Category: Benefits of Yoga

Q&A: The Practice of Peace in Yoga

Basia asks: "When exactly does the peace and good will to all kick in?" (more…)

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Q&A: Yoga and Meditation

Nico asks: "I’d like yoga to get me into spring since the weather won’t cooperate–Saraswati do you think you need to be fairly strong in yoga practice to be able to properly meditate?" (more…)

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Even Yoga Teachers Get Stressed Sometimes!

I should know better, I know, I know.... I've been sick for a couple days now and of course could probably attribute it to some virus or food but know it's more stress related than anything else. (more…)

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But is Yoga Aerobic Enough?

Saw an interesting report on 20/20 this week that questions the whole emphasis on aerobics in health training programs. Seems it really doesn't do anything for losing weight and puts much stress on joints, muscles and even on our immune system. (more…)

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Yoga and Sleep

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....

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Learning to Breathe in Yoga

Everyone alive knows how to breathe. But our breath also changes according to our emotions and environment. I frequently notice students holding their breath (not breathing) when they are trying to get into a difficult yoga pose. Nothing shuts down the physical body faster. Muscles don't move, your brain and heart receive a message to stop. (more…)

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Yoga as Meditation

Something happens during a yoga class that is different from going to a gym or taking a nap (two activities that students will often try comparing with yoga). I've already mentioned that the nature of coming into yoga poses, moving with breath, staying with the yoga poses for extended periods of time followed by a deep relaxation creates a type of whole body meditation. While many forms of meditation encourage a complete stillness...

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Solo Yoga

It's a very different feeling creating your own yoga session than it is showing up for a yoga class. In my 20 years of yoga practice, I've gone through periods of knowing that I needed the structure and guidance of another yoga teacher and other times when I was able to go much deeper into my own yoga practice by going solo. (more…)

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Yoga for a New Year

Everything is closed today. Hopefully everyone is enjoying a full day and evening without the daily pressures that leave us exhausted. The job, the commute, the family, the deadlines and then of course there's all the new things just added to our To Do list: exercise more, spend less, laugh more, worry less... Many folks I know have "been meaning to" try yoga. Many others have "been meaning to get back" to...

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If you’re so smart why aren’t you a Vegetarian?

Another item in the news this week: from the British Medical Journal reporting on the connection between a high I.Q. in childhood and later vegetarianism in adulthood. Strange, but true, they say. OK, let's set aside for now my opinion on I.Q. tests (what exactly do they measure, and for whom?) and consider that maybe what this report suggests is that it may take a little smarts to figure out that (1) diet does affect...

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