Yoga Inspiration

A misunderstanding about meditation is that it calms your mind. But even after 20 years of practicing, a calm mind will still have days of chaos. The purpose of meditation is not to become calm but to create equanimity.  Though the words calm and equanimous are often used synonymously, there is a slight difference. Calmness can be compared to still waters, while equanimity is more like the sky. It...

Yoga is an existing flow, like a stream. It has flowed before you, you interact with it when you step in, but it keeps flowing when you step out. Lineage requires us to have a multidimensional outlook. To be able to look back, look forward, and be aware of our current standings.   It's not the type of lineage that involves genetics or bloodlines. To enter into the Yoga lineage, you must practice c...

Dr. Shyam is a scholar-practitioner and professor of the department of philosophy at the York Centre For Asian Research at York University in Toronto, Canada, and the founder of yogaphilosophy.com.  Dr. Shyam translated the Yoga Sutra as a project as an undergrad taking South Asian Studies. This is what sparked his interest in yoga. Through studying the ancient sources of yoga, he recognized how t...

I am not an expert in constitutional law, but as a woman, I felt a duty to create a dialogue around the recent overturning of Roe vs. Wade and the rights that have been stripped from women in many states across the US.  Not all of us will agree on this topic. It's a very personal question that really only you can answer yourself.  But, that doesn't make it any less important to speak on.  The defi...

The yoga practice is a wonderful tool for self-reflection and healing. Satya or truthfulness is an important part of the journey to personal wellness. You must be honest with yourself and share from your heart. We all have something of value, something to offer. And by showing up and sharing, we can help others and to a stronger sense of community wellness. The feeling of acceptance in the yoga co...

Observing is the basis of mediation practice, which is a very vital part of the yoga practice. No matter how many times your mind wanders or where it wanders, the most important thing is to observe that your mind has wandered and then return your focus to your breath.  From your meditation and yoga practice, carry whatever peace and harmony that is in your heart into your life. Kindness is how we...

I've been practicing yoga since college, but does that alone make me a successful yogi? Do the cool poses you can do make your yoga practice successful? Also, no. Success in the yoga practice is not judged by external metrics like aesthetic performance.   Practice is different than performance. A performance entertains; a practice is done for you and you alone. Your yoga practice is meant to help...

Yoga is a spiritual practice, an internal journey that can't be reflected in anyone the same way it is inside yourself. The fundamental idea is that the seeds of awakening, peace, and Samadhi are within every single one of us.  Your experience is best evaluated personally and individually. Not by the standards of others or external factors. "If only" will only toxify your yoga practice, ruining it...

Many of us, even myself, came into this beautiful world of yoga through Asana or physical practice. Then after some time, it becomes necessary to learn more about the Sadhana or spiritual side of and more subtle limbs of your practice.  This is a very personal journey that will be different for everyone in terms of when you will find the spiritual spark. But, the general rule is by the time you're...

Sunaina Madhav Dasi (they/them) is a multidimensional human that holds many identities. They immigrated from Bangalore, India in 1996 and are currently settled on the ancestral lands of the Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Ute Nations. Sunaina is a mixed-race person (Indo-Aryan and Dravidian) and speaks Tamil as their mother tongue. Their yoga practice is deeply rooted in Hinduism, Bhakti, and social justic...

After years of practicing, I realized getting my meditation practice perfect wasn't going to happen. But, this impossibility doesn't have to be a problem. Understand the imperfect nature of all things, even yourself, your life, and what you bring to meditation practice. A wandering mind is not a failed meditation. It's all a part of the practice. And, that's what it is: a practice. Imperfection an...

Join me in a guided meditation practice to bring awareness to your full body through breath and sensations. Learn to retrain your brain to become mindful and neutral to all of your thoughts and sensations.  This practice fits well with our previous episode about the Value of Equanimity because it brings you closer to reaching true mental calmness through being aware of your sensations and learning...

In life, there's always something to react to or suffer from. Whether it's happy or irritating, there's always something. From the practices of the Buddha, I have found that in our suffering, we ignore the practice of equanimity. Equanimity comes from a Sanskrit word that means being undisturbed. According to the teachings of the Buddha, when you're reacting to something, it's not the external thi...

As a yoga teacher, I've come across a few practitioners who don't always realize yoga is from India. Many of these students are from the United States, and they inspired me to investigate and uncover why there is a disconnect between western yogis and the culture of their practice. Sri, a yoga student who has been practicing with us on OmStars, joins me to discuss the Hinduphobia he's witnessed in...

Do you sit and meditate after every yoga practice? It's important to take a few moments after asana practice to meditate. The yoga journey is not linear, and sometimes we can lose track of ourselves and our practice while on this path. But when we sit and take the time to breathe and practice metta, we can remind ourselves why we started practicing yoga in the first place. Yoga practice is not jus...

Time is precious. And it's fleeting. Sometimes it goes by so fast it feels like things are over the instant they start. So what are you going to do with this limited resource? How will you spend the time you have left? There are no wrong or right answers, but I invite you to reflect on the time we have. The spiritual journey we are on together is still a solo experience because it's up to you how...

Susanna Barkataki is a fantastic storyteller, and she uses her gift to share the origin culture of yoga with our community. She and I have discussed intersectionality and cultural appropriation in the yoga classroom before, and we share more ways yogis can connect with the culture of our practice with one of the most vibrant spring holidays — Holi . The ancient celebration of Holi honors the bloss...

The ability to discern between what is true and not true is the ultimate goal of the Ashtanga yoga practice. Continual practice of the full eight limbs of Ashtanga will create a permanent state of "discernable discernment" — but that is so much easier said than done.  As we well know, walking the path of yoga can take many, many lifetimes. We may not burn through all of our negative patterns in th...

Anusha Moore, a fellow Ashtanga yoga teacher, reached out to me after attending one of my Mysore classes. She has been practicing yoga for nearly 15 years and loves the accountability that the Ashtanga practice brings to her life. But she's also holding me accountable.  When Anusha reached out to me, it wasn't to discuss postures and poses or philosophy. She's studied with me many times, and she b...

One moral and ethical principle unites all yogis on their path — ahimsa . Ahimsa is the practice of non-violence, a hopeful note of inspiration amid the conflict on the European continent. We are all experiencing the Russian invasion of Ukraine in real-time. Many of us live in Europe and have friends and family who live in the cities we see on the news. I am not an expert in international policy o...

Being a yoga teacher, I get to see so many different bodies doing the practice. Yoga is for everyone, regardless of what you may see on Instagram or YouTube. The balance and harmony of your yoga practice are not meant to be uniform -- your asanas will not look like everyone else's, and that's okay. It's very important to recognize the idea that balance and harmony do not mean uniformity on this jo...

Yoga practice is wonderful. It's wonderful for the body, it's wonderful for the soul, but yoga is a challenge. No one ever said it would be easy to retrain the mind and the body. But that is exactly what this practice does -- yoga retrains our minds to create more authentic experiences of reality. Before yoga, your reality existed within a tiny box of possibility. You may have assumed your box of...

Prachi Patankar was born and raised in rural India. She comes from a working-class and lower-caste family. Her parents and grandparents fought for worker's rights, women's rights, gender justice, and more. You may know Prachi for her writing and activism, and she's here to discuss the spiritual and political history of India and its relationship with yoga. Many different spiritual and religious tr...

Sometimes, we have to take it upon ourselves to seek out the instruction we need on this spiritual journey. When it comes to practicing meditation, I was never taught an official technique. The most technical instruction I received was "go ahead!"  And, yes, we should all go ahead and practice sitting and meditating. However, it's much easier said than done. We sit with distractions all day that c...

Join me as I share some time with Peg and Megan from The Ashtanga Dispatch Yoga Podcast . They attended my first-ever class at the Miami Yoga Garage, and we're discussing all the steps it took to make the Miami Yoga Garage a reality. The pandemic has changed a lot of things about the way we work, how we share time with friends, and even how we practice yoga. At first, the yoga community was very m...