimottanasana, is to feel the stretch in the pose. If anything, it exposes our flexibility – or lack of flexibility – when we first begin practicing the pose. Finding seated forward fold is best after dandasana, or the staff pose, one of our previous Yoga 101 poses. Why? Because after the staff pose, we have given our spine and the backs of …
