Teaching Yoga

In 1988, I attended my first silent Insight Meditation retreat. I noticed one thing right off—how incredibly out-of-control my mind is. But as my mind began...

Betsy was tall, lanky and tanned. She loved to swim and take beach vacations with her family. Betsy loved a good joke, and knew how to...

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...

Most of my students have been attending my classes for many years—some for decades. When a newbie comes to class, they often remark that their fellow...

Decades ago the film, Annie Hall, embellished a famous quote about the art of teaching. In the film the quote went like this: “Those who can’t...

Some years ago, a yoga teaching colleague related a story about a student at her studio who suffers from a rare neurological condition that causes tremors....

Utthita Parsvakonasana (Side Angle Pose) is a pillar among standing poses. It combines strong grounding with expansion and spinal rotation. It looks like a lateral stretch,...

Last weekend I guest taught for a local yoga teacher training. In the 300-hour training, I gave a talk on Iyengar Yoga and offered thoughts and...

Range of Motion is Different For Everyone Have you ever wanted to get into an intermediate or advanced yoga class and been told that you had...

What is a Yoga Voice and How is it Different From Your Authentic Voice? For almost three decades, the outgoing message on my home voice mail...

One of the most frequent questions students ask in my classes is, “What should I be feeling in this position?” I always give a non-answer to...

Until the 20th century, yoga—the whole system—was always taught one on one. An aspiring yogi studied with their yoga mentor often for decades. Over the years,...

Ahimsa (non-harming) is the cornerstone of the Yamas (the ethical principles of yoga). As the first principle of the first of yoga’s Eight Limbs, ahimsa can...

Are you a yoga teacher? What inspired you to share yoga with others? Who have been your most influential yoga teachers? Teaching yoga is an honor....

“Listen to your body” has become a widely disseminated instruction in the yoga world. It’s an important one, a skill that reaches out into life off...

I’ve only injured myself once in 38 years of yoga practice. It happened when a teaching colleague told me my Headstand (Sirsasana) was incorrect because I...

Yoga gossip. No matter how big our small our yoga community is, it seems there’s always some sort of buzz. We are competitive beings, after all....

Occasionally I’m invited to team teach a class that will benefit a local charity. I always accept these invitations, as I feel that this is a...