Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

When I first met my husband, he showed up to a BBQ with a gorgeous gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free fruit tart just for me.

It’s Friday and that means it’s Conscious Cocktail time!

It seems like ever since The Secret hit shelves, everyone from housewives to college students to investment bankers are evangelists of the positive thinking movement.

I continually ask myself and reconsider what I’m actually doing and teaching others to do in asana. I often refer back to the great teachers on what they have to say. Beyond the mechanics of making shapes, there is, for me, a profound process under way.

Every living thing has energy...plants, animals, humans, etc. In the yogic tradition we have energy centers that house particular qualities that affect our overall physical and psychological well being.

Boy oh boy do we have some good news for you today! You’ve asked us to do a Conscious Cleanse makeover to the ultimate comfort food and the day has finally arrived!

While women are still the majority in yoga classes, there's a strong movement of men not only trying yoga, but striving both on and off the mat.

OK, I admit that happy hip stretches is a bit of an oxymoron as almost no one I know genuinely loves the feeling of stretching out tight hips. That s$!t hurts!

A few years ago I visited a girlfriend in Southern California. I was preparing for my Yogic Lore Flow workshop on the Hindu goddesses and spent the week in her lush backyard garden meditating on Lakshmi, the goddess of abundance, beauty, and grace. I came to understand Lakshmi’s power of bestowing beauty, abundance, and grace is directly attributed to her ability to recognize the exquisiteness of every moment, every flower, every day, and every smile.

I love this word, power. Powerful, powerless, powering through, empowered … it’s so versatile and strong and well, powerful.

Statistics show that Americans are working harder, for longer hours, and are more productive than ever. Yet, few are getting ahead and most are grateful if they can just make ends meet. As stress-related illnesses account for an increasing number of doctor visits, the call to slow down and unplug has gotten louder. But juggling the demands of worldly life can often end up at odds with being attentive to our individual needs. Sometimes, knowing where to best make the trade-off is all we can do.

Ever feel like life is a total grind? Do you wake up on Monday morning with a feeling of dread? Are you over the moon because today is hump day and then rejoice on Friday that the weekend is finally here?

You know, my life has always followed this crazy rhythm. And it hasn’t always been in time with everyone else’s. However, what I’m learning is that it’s been in Divine time and very often, in time with the Moon.

When we think of prana and pranayama practice, we typically think of our breath and the many yogic breathing practices found in the pantheon of yoga. However, prana is so much more than just the breath. It’s our life force, our subtle energy field, which distributes itself throughout our physical, mental, emotional, and pranic bodies.

Wow … wanna know the truth? This Mercury Retrograde and Full Moon in Sagittarius is kicking my ass! I’ve been tossed into amazing opportunities and yanked back into the past all in one week. I had to face my immobilizing fear of technology and fix every i-apparatus in my home, by myself. I have to buy a new computer, and I lost all my photos of my children from 2002. (yes, I heard that gasp)

In part two of this shoulder series, we will cover a craze which appears to be sweeping the nation, labrum issues. It seems like everyone has a piece of this particular action, just ask Kevin Love. I cannot count the number of times someone has sidled up to me after a class and said “what have you got for a bad shoulder.” After a little bit of q & a, I usually find out the person has some sort of labrum damage.

Today is Transition Day 1 of our Summer Conscious Cleanse and to show you that being on a cleanse doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy one of summer’s most treasured sweet treats, I’ve created a delicious dairy free, egg free, vegan twist on gelato.

For most of us, the fundamental supposition of modern posture practice is that what we’re doing is more than just exercise or physical therapy, that it is something deeply meaningful and perhaps spiritual. I know when I practice, I’m a better person because of it. But what exactly is going on? To help organize my thoughts, I’ve turned again to the books on my shelf to discover what other teachers and scholars have to say about it. This is an admittedly limited and biased towards the modern survey, but a beginning into insight.

These things are out of this world -- and the recipe leaves room for your personal creativity.

We are offered countless opportunities to up level our vibration on any given day. And this doesn’t mean:

The absolute pressing question to me right now is “What am I willing to sacrifice?” This isn’t about some self righteous asceticism but rather about prioritising my yoga practice. I’ve been at it long enough to know that yoga, which for me means postures, flow, study, and meditation, makes me feel sane and happy. But I also work a lot, try to have an active social life, and need some sleep somewhere between all that. My schedule is often irregular. I say all this not because I think I’m exceptional, but rather because I think I’m just like everyone else.

I really liked this theme … sovereignty: having supreme authority over oneself. It was an interesting one to follow “connection” but yet, so timely and complimentary.

With Memorial Day weekend just around the bend, I’ve cooked up a simple, healthy and delish dish to meet all your holiday BBQing needs.

I often hear people talk about how expensive it is to be healthy; that organic food is so much more expensive than regular food, that joining a gym or taking yoga classes all seem pricey, but you could just as easily drop $300 a month at Starbucks. I consider the money I spend now on my health a long term investment, because I don’t want to have problems with my bones or organs when I get older. Here are some ways that I invest in my health:

You have probably already heard or read about it, yoga seems to be everywhere these days. There are a lot of pre-conceived notions about what yoga is, ranging from a strenuous, acrobatic endeavor only for the very strong and flexible; to some sort of new age, spiritual practice where you sit around chanting. Sure, those are out there, but the vast majority of yoga classes are fun, relaxing and full of normal, practical people just like you.