There is so much value in returning. Over and over again. Each time we return, we reach a new depth, a new layer of richness is revealed. We return with presence again and again and each time find that there is so much that is new here. 

Why We Practice the Poses and Why It Doesn’t Matter If You Can’t Do Them All

Choose the gentler option.

If you feel this desire to succumb to the darkness, to less productivity, to rest: there is nothing wrong with you. There is something very right with you.

Most of us probably cycle through a wide variety of feelings during a yoga class. I love this! I hate this!  I am confused, I feel wobbly, this is unfamiliar, I’m not sure I’m doing this right, this feels really good, this feels very awkward, I don’t like this, I want this part to be over, is it time to lie down yet?

And isn’t this collection of thoughts and opinions identical to the ones we cycle through during our day to day lives?

I’m not saying we should all quit our jobs to be starving artists. Discipline matters, routine matters, doing your work matters. But what is your real work?

Is yoga a workout? No. Yes. Sort of. Yes, but…

Human minds are full of thoughts. It’s part of the deal.

Practice is the point.

Yoga came knocking on my door 3 times before I let it in.

We run into trouble when we over-emphasize physical postures and downplay the other aspects of yoga. But asana is important and is available for everyone.

When we honor yoga’s roots and take the time to learn what it really is, yoga’s wisdom and teachings and transformative benefits can be accessible for all of us. 

What dandelions teach us about the value of meditation.

(Stay with me here…)

 While we may feel soothed by the balm of a Target haul in the moment, we remain the same person with the same struggles a few hours later. It didn’t really fix anything. The nourishment we think we’re offering ourselves is pretend.

We can effectively train our brains to focus and concentrate more easily by practicing focused attention. A specific physical posture can be a tool to help us reach an optimal mind state during a meditation, but it’s not required. Meditation is available to everyone, regardless of physical abilities.

This page is a work in progress. I’ve started by sharing some of my older essays and look forward to adding new thoughts and ideas soon, especially about how we can use yogic principles and philosophy to help us better navigate our lives and world. Our life is our yoga lesson.

It’s a really weird thing that I feel lucky to be experiencing.

I’m becoming far more aware of all the effort that goes into all this mental planning. Aware because it requires more. It used to be automatic and now it makes me tired. Things are slipping.

Miss you, friend.

When you’re in your 20s, people will tell you not to rush into marriage and babies but then one day in your 30s you realize folks are looking at you sideways for having taken their advice and you wonder which day it was that was the tipping point.

It is a constant practice to put my attention towards cultivating a life and a way of being that honors what feels true for me even if, especially if, it veers away from the conventional path my younger self had set sights on.