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Making the Philosophy and Poses of Ashtanga Accessible for All

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  • Shanna Small
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  • Diversity,  Guru,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    With Me or Against Me

    July 3, 2019 / 2 Comments

    People are asking, “Why is there a culture of silence in Yoga?” Something that often makes people go silent is “all or nothing” and “with me or against me” thinking. It is the idea that everything is black or white and you have to choose a side. If folks don’t want to choose a side, they will often just go silent. When the person speaks up, they get crucified by both sides for not choosing. This results in shutting down the conversation and shutting down the person. You can hate someone’s choices around a particular event but totally still love and respect everything else about them. You can love your…

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    Shanna Small

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    Taking Away Attention, Taking Away Power

    November 30, 2019
  • ableism,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Diversity,  Privilege,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    My Answer To Kino: Would You Still Love Me If I Don’t Handstand Anymore?

    May 21, 2019 / 8 Comments

    Kino posted an article today, “Would You Still Love Me If I Don’t Handstand Anymore?” My answer is “yes” because I do not choose teachers based on the poses they can do. Even though the yoga world at large has not followed suit, I outgrew that years ago. If someone believes that achievement in physical asana constitutes dedication to practice or greater knowledge of yoga, they either don’t really practice that much or they change studios, styles of yoga or teachers too often. It only takes a few years of hanging around in the same yoga rooms with the same students and the same teachers to see that this is…

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    Shanna Small
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Diversity,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    It Is So Much Easier To Tell You To Change

    April 20, 2019 / 3 Comments

    It is so much easier to tell someone else or an organization to change than to actually change ourselves. How many times have you made a statement that Ashtanga, the government, your job, your yoga studio should change but you cannot even clean out your closets without having a meltdown? For most people, switching careers, cities, boyfriends or hairstyles is a harrowing ordeal, but your democracy, that should change overnight. Not only should everyone change but they should do it smoothly and quickly without disrupting YOUR life. Hmm…how realistic is that? I have been yearning for change in my own life and I have made no steps in any direction.…

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    Shanna Small

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    The Body Doesn’t Lie

    March 1, 2017

    Tips For Ashtangis Without Regular Teachers

    February 20, 2014

    Random Ashtanga Stuff That Has Been Driving Me Up The Wall

    December 7, 2018
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Diversity,  History,  Ladies Holday,  Social Media,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    What You Don’t Know, Makes You Dangerous

    March 9, 2019 / No Comments

    Before you make that statement on social media, before you write that blog post, stop. Ask yourself, do you have all the information? Do you understand the subject outside of your own cultural biases? Are you listening to only one side? Every day, I gain more of an understanding of why some teachers and Patanjali tell us to pick a method and stick with it. Reason 1-so we don’t dig shallow wells. Reason 2-so we don’t get confused. Yoga is not one long unfractured story where the facts perfectly follow one after the other. That is like saying that American history is White history and just following the line of…

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    Shanna Small

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    Ask the APP: Overweight Ashtangis?

    May 22, 2014

    A.P.P Goes to Mysore: Alcohol in Mysore

    November 4, 2016

    Yoga Sutras For Modern Day Life: Is Your Pose an Asana?

    September 15, 2017
  • Adventures in Mysore India,  Alignment and Injuries,  Ask the AYP,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Yoga Will Not Keep Bad Things From Happening

    January 21, 2019 / 2 Comments

    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…

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    Shanna Small

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    Yoga Conference Highlights from Sharath’s Stockholm Visit

    October 7, 2015

    Is The Fullness of KPJAYI Due To Spiritual Tourism?

    September 3, 2015

    The Lesson, Not the Event

    July 5, 2018
  • Uncategorized

    My New Year Wishes For the Yoga World

    January 1, 2019 / 2 Comments

    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…

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    Shanna Small

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    Unfollow the Leader

    March 1, 2018

    Flexibility: Is it All In Your Mind?

    October 14, 2014

    BKS Iyengar Dies and This Is What Is On The Cover of Yoga Journal?

    September 4, 2014
  • Alignment and Injuries,  Ashtanga Adaptability,  Ashtanga Quotes,  Teaching Ashtanga,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Yoga Practice in Good and Bad Times

    September 25, 2018 / 1 Comment

    “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.…

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    Shanna Small

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    Get the Help You Need For Your Ashtanga Practice w/ Jen Rene

    August 6, 2018

    A Deeper Conversation on Pain In Yoga with Gregor Maehle and Satinder Khalsa

    December 3, 2015

    Yoga Sutras For Every Day Life: Common Misconceptions of Ashtanga Yoga

    January 24, 2015
  • Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    A Yoga Practice to Wake Up To

    September 20, 2018 / 3 Comments

    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. …

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    Shanna Small

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    Nee-ji: Knee Pain Suport Review

    January 1, 2015

    Yoga Sutras For Everyday Life: Santosha/Contentment

    October 31, 2014

    How Ashtanga Helped Hedge Fund Manager Make 14 Billion

    February 22, 2014
  • Social Media,  Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Social Media and the Freedom to NOT Hear Your Speech

    September 10, 2018 / 3 Comments

    I often see people angry on social media because someone deleted a comment off their page.  Usually, the person, whose comment got deleted, moves the comment to another page and says, “I put this comment on so and so’s page, they deleted it”, Followed by one of these statements “but I think people have a right to see this.” “and so many people agreed with me.” “it must be because they were offended/knew I was right/didn’t want the truth to get out.” Here is the thing. That page belongs to them and they have every right, for whatever reason, to delete your comment. Yes, it is public but so is…

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    Shanna Small

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    Trigger….Unhappy

    June 14, 2018

    Questioning God

    November 7, 2016

    Did Social Media Ruin Yoga?

    October 22, 2016
  • Uncategorized,  Yoga Philosophy,  Yoga Sutras

    Discipline and Punishment

    August 29, 2018 / No Comments

    “Without practicing discipline, one cannot gather his scattered energy, and all his goals will remain dreams that never materialize. Discipline is not a punishment but a part of growth, without which mental and physical health cannot be maintained”-Swami Rama Getting on the yoga mat everyday can sometimes feel like punishment. It is…depending on how you use it.  If practice is used as a penance for eating pizza and cake, as a way to beat the mind and body into submission, or a way to shame ourselves into changing what we think is bad about ourselves, it totally is punishment. Google defines discipline as “train (someone) to obey rules or a…

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    Shanna Small

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    What Do the Yoga Sutras Say About Segregated Yoga Classes?

    October 22, 2015

    Yoga Barbie: A New Project To Address Body Image in Yoga

    October 16, 2014

    Will We Ever Get Past The Yoga and Body Image Diversity Issue?

    November 16, 2016
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