Yoganimosity
There are many Sanskrit words for having a compassionate heart. Karuna. Maitri. Loving-kindness for all living things, is a tenet of yoga and Buddhist practice. Loving even one’s enemies, is a feature of many spiritual practices. Certainly, easier said than done. However: to be a yoga teacher, it’s a good thing to strive to hold […]
Cake lessons
Have you ever tried to make something beautiful, or tasty, labored for a long time, sketching, painting, or chopping, mixing, obsessing, only to realize that your efforts are going horribly off course and… you’re going to have to abandon it all and start over? If so, welcome to the club. It’s part of the human […]
Overcoming overindulgence
When Facebook descended upon the world, and everybody’s high school friends started stalking each other online… my former classmates were QUITE surprised to find that I was… fit. If there had been a category of “Least Likely To Exercise’, that would be me. I weighed about twice of what I do now – pudgy face, […]
Hot yoga history
It’s a little known fact, that bodybuilding and hot yoga… share ancestry. And, it’s weirder than you think. Bodybuilding became a thing, in the early 1900’s. Bodybuilding competitions became an industry, with endorsements, tiny spandex speedos, huge tacky trophies, and the like. Bodybuilding found a boom in the 1950’s, and spawned the events we are […]
Indra’s legacy
Everyone loves a good origin story. Here’s one, about the first non-Indian yoga teacher in America. It’s all her fault, that there’s a yoga studio on every corner, that yoga pants are a thing, and she did it all in high heels and cheetah print. You might not know who Indra Devi is; but neither […]
Just bee
I read a book once called, ‘Don’t just do something… Sit There!’ by Sylvia Boorstein. She’s hilarious, and has the gift of delivering Buddhist discourse through the lens of being a Jewish grandmother from New York. And although the title is fairly clear, and the book very matter-of-fact… It still took me another 15 years […]
Show your colors
One of the things I adore about going to Indian restaurants (besides the food), is seeing women of all ages, shapes and sizes wearing their saris. Ornate, intricate, goddess-worthy swaths of draped fabric with celestial bling. Rhinestones, sequins, tiny mirrors, metallic embroidery – these women know how to adorn themselves! Most of all, I love […]
Our true names
The Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, has written so many books that have fueled and inspired me. But there’s one poem that pierced me like a pin in my spiritual balloon. Please Call Me By My True Names. I wrestle with it, resist, and realize how selective I can be in my so-called compassion. This […]
Demolition
Welcome to the gritty, loud, and somewhat injurious world of demolition! Sorry, #notsorry, walls. You served your purpose as a 2-classroom tutoring center. Now, it’s time to evolve into a one-classroom, yoga studio with showers.We’ve got to tear you down, to build you back up again. Is it fun? Yeah, kinda. Is it easy? No. […]
The view
One of the main reasons I chose this location was… the view from the yoga room. Multiple huge windows featuring towering trees, adorable shrubs, moss, stones, twisting roots… it’s alive, and you can almost feel the pulse of nature. It’s effortless art, and will change with the seasons, with the time of day, with storms, […]
