Dharma Mittra, the inimitable (or eminently imitable) senior teacher, just emailed these tips for the new year: Spend time Meditating. Meditation is unbroken concentration and the most effective type is self-reflection. Spend at least 15 minutes meditating every morning. Get serious about your practice! One must get serious and simply attending class is not enough. [...]

When I first started meditating, it was not what you’d call meditation. I’d sit down, close my eyes, try to focus, and promptly have a panic attack about all the things I should be doing besides SITTING ON THE FLOOR DOING NOTHING. Gradually, I learned that there is some actual technique to this hobby. Yes, [...]

Totally unrelated, but I have to share the The Puppy Cam. I have it on my second screen, and it’s like having a box of puppies on my desk. My friend said she heard an interview with a guy who wanted to start a TV channel that showed only puppies, but he could never get [...]

In the past week I’ve had two good lessons on drishti, or the point of focus for each pose. I knew that looking in different directions stimulates different functions of the brain (looking left stimulates new thought, which is why liars look left, while looking right stimulates memory, etc.), and that keeping our eyes focused [...]

There’s an article on the business of yoga on HuffPo today. Apparently there’s some money to be made in a niche where it’s mostly upper-middle class white women who take good care of themselves. Apparently some executives are using yoga to relax. I bet it all has something to do with the fixed-gear movement.

Last night there was a new sub for Nancy (who has mostly departed Greenhouse for acupuncture school). The sub was Paul Manza, and I’d somehow heard of him before in a random blog I read, so I hopped on over. Oh, I just realized he might be the Paul that used to teach at Laughing [...]

I was looking up Ayurvedic body type tests for my sister, and I found a great idea by New Age master (marketer) Deepak Chopra: Ayurvedic Daily Routine for All Doshas: Morning •    Rise early, ideally by six o’clock. •    Empty the bladder and bowels. •    Clean teeth. •    Massage with an ayurvedic oil. •    Take [...]

The phrase “to meditate” is too active — even “to be in meditation” requires being. Verbs are not appropriate for the communication of this state. We practice the habits supporting meditation: balanced posture for structural support / functionality; full rhythmic breathing; sensory desensitization to external stimuli; neutral observation of any internal monologue… and then we [...]

Today I was an art director, alignment coach, hair assistant, styling assistant, and fluffer (of a ponytail). Sabina, Brian and I did a photo shoot for our new yoga book at a beautiful studio on Hudson St. Over 100 poses, and we finished right as the parking lot was about to lock up. Funny how [...]

I feel really centered, and for the first time I have an understanding of what that phrase is trying to express. I just returned from a 10-day yoga retreat, and it’s as if my scattered self has been swept into a much neater pile. I went to the Sivananda Retreat in the Bahamas. It’s a [...]