Day 3 of Practicing Ashtanga in India

I woke up late this morning, but got to the shala at about 5:15. Saraswathi asked me to be there at 4:30, but she doesn’t care as long as I can find a space to practice. I always start in child’s pose. Today I made a dedication, something I don’t normally do in my own … Read more

The Respiratory System

Anatomy of Lungs and Respiration There is one thing you have done every moment of your life. Even before you can remember. This will be the last thing you do before you die. And your awareness of this thing will partially determine how you exist on planet Earth. Prana, or your breath, is the primary … Read more

Getting my India Visa in SF

San_Francisco

Why I love San Francisco I got my visa for India this morning, and took a megabus into the city yesterday afternoon. I have to say that part of me is sad because Urban Flow is closed right now and I really loved that studio. There’s something primitively satisfying about chanting with a couple hundred … Read more

Jalandhara Bandha | जालन्धर बंध

Bandhas part 3 Jalandhara bandha is a muscular group that interlocks by tucking chin into chest to elongate the back of the neck. This is particularly useful in inversions like headstand and shoulder stand, which can place stress on the neck if it is not fully and properly elongated. This interlock can also include opening … Read more

A Morning Yoga Practice

http://youtu.be/ZUcLbl1K7vg

I put together a video two days ago that I thought was pretty cool. I just wanted to record about 20 minutes of video, and honestly kind of forgot about the camera. But apparently, 18 minutes of video is a lot of data so I had to compress the video down to 15. I wish I had video editing software…so I am working on a couple things to improve the quality of my videos: 1 get a GoPRO and 2 get video-editing software to speed up the videos. Hope to have both done within the month.

I am also working on some instructional videos. If you have any requests for poses, post a comment and I’ll do a video on it. Let me know what you think of my post-yoga practice and stay tuned for more…

Take Days Off

I am continually finding that days detached from my yoga studio lead to improvements in my teaching and my practice. I’m not talking about more than a couple of days, but taking 1 or 2 days off is extraordinarily beneficial to my practice. It allows the joints to rest, reset, and relax and the muscles to re-hydrate, … Read more

Yoga and Drugs (part 1: Depression)

Let me ask you a question. Do you think that the drugs out there are more complex than your body? The body is capable of healing itself, yet we are so quick to turn to products and outside assistance to fix us. My hypothesis is that depression cannot be healed by drugs, it can only … Read more

Sitting Still

It’s interesting how hard it is to sit still nowadays. People will almost certainly look at you funny in public, and it seems like people feel weird doing it alone at home. We are addicted to being busy, or at least seeming to be. People check their cell phone to avoid talking to each other, … Read more