For many people, New Year’s resolutions may start strong, but then either fizzle or die within months. And yet, there’s something kind of cool about the concept of a fresh start with a new year. Is it possible to find the perfect balance? Yoga provides the answer in the form of sankalpa, which loosely [...]
From the book The Humming Effect, by Jonathan and Andi Goldman Lowered blood pressure and heart rate Slowed paced humming causes both our blood pressure to be significantly decreased as well as a decrease in heart rate. Thus, it promotes deep relaxation and reduces stress, including reducing all those hormones associated with stress such as [...]
Are we willing to “look” at ourselves and “undo” what has us trapped? Our chakra system is quite a miraculous way to do so. It gives us a glimpse into how we are operating. Do a quick assessment on yourself to see how you can refine your existence. Remember if the root chakra is [...]
As the Director of a trauma-informed yoga teacher training, I’m grateful that awareness about trauma is on the rise. There was a time when the general social attitude was that a person simply needed to “get over it” if they experienced a traumatic event or series of events, and many popular movies and shows [...]
In the Kundalini Yoga lineage, it is said that there are three statements we might consider avoiding: I don’t know I can’t do it I’m not ready I have found that looking at whether or not these statements are the best thing for me to say or project has been illuminating, especially “I can’t [...]
Meaning, the thing you tell yourself about what you can and cannot do in your practice. Do you have one? Mine was that Vinyasa yoga was “too hard” for me. I told myself this even though I once practiced it regularly. But because I had not practiced in a while, I almost convinced myself [...]
How do you develop your intuition? And how might you use it pick the best yoga teacher training for you, or, really, to make any sort of decision of significance? There’s a whole story around how I picked my first training. However, the boil down answer for me was: something about it simply felt [...]
Don’t “train” to be a yoga teacher. Start by finding your personal inspiration. To train is defined by Mariam-Webster as: A) to teach so as to make fit, qualified, or proficient, or B) to form by instruction, discipline, or drill. Given that yoga classes in studios and fitness centers have become the most popular [...]
Anxiety can potentially cause racing, uncontrollable thoughts as well as physical agitation. People who experience several types of anxiety may avoid yoga or meditation classes because their experience of anxiety feels magnified while they are in the company of people who are seemingly able to sit or lie still with their eyes closed and [...]
A large part of being a successful yoga professional is knowing how to cue in a way that clear, concise and meaningful. It was easier (although not simple) when people were in the room with us. Now that so many of our students may be on Zoom with their cameras off our job is [...]
