Tag Archives: yoga
Too Much Ego Can Stunt Your Growth
Ashtanga yoga deserves its reputation for being physically demanding. “Intro to Ashtanga” classes that cover about 40-60% of the Primary Series are the most difficult Level One classes out there. The first major hurdle (oft dreaded poses that take years to master) is Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana (see pic.) If students can’t fully extend their top leg, they […]
“If You Wanna Pay Me and Be Lazy, You’re a Crazy Person”: Old-School Teaching Needs to Make a Comeback
A woman in our African dance class last week stopped dancing for 10 minutes at a clip to standby and watch. Finally I said to her, “If you can’t do the step, just walk to the beat. That way you can practice hearing the different drums and following the rhythm.” The live drums were loud […]
She Asked the Guru, “Can Atheists Do Yoga?”
Recently a student asked our Ashtanga yoga teacher, “Can people do yoga if they don’t believe in god?” I stopped what I was doing to listen to his answer. See, the thing is, I’m not a Believer. I’m a New Yorker who learned that gurus/pastors/rabbis were just guys with enough charisma to charm their way into […]
IS YOUR ASHTANGA TEACHER A CONTROL FREAK?
I am reblogging Rosa’s post about our Second Series Ashtanga teacher training with Tim Miller. Tim spent a good deal of time addressing the unnecessary “strictness” of Ashtanga. To add a few quotes to Rosa’s: Tim believes in freedom to explore poses and room for personal style. For Parivritta Parsvakonasana he said, “People have a […]
Claim Your Entitlement at Customs: Travel in Tanzania
We Americans complain about everything. The coffee is too hot, the ice cream too cold, the bus is late. One reason I travel is to flee the manicured and manufactured life of white middle-class America. My most recent trip was one month in the bush of Tanzania, outside of Ruaha National Park. The attitudes I […]
Tricking Myself out of Fear
Originally posted on Rerighting Life:
I was feeling as if life had passed me by and it was too late to do anything truly great. I tuned into an interview of the filmmaker Richard Linklater on NPR, and felt even more of a failure. He’d accomplished so much and I hadn’t. (It’s a great habit comparing yourself…
Sticks and Stones Will Break Our Bones: Racism, Homophobia and Prejudice
Before we started the asana portion of yoga class (the poses,) my teacher talked about Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I borrowed it and, even though it’s a physically small book, it’s dense and requires thought after each paragraph. Mr. Coates calls white people “people who consider themselves white.” Being white is […]
What You Won’t Hear Me Say on Facebook
Since I started telling people that I’ll be in Africa for two months this Spring, I’ve been floating some concerns in my head. This list grows as people contribute their opinions and I sign waivers to email overseas. Since social media is disproportionately “my life is awesome” anecdotes, the messy parts of our lives get overlooked […]
Big Trees: A Road Trip to Northern California
Freedom is a full tank of gas and no obligations. Add a friend, take away traffic. Simple. My man and I left San Diego for the Sierra Nevada mountains and then Northern California, which would surprise no one if it were a separate state from Southern California. NorCal has trees and fewer people and valid reasons to own big […]
When Do you Feel Free? (An Incomplete List From My Friends and Neighbors)
When do you feel free? My friends in New York and California weighed in and many had overlapping ideas. (My friends tend to be middle-class, leftist, non-religious and educated, so this is a highly slanted and incomplete list. Everyone’s interpretation of freedom depends on how they identify and in which country/community they live.) When we have the house to ourselves. As in, […]
People We Know 