Diversity in Yoga: The Follow Up
My mind was blown yesterday by the amazing conversations this post prompted. I got phone calls, e-mails, DM’s and not to mention all the conversations on Instagram and Facebook. If you are interested in the conversations on Facebook, including a response from Mark Robberds, one of the conference presenters, go here. Also, feel free to look me up on Instagram, wellness_yogini, to see the conversations there and the InstaStory. One of the conference organizers reached out to me as well. Apologies were given and so were explanations. I won’t put any of that here because it defeats the purpose which was to bring awareness to the lack of representation of…
How Can You Have a Unity and Diversity Conference W/ No Diversity!!!!
I am not a confrontational person. That is not what Ashtanga Yoga Project is about but dude….I almost fell off my chair this morning when I clicked on a link for an Ashtanga Yoga and Diversity Conference in Bali that had all white faces. Are you kidding me? We all know Ashtanga Yoga originated in India. Not even any Indian faces!!!! Like seriously, are you kidding me? It is 2019. Why are we still doing this!!!!! Yes, I cannot tell someone’s ethnicity just by their picture but if everyone on the presenter list can pass for White, you didn’t reach far enough!!!! These people are not my global leaders. Stop…
The Importance of Community in Spiritual Awakening
Community, if we allow it AND we do the work, can wake us up. They trigger us. I am not saying that you should surround yourself with people that trigger you and that you should stick around in all the situations in which you are triggered. If you choose to leave the situation, don’t leave the work behind. Triggers show us where there is work to be done. One of my teacher friends says, “when it is hysterical, it is historical.” When something causes our emotions to go sky high and out of control, there is something in our history that needs our love, attention and eventually our forgiveness. A community…
- Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ask the AYP, Teaching Ashtanga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Will Not Keep Bad Things From Happening
Yoga is not an inoculation against bad things. It is the science of learning how to deal with bad things when they happen. If you are lucky, you start to view “bad” things as just events and you don’t label them at all. On my last post, someone commented and asked, “how can you hurt yourself when you are practicing Ahimsa?” Easy. Most people don’t wake up in the morning and say. “I feel like hurting myself today. I really want to get in a car accident, maybe get a cold, catch my husband in bed with his co-worker, rip my hamstring, and have to bail my son out of…
My New Year Wishes For the Yoga World
Forgiveness: Jack Kornfield can say it better than me. “Like the practice of compassion, forgiveness does not ignore the truth of our suffering. Forgiveness is not weak. It demands courage and integrity. Yet only forgiveness and love can bring about the peace we long for. As the Indian sage Meher Baba explains, “True love is not for the faint-hearted.” “We have all betrayed and hurt others, just as we have knowingly or unknowingly been harmed by them. It is inevitable in this human realm. Sometimes our betrayals are small, sometimes terrible. Extending and receiving forgiveness is essential for redemption from our past. To forgive does not mean we condone the misdeeds of another. We can dedicate…
- Adventures in Mysore India, Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Guru, Interviews, Saraswathi, Teaching Ashtanga, Uncategorized, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Random Ashtanga Stuff That Has Been Driving Me Up The Wall
Ashtanga stuff that has been pushing my buttons.
The Gift of Not Fitting In
Not fitting in makes you question life and it wakes you up. Usually, it is not until we see or experience something outside of the norm that we question normalcy in the first place. I have never questioned whether I am a woman or not. I have all the things society considers to be normal for a woman like a vagina and breasts. I have a uterus. I do all the things society sees as normal for women like wearing dresses, make up and birthing a child. My shape is considered womanly. I have never been mistaken for a man. However, if I would have been born transgendered, less curvy,…
What do Kapotasana and Swimming Have in Common?
Bear with me. Like your yoga practice, this story is going some where. When I was in college, I took a beginner swim class. At the end, my teacher told me I could swim, passed me and gave me an “A”. Summer came around and I was at the pool with my husband, an ex marine and expert swimmer. I was ecstatic about showing him my new skills. I get in the water. Show him what I can do and he says, Husband: Sweetie, you can’t swim. Me: Yes, I can. My teacher said I could. I passed the class. He moved me on. Husband: Sweetie, if I pushed you…
- Alignment and Injuries, Ashtanga Adaptability, Ashtanga Quotes, Teaching Ashtanga, Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Sutras
Yoga Practice in Good and Bad Times
“Your toothache is impermanent, but your non-toothache is also impermanent. With that insight, you look at birth, death, old-age, ups and downs, suffering, and happiness with the eyes of a sage, and you don’t suffer anymore. You smile, no longer afraid.” – Thich Nhat Hanh The Sutras does not say that, “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of life.” It says that “Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. ” The world turns, burns, rises and falls. Teachers come and go, hamstrings tear and heal. In yogic terms, the gunas will keep interacting with prakriti and, while I play in this world, I can’t stop it.…
A Yoga Practice to Wake Up To
In order for our practice to work, it has to be stronger then our negative ideations. If not, Self Hate will say, “is that all you got?” Addiction will say, “come at me, bro.” Suffering will say, “I can do you one better.” I truly love the idea of a soothing languorous practice. But I know me. If my mind and my body is not given a challenge, it will be an hour of negative thinking with incense, pretty lights and singing bowls. This does not mean doing strong sweaty asanas either. It just needs to be something that effectively stops the mind, and perhaps, turns it in another direction. …
Ashtanga Yoga For the Modern World
