Every yoga practice must have purpose, order and meaning
Internal Family Systems (IFS) techniques can help yoga therapists accomplish two fundamental goals in their work with students: unblending (letting go of attachment, vairagya in yogic terms) and unburdening (minimizing[…]
In a recent yoga therapy session, a student of mine came to a realization that she would no longer be able to do certain yoga poses because of her recent[…]
When we have a persistent pain or health problem that doesn’t seem to respond to usual measures, it helps to take a closer look and see what’s happening within our[…]
My grandmother on my mom’s side had lost her mother early in life. When my grandmother was in elementary school, her mother was arrested by the Communist Party for some[…]
How do you feel when you are at peace with yourself? Inner peace (or peace of mind), by definition, is an absence of conflict; it is a state of calm that[…]
As yoga teachers and yoga therapists, we often encounter students who have been recently diagnosed with some life-altering illness or haven’t figured out a way to effectively deal with their[…]
Of all the traditional yogic texts, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras is my all-time favorite. It gets often mentioned in the yoga world in connection with yamas, niyamas, and the eight limbs[…]
Many years ago, a student of mine shared his jury duty experience in a complicated court case. After taking part in a jury discussion of the evidence presented, he was[…]
Do you like to control your environment and organize your life just so? Or do you prefer to fly by the seat of your pants and dive into new things[…]
As a yoga therapist, learning to listen to my nervous system’s signals for regulation, safety and cues of danger has been invaluable in being present with a client. This post[…]
The doorway into yoga for so many westerners is asana. In my last blog, I talked about the role of asana in working with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress. Asana[…]
Time and time again, I find that Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras offer invaluable insight into every subject I’m exploring at any given moment. Last time we talked about the nervous system[…]
Are you or someone you know having a hard time? Do you experience mental or physical pain, tightness in your chest or stomach, restless sleep, or just a general sense[…]
In viniyoga, we often say that the remedy we choose should match the type of problem the student experiences. When someone is dealing with a structural issue, yoga asana would[…]
Before I ever truly experienced anxiety, I studied it. I read about it. As a yoga teacher and yoga therapist, I was conscious about how to offer a calming, soothing[…]
Last spring, we had ants. I really, really didn’t want to kill them, so we had to be one step ahead of them. First, I had to figure out where[…]
“Become the warrior version of yourself,” my teacher used to say. At the time, I was young and luckily hadn’t experienced much conflict, so the warrior version of myself was[…]
Just try preparing for a test or think about giving a speech to a large group of people, and possibly you’ll get to experience the symptoms of anxiety – sweating,[…]
I love trains. When I was young, I frequently traveled by train to new cities with a group of good friends. To me, traveling by train means good times, laughter,[…]
Many years ago, I remember stepping out of my house on a beautiful sunny summer day and randomly thinking, “What a beautiful day! Nothing bad can happen on a gorgeous[…]
