As part of my attempt to “go beyond asana” this year, I’ve been trying to practice and learn more about pranayama (yogic breathing exercises). Luckily for me, one of my teachers is also into pranayama and he’s been incorporating about five minutes of breathwork into most of his classes lately. Of course, if you practice … Continue reading »
Yoga for a World Out of Balance, by Michael Stone Chapter 6: Satya Summary Michael Stone begins Chapter 6 by stating, “Satya, as a term and practice, is the most straightforward of the yamas.” Unfortunately, the author’s subsequent discussion of satya is anything but straightforward. The chapter meanders quite a bit, and much of what … Continue reading »
Read-Along: Yoga for a World Out of Balance by Michael Stone Chapter 5: Ahimsa: Nonviolence. Summary Chapter 5 opens with the bleak observation that our world is filled with violence. Even a cursory glance at the newspaper headlines confirms this. At the time of the book’s writing, there were more than three dozen active military … Continue reading »
Over the past several months, I’ve reviewed some popular yoga books here on Om Shanti. These reviews were fairly conventional in their style and format — i.e., I provided a basic overview of the book, without revealing too much, and mentioned a few things about each book that I liked. The next book on my reading list, … Continue reading »
The other night, I attended class at a hot yoga studio here in Chicago. When I entered the practice room, it was still dark and steamy from the previous class, which had just gotten out. As I rolled my mat out on the floor, a strange glistening appeared at the front edge of my mat. … Continue reading »
The other day, I posted some remarks about my New Year’s resolution, which is to go “beyond asana” and cultivate a more well-rounded yoga practice. The specific areas I discussed were (1) Meditation, (2) Pranayama, and (3) Yamas/Niyamas. Today, I want to discuss what I have found to be a useful first step towards pursuing … Continue reading »
Yesterday morning, I started off 2013 in the best way possible — yoga! Along with twenty people or so, I sweated, stretched, and backbended my way into the new year. Throughout the class, the teacher encouraged us to think about the upcoming year and what we’d like to manifest in our yoga practices. He provided … Continue reading »
In the past, I’ve commented on the odd coupling of yoga and alcohol, and yoga and cigarettes. Today, I’m going to talk a bit about yoga and pot. A recent NY Times article draws attention to a small, but perhaps growing, trend: Yoga classes for people who are stoned. Now that pot has essentially been legalized in … Continue reading »
For the past few months, I’ve been teaching an Ashtanga Primary Series class once a week at Bloomington Power Yoga. Overall, I’d say it’s gone well, although I’ve had to modify the sequence quite a bit to accommodate the experience levels of the students coming to my class. This has resulted in a slower paced … Continue reading »
Almost a year ago, I stopped playing music entirely in my yoga classes. When I practice on my own at home, I also no longer play music. This move to “silent” yoga has been a long time coming for me, but lately I’ve actually been thinking about eventually reintroducing music into my classes and my … Continue reading »
