June 2008 Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand)

This month’s pose represents the perfect balance of discipline and play. There are many ways to fool around and be unstructured. This pose requires a sense of playful determination and focus. You need to be focused, calm, and relaxed while at the same time playing with your edge. I love how handstands can be done […]

Life is Yoga: June 2008: Taking Time to Breathe

The focus of the month reflects the importance of taking the time to breathe. The air is rich with the fragrance of flowers and plants. There are farmers markets, outdoor cafes, barbeques, dog walks, and trips to the beach and into nature. Well, these are all the things most of us want to be doing […]

May 2008 Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)

Danurasana will be a welcome contrast to the previous 2 poses of the month, which required folding at the hips and closing in the front of the body. Bow Pose is all about opening up the front of the body, especially the shoulders, core, and hips. This posture is perfect for spring as we all […]

Life is Yoga: May 2008: Why Vegan?

I became vegan almost 1 year ago. My motivation? I was feeling depressed and overwhelmed with the threat of global warming, as well as feeling inconsistent with my beliefs about compassion and animals. You see, I have been vegetarian for almost 30 years. I became a vegetarian mainly because I believed that the inhumane treatment […]

Life is Yoga: may 2008

It has become increasingly apparent to me that many people are being bombarded with messages of fear. I believe that joy and fear are opposites. Fear is what stops many of us from making choices that we know in our heart are right. The idea that someone else knows better than you is the exact […]

April 2008 Galavasana (Pose Dedicated to the Sage Galava)

Galavasana— sometimes called figure 4 pose, so we picked it for the fourth month! Just kidding, we have very deep and spiritual reasons for chosing the pose of the month, because this one is a lot of fun!! Galavasana involves a good amount of flexibility and strength in the outer rotators of the hip. This […]

Life is Yoga: April 2008: Community

Yogic philosophy teaches non-violence, compassion and respect for all things living. The goal of yoga practice, in theory, is reaching the state called samadhi or bliss. Many interpretations of this state exist but I believe that samadhi is experienced in the realization that all things are connected. That sense of being part of something larger than oneself […]

March 2008 Padmasana (Lotus pose)

Padmasana is one of those poses that students find frustrating. It requires a certain type of hip flexibility that is different than that for shin-to-shin or pigeon pose. The most important thing is that the knee joint is not bent sideways in the process of moving into the pose. This asana, if done wrong, is […]

Life is Yoga: March 2008

Padmasana represents springtime to me. At the end of the Astanga closing sequence, you see three versions of this pose to finish and seal the practice: Badha Padmasana (Bound Lotus), Padmasana (Lotus), and Ut Plutihi (Lotus Flying Up). The first one represents the compact and intense energy of a bulb of a flower. In padmasana, […]

January 2008 Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)

Description and Benefits This posture is one of the 4 major inversions, which include handstand (adho mukha vrkasana), forearm stand (pincha mayurasana), headstand (sirsasana), and shoulder stand. Of the four, shoulder stand is the most accessible and the most problematic. Almost anyone can get into it, especially if they use momentum. However, the neck is […]