Cribbing It in Ojai I was a Crib virgin before October. As a part-time yoga instructor in Carpinteria, I had heard from friends and students the wonders of the Crib. For those not in the know, Kira Ryder and the Ojai Yoga Crib crew at host studio Lulu Bhanda’s offer two-and-a-half hour classes [...]
Reiki is a spiritual healing practice that promotes balance in the body, mind and spirit. Although, like meditation and yoga, Reiki is traditionally a self-care practice, it can also be used therapeutically to support people addressing health challenges and to ease the delivery of conventional health care. The number of mainstream care settings where Reiki [...]
A few days before my first yoga New Year, my teacher asked us to make yoga New Year’s resolutions. Instantly, and uncharacteristically not even taking the three dark days till New Year’s to mull it over, I resolved to get good at jump ups. And I have been resolving to get good at jump ups [...]
(From The Spanish Article: Sumergiéndote En Yoga) *Please note that in order to preserve the intention of the author this article is not a word for word translation of Sumergiéndote en Yoga. Why Practice? Whatever might have brought you to it, you are about to take your first yoga class, or you’ve already started, and [...]
You have the wrong house. I have no son.” This is what nineteen-year-old Legdup heard when he called his mother in Tibet from Dharamsala, India. Sitting in a dark café with a tantalizing view of the Himalayan foothills that separates the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh with his homeland, a monk nods silently when [...]
The Sport of Yoga On power yoga teacher Mark Blanchard’s website, Cincinnati Bengals player TJ Houshmandzadeh describes his yoga practice, “It’s like lifting weights and stretching at the same time.” When in LA, Houshmandzadeh trains with Blanchard and the football star appears in Blanchard’s newest DVD series. These types of testimonials may well inspire a [...]
Sitting In The Fire Of Our Experience A fire ignited near our Rustic Canyon retreat, and the racket, smoke and ashes floating through the window reflected the scattered states of our consciousness. It seemed fitting that helicopters and sirens would interrupt our meditation, since even the most disciplined meditators are experiencing some fear about the [...]
As Ayurveda has increased in popularity, so too have misunderstandings surrounding it. What is Ayurveda? Is it a diet, a product or a new elixir? Is it Indian or Hindu medicine? The answer to all of the above questions is no. Ayurveda is a paradigm. It cannot be found in an herb or special [...]
The Importance of Resting and Breathing Fitness buffs and everyday gym-goers often work out with the mindset of “more is more.” Many Type-A people who attend yoga classes are often seen leaving before final relaxation (savasana), stripping themselves of the most important part of the overall experience. Savasana is the gold nugget, the eye in [...]
Learning From Injury to Find New Points of Balance There was a moment during my first week post-knee surgery that I noticed something dramatically different in the way my body felt and responded than what I had been accustomed to my entire life. The combination of coming up against an injury and taking my first [...]