Yoga Practice

What are your go-to poses right after you step onto your mat? I like to warm up with a “gooey” Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward-Facing Dog Pose)....

Breath awareness is foundational to mindfulness. In the practice, we choose an area of the breathing passage—the nostrils, chest or abdomen. Then we rest our attention...

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 culture,...

We often see yoga poses in terms of their shape. What are we stretching? What are we stabilizing? Which muscles need to engage, and which muscles...

When most people think of yoga, they think of physical poses. While they may understand that there’s more to it than just poses, do most people...

When I think of mindfulness practice, a quote by B.K.S. Iyengar often comes to mind: “It is through the body that everything comes to the mind....

Restorative Yoga is a form of “power yoga.” It doesn’t look anything like what we usually call “Power Yoga,” but it’s nonetheless a powerful practice. The...

I’ve been ambivalent about the phrase “yoga pose” for a while. At one point, I resolved to stop using it. But it wasn’t easy. Thirty-plus years...

If your idea of Restorative Yoga comes only from photos you’ve seen of it—looks boring, you might say—your view is likely not accurate. While it’s true...

On every silent Insight Meditation retreat I’ve attended—at The Last Resort in Southern Utah, or at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California—meals have always been...

A former longtime student recently told me that she had to stop coming to yoga classes because she just couldn’t make herself sit out poses that...

Have you fallen away from your yoga practice? It happens to almost everyone. We get busier. Our schedules shift and we can’t make it to our...

This January, I’ll celebrate my 40th anniversary of practicing yoga. I began practicing in my mid-20s and have practiced continuously since then. A whole lot has...

I remember the first time I was able to hold myself up in Chaturanga Dandasana (Four-Limbed Staff Pose). After spending a year struggling with lifting my...

A couple weeks ago, I attended a seven-day silent meditation retreat at The Last Resort in Duck Creek, Utah. Due to COVID, it was my first...

Yoga first became popular in the U.S. in the 1960s. While I was not privy to the practice back then, several friends did practice during that...

Years ago, I attended a yoga teacher training with a well-known teacher. The teacher shared lots of helpful information about alignment and adjustments. Early in the...

There’s nothing easier than lying down on the floor for Savasana, right? In many cases, the answer is yes. But in some ways, Savasana demands more...