Tag Archives: meditation

Meditation Top 10

Why meditate? Here are my top 10 reasons: Because it makes me happier overall. There’s nothing sophisticated about this, but if I had to pick one, this’d be it. Because it has transformed my asana practice. Without meditation, I strive… Continue reading

Posted in Yoga | Tagged | Comments Off on Meditation Top 10

Eyes Are The Window to the Blah, Blah, Blah

My Lovely Man’s just had his right eye removed, which makes him my Lovely One-Eyed Man (my LOEM). The eye was replaced with a wee bowling ball, wrapped in human sclera and protected by a plastic cap that will be … Continue reading

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , | 11 Comments

Beginner’s Meditation 1+1

Last time, we talked about starting to meditate, about placing your bum on the couch for the first time. If that worked for you, and you didn’t run screaming to your TV or your fridge, your computer or your iPhone… Continue reading

Posted in ekharttolle, monkeymind, practice, Yoga | Tagged | Comments Off on Beginner’s Meditation 1+1

Beginner’s Meditation 1

Meditation, like asana and pranayama, is a branch of yoga. Writing about meditation makes me nervous. I have an irrational and enormous love of what amounts to sitting still, doing not very much, and feel it is impossible to do… Continue reading

Posted in asana, pranayama, Yoga | Tagged | Comments Off on Beginner’s Meditation 1

In Praise of Breathing

Pranayama. I’m besotted with it. The use of breath is one of the eight limbs of yoga. It’s all I can think about these days, which makes for disastrous conversations in grocery stores. ("Have you practiced exhaling lately? You haven’t?" Blank… Continue reading

Posted in exhalation, inhalation, pranayama, Yoga | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on In Praise of Breathing

Expanding the Definition of Yoga

Like most North Americans, I first met yoga as a physical practice, a sport. Unlike most sports in my life, yoga combines strength and flexibility, which is like some kind of magic trick after years of activities (trail running, cycling,… Continue reading

Posted in asana, deepekchopra, downwarddog, mediation, pranayama, sunsalutations, Yoga | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Expanding the Definition of Yoga

Beginner’s Breathing

It could be that I’m getting old and that my sense of fun has changed so much that I can no longer play with others in the way I used to. It could also be that yoga is having… Continue reading

Posted in alternatenostrilbreathing, bellowsbreath, pranayama, ujjayibreath, Yoga, yogicbreath | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Beginner’s Breathing

Acting Lessons

My son, the actor, says this: when someone gives you something (a word, a sentence, a feeling, a breath), receive it fully. Don’t let it just ping off your surface  and give a pingy superficial response. Instead, let the word, … Continue reading

Posted in blog | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

No Resolutions Here

A pox on New Year’s resolutions. Yay for you if they work, but they have not worked for me, ever. Instead, they raise an unrealistic bar set by any guilt and shame still hanging around from the old year. I… Continue reading

Posted in asanapractice, chanting, deepekchopra, inspiration, intentions, kirtan, resolutions, yinyoga, Yoga | Tagged | Comments Off on No Resolutions Here

Best Yoga of 2010?

Best yoga of 2010? Okay, I’ll start. Hands down, no question, it was 108 Sun Salutations, done by myself at 4am on the solstice, December 21st. Why was it the best? (I will resist giving you all 108 reasons.) I… Continue reading

Posted in challenge, challengingpractice, seatedmeditation, sunsalutations, Yoga | Tagged | Comments Off on Best Yoga of 2010?