The racing German Shepherd in the mind

Before I ever truly experienced anxiety, I studied it. I read about it. As a…

Hi anxiety. Nice to meet you?

Just try preparing for a test or think about giving a speech to a large…

What will you find if you turn within? Yogic approach to meditation

One of the things I missed the most during the past year was travel. I…

Morning Rituals: Four steps to creating a morning you love

How do you start your morning? In a given week, do you create space to…

Two main ways to change your mental state

I find it curious that Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, does not explicitly distinguish between…

Sleep: what it does for you and how to troubleshoot it

In Macbeth, Shakespeare states that sleep is “the chief nourisher in life’s feast.” And modern…

How can we get to the state of pure consciousness?

In 2004, one scientific study made quite a splash. In this study, the scientists monitored…

Who is driving your chariot? The traditional view of the relationship between the senses, mind and intellect

For a long time, I’ve been wondering: Where do emotions belong in the Panchamaya model?…

To meditate or not to meditate? How meditation works

When new students arrive at a yoga class, they often have little awareness of their…

Does yoga have its own approach to meditation?

At a holiday party a couple of weeks ago, I was having a conversation with…

Five koshas: How to gain access to hidden inner layers

The movie Cake follows the main character, Clair (played by Jennifer Aniston), as she struggles…

Three stages of working with chakras

At the beginning of my yoga studies many years ago, I was fascinated by a…

How to use chakras to map out your functional and dysfunctional beliefs

Pop culture has a way of taking over some potent concepts and then diluting and…

Do your beliefs hold you back or propel you forward?

I saw this movie a decade or so ago called “What the Bleep Do We…

Look at your current challenge from a different angle: Fresh perspectives yoga practice

There was a farmer whose horse ran away. That evening the neighbors gathered to commiserate…

Four ways to change your emotional responses: types of cognitive reappraisal

In Pixar’s movie Inside Out, there is a scene where two characters travel on a…

Pratipaksha bhavana – the most powerful tool of mind control and emotional regulation

I used to have a rather complicated relationship with my paternal grandmother. When I was…

How to overcome mental obstacles (part 2)

I met my teacher, Gary Kraftsow, at an event called “Yoga and Meditation Conference” in…

How to overcome mental obstacles (part 1)

According to Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, there are nine potential mental roadblocks that you can bump…

Are your pain and anxiety pointing to an internal roadblock?

We tend to think of physical pain, depression, and anxiety as stand-alone issues. If you…