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Chances are, if you’re reading this, you practice yoga. And chances are, you practice because it feels good. If you teach yoga, you probably do so because you know the...

In the Insight meditation tradition, breath awareness is the first technique we practice. Observing our breath creates an anchor for the restless mind. Of course, practicing breath awareness doesn’t guarantee...

In 1989 I went to India for a three-week intensive with B.K.S. Iyengar and his daughter, Geeta. Mr. Iyengar had just turned 70, and Geeta was officially handling the majority...

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 Yoga Sutras define yoga...

Before 1993 I enjoyed the luxury of moral certainty. I was pretty good at separating the “good people” from the “bad people.” Good people were kind, loving and generous. They...

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 of using the phrase...

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 that Restorative Yoga does...

I was not born with a lot of hubris. When I started teaching yoga, I knew there was lots more to learn. But I felt that the alignment instructions I’d...

In a previous post, I wrote about the using Sanskrit vs. English names when you teach yoga poses. The answer, as in so much of yoga practice is, it depends....

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 always been the most...

On January 22nd, a bright light gently flickered out. Vietnamese Zen master, Thich Nhat Hanh, 95, left his body. Nhat Hanh was known as a meditation teacher, peace activist, and...

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 were bothering her back....