While we’re on the subject of our menfolk–the most common complaint I heard from middle-aged male students coming in to try yoga was lower back pain. (more…)

What is it that makes yoga so effective? How is it different from working out or stretching or other forms of relaxation? Why must definitions and explanations of yoga include diverse interpretations from philosophical works, sacred texts and living traditions? (more…)

Sleep is the best medicine. (And I don’t mean the medicated kind, despite the annoying pop-up ads that may find their way onto this web site. My apologies, I have no control over these ad searches but I repeat I do not advocate use of sleeping pills.) Even though we’re still not quite sure what happens during the sleep state, we know when we’ve gotten enough sleep to feel healthy. (more…)

The most challenging yoga lessons for me have not come about from holding advanced physical poses as seen in yoga magazines and yoga DVDs. The physical world I’ve struggled with most is composed of bank statements, fee invoices and ideas of “credit” and “debit.” A different world of stretching and balancing!
Money is a funny topic in the worlds I’ve lived in most of my life as an educator, artist and spiritual seeker. (more…)

There are many stereotypes about yoga practitioners, most of them silly and misconstrued. (I’ve stopped introducing myself as a yoga teacher at parties because I get the most inane comments about what we’re supposedly capable of doing!) The one that puzzles even yoga practitioners themselves says that we shouldn’t get too emotional - about anything. Like yoga and emotions just don’t mix? (more…)

I’ve written previously how devoting my breaths to the Durga mantra, Lakshmi mantra and Saraswati mantra has affected my life. (See my blog entries on Navaratri for September 23- October 2, 2006). (more…)

Even though sunset today was at 4:50 pm, I kept on walking.  It gets dark quickly now, days before winter solstice. So my vigorous 5 mile walk felt very dramatic as the trees and bushes I’ve become familiar with became unrecognizable in the dark.  The line between the road and the tree roots was blurred and the afternoon rain storm had painted a blue tinge  on the sidewalk ahead of me.  (more…)

How do you define health? Is it connected to a certain part of your body, like being headache-free or having good digestion? Or is it being fit, athletic or “buff”? When you say you are “doing well” today do you mean that you are optimistic or feeling financially stable or in love? Are you healthy because you feel connected with people and the world around you? (more…)

One of the reasons yoga has survived is that it provides some very practical instructions for dealing with what ails us.  Suffering and pain can take on many forms, as anxiety or depression, heart “aches”, overstimulated organs, overworked muscles etc.

Yoga doesn’t just say to study these concepts and think about them or discuss them or write papers about them, nor does it say to pray and hope for the best (although all these can also be used)- yoga is a way to possibly change some of that pain and suffering.  It is a method to tranformation. (more…)

Sometimes I look around a yoga class I’m attending and notice how too much instruction can create the opposite effect of what we really desire- a freedom in the body. Students are straining to follow every detail of a yoga teacher’s instructions as their bodies become rigid and turn into stone statues. (more…)