Yoga in Paia
Where the Road to Hana Meets the Yoga Path There are places where yoga is something you do. And then there are places where yoga somehow becomes part of the landscape. Paia is one of those places. This colorful little town on Maui’s North Shore has long attracted an unusual mixture of surfers, artists, musicians, […]
As Your Yoga Practice Deepens: Why It’s Time to Explore Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—and Why We Study Them in Yoga Teacher Training
As Your Yoga Practice Deepens: Why It’s Time to Explore Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras—and Why We Study Them in Yoga Teacher Training For many students, yoga begins with stepping onto the mat for the first time. Perhaps you came for greater flexibility, improved strength, stress relief, or simply a chance to slow down. As your practice […]
The Power of Practice
Whatever we practice, we get better at, and we are always practicing something. Either we are reinforcing habits, behaviors and reactions we already have, or we are learning and reinforcing something new. Many of our behaviors and reactions are automatic and unconscious – we might call them ‘default’ practices. Conscious, intentional practice, on the other […]
Yoga – Now more than ever
These are challenging times and every day we are living with the uncertainty of change. But we are made for these times. Even though the practices and philosophy of yoga have been around a long time, they are more alive and relevant than ever. They are tools available to us that can help us through […]
300 Hour Yoga Story
by Holly McKibben I began my yoga journey five years ago, taking classes at a local hot yoga studio. I went for the sweat, but something else brought me back, something bigger, something I did not yet understand. I came back to my mat, over and over again, and through asana (physical practice), I woke […]
Yoga: Beyond the Asana Practice
by Bre’ann Rupp “How liberating it is: to pursue wholeness instead of perfection.” -Morgan Harper Nichols. “Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.” -Thich Nhat Hanh. On the first day of a yoga teacher training, one of my mentors invited the group to introduce ourselves, share a personal anecdote, and answer the […]
Practice
Yoga is a wisdom tradition that has been around for a long time, a philosophy realized and understood only through practice. This is one of the profoundly beautiful things about yoga – it is not only teachings and movements passed down through time, it is brought to life by our direct experience. It is personal […]
Svadyaya – Know Thyself
Svadyaya, one of the Niyamas, is a beautiful Sanskrit word that means ‘reflecting on our self’, or self-study. Traditionally, Svadyaya has been the study of sacred texts that gave us insight into our life. Besides the texts it means even more for our practice on and off the mat. TKV Desikachar described it as ‘anything […]
Raja Yoga of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Raja Yoga refers to the ‘Royal Path’ of the Eight Limbs of Yoga. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali is over 2000 years old, and is still one of the most enlightening and insightful spiritual works of all time, as relevant and inspiring as ever. The word sutra means ‘thread’, and Patanjali weaves together the ‘threads’ […]
Chakras
Swirling, expanding and contracting, a column of energetic wheels aligned from the base of our spine to the crown of our head, the chakras pulse as centers of spiritual power in the human body. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning wheel, circle, or disc. The fine network of energetic lines called nadis that run through […]