Yoga and Respect: Nothing is Trivial I lived on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1990. During that year Aadil Palkhivala frequented the Big Island to teach workshops. I was fortunate to...
Introducing Yoga Props to Your Students You’d think it would be easy. Yoga props, such as yoga blocks and straps, increase the ease in so many poses. Yet, in this competitive...
Teaching Yoga: Trust Your Students’ Experience About 25 years ago I attended a workshop with a well-known yoga teacher. We were working up to Urdva Dhanurasana (Upward Bow), stretching our quads and...
Retiring Pigeon Pose I didn’t want to do it. I’ve always enjoyed Pigeon Pose, or at least the hip-opening variation that’s a preparation for Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (One-Legged King...
Teaching From Your Intuition I started teaching in 1990. I didn’t know much about reading the energy of the room or listening to intuition. In my first position, I worked...
Protect Your Wrists in Chaturanga I remember the first time I was able to hold myself up in Chaturanga Dandasana. After spending a year struggling with lifting my body off the...
Teaching Yoga—30 Years of Gratitude Friends who knew me in grade school and high school would probably never have pegged me as a person who’d end up teaching yoga. I was...
Teaching Yoga: Replenishing Your Energy In the past two weeks the pile of unopened mail in my kitchen has grown taller and more unruly. Every so often I try to neaten...
Yoga Teaching: The Wisdom of Not Knowing This morning a student asked me what should have been a simple question: What should I be feeling in this position? A minute or so later,...
Teaching Yoga: Lifting the Veils How Teaching Yoga Uncovers Your True Self As a lifelong teacher, whether it be science, health or yoga, I love and appreciate the trust that people...
Free Your Breath with a Yoga Block Practice Prasarita Padottanasana with a Yoga Block Prasarita Padottanasana is one of yoga’s most balancing standing poses. Its symmetrical shape keeps your pelvis, sacroiliac joint and...
Teaching Yoga: On Hip Joints and Humility Teaching Yoga: The Wisdom of Humility For the past two years I’ve had the privilege of attending retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center led by Joseph...
Feeling Sick? To Teach or Not to Teach Yoga How to Know Whether to Teach Yoga When You’re Not Well Yesterday morning I woke up with a sensation that’s all too familiar, a little scratchiness...
Why Listening to Your Body Might Not Be Enough If you practice yoga, you’ve probably heard the entreaty, “Listen to your body.” It’s good, sound advice. When you embark on any physical practice, it’s important...
Teaching Yoga: It’s a Two-Way Street Teaching Yoga is All About Listening “Listen to your body” has become a widely disseminated instruction in the yoga world. It’s an important one, a skill...
Healthy Yoga Practice – Don’t Stretch Your Joints! I regularly offer hip workshops at various teacher trainings in the region where I live. As the recipient of bilateral hip replacements, I’ve learned a lot...
Why Bendy People Might Not Make the Best Yoga Teachers How the Struggle Teaches Yoga Teachers How to Teach Years ago, I heard a famous quote embellished in the film, Annie Hall. In the film Woody...
Teacher, Know Yourself Teacher, Know Yourself It is wisdom to know others; it is enlightenment to know oneself. ~ Lao Tzu I’ve been fortunate to learn from so many...