Update

So, this year I had a new year’s resolution to get back into exercise and yoga, and blog about it. I have hit one out of three, and on the second I’ve done ok but not as well as I want. On blogging, well since my last entry is Jan 2, you can guess where [...]

Making friends with the pigeon and the practice of life

One of the most beautiful poses is the pigeon. Going into the prep seems to be the bane of many beginning students — you legs are in a rather awkward position and your weight keeps them there. I used to dread any word beginning with ‘p’ in a yoga class. About two years ago, I [...]

And the practice deepens

The great thing about doing a yoga workshop is that my practice tends to deepen a lot. A lot of times it’s like reading a book I’ve read thousands of times and finding something new. This past weekend was just like that. It was the second weekend of the Anusara immersion I’ve been attending. We [...]

Sanskrit for bird of paradise pose

Once upon a time, I thought the bird of paradise pose was baddha urdhva parsvakonasana. However, I either was wrong or was getting the pose name from another system. In Anusara (and Iyengar?) it is Svarga Dvidasana. (Or something close to that.)

An auspicious beginning

January 27 was Yoga Day, and a very auspicious beginning to my first Anusara immersion. Despite falling ill with the latest craze in preschool viruses, practice was blissful. I even found a way to incorporate falling ill into the practice. When you fall ill, you really have to learn to respect your new boundaries. Just [...]

Ask and ye shall receive

My hips felt very tight this morning, so in yoga class I asked for hip openers. By the end of class, my hips were about as open as they ever have been. Let’s see what opened them: lizard pose: like a runner’s lunge but down on your forearms, forward leg hugging the midline the various [...]

The termite and the elephant

See this “beautifully written piece”:http://leapinglanka.blogspot.com/2006/10/white-elephant-versus-termite-yoga.html on two different ways of practicing yoga. Perhaps you have done both. I know I have.

Vignettes

Yoga + GIMP =

Standing on my arms

Ok, so it’s not the old “David Swenson”:http://www.ashtanga.net/dev/images/linksb_r4_c2.jpg image, but I have managed visvamitrasana on occasion. (Click images to enlarge.) This is my new favorite pose, koundinyasana. It feels really neat when I finally find the balance required to make the pose work. However, the grass in my face is a bit of a distraction. [...]

The practice

Yoga is a practice of, well, practice. Most of the power comes from the doing, rather than the thinking about it. And sometimes, showing up to the mat is most of the practice. For the last couple of months, I’ve been going to my daughter’s soccer game (she scored a goal last game!) on Saturdays, [...]