Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

What is discipline, really? Discipline is a tricky little devil. Ideally, it can be the fire that gets us on the mat so that we can strip away the illusions and misidentifications that cause us to suffer. As Iyengar explains, “wood must be heated to ignite it and bring out the hidden fire within.” Not so ideally, it can also be a confusing agent of self-hatred and punishment. When we commit ourselves to a disciplined daily practice (and since there is no need to preach to the converted, we know this has benefits) we can also be mistakenly committing ourselves to a desire to achieve aesthetically based fitness goals and an addiction to the ability to perform complicated party-trick asana. When I miss a practice or feel that I’ve just sort of lazily stretched for an hour, a niggle in the back of my mind warns that perhaps I’ll soon slip back into adolescent pudginess and its maelstrom of related emotional entanglements if I don’t step up and get myself back into shape. I have to remember that there is a balance of health to be maintained between body, mind, and heart – which of course are fundamentally intertwined – while on the sometimes difficult and circuitous path of yoga. A path that we hope leads us through a life liberated from cycles of suffering.

Question for you: Do you have any healthy habits you are trying to create this year? Or maybe some you would rather not have by the end of the year? (Like eating an entire jar of almond butter because you forgot to eat lunch or just... because?)

Yoga is an invitation to grow—to wake up and to experience your life in the most fulfilling way. The true transformation is more than just a physical change in your appearance—it’s an awakening of your inner strength, freedom and perception. There are no guarantees to this awakening though. You have to be willing to do the work, stay the course when you hit a wall or plateau, and allow your yoga practice to be about more than just your body.

A few weeks ago I was at a networking event for executive women when I heard a phrase that I haven’t heard for a while (it wasn’t a yoga term…!).

I’m sitting here writing my schedule for the next three to six months and I realize again, how fortunate I am. The last four years have been a whirlwind while I gather myself up and “re-align and re-design” my life. It’s such a wonderful place to be, in this life… contributing, dancing, working, laughing and BEing.

On the topic of Savasana, I've heard some variation of this for years: "Savasana means dead man's pose." That's because when you're in Savasana, you're supposed to be as still as a dead man." Then there's something about how stillness is elusive in modern Western society and how we deserve a few minutes of peace and quiet in a chaotic world.

I believe the best views are from up close. They’re from treetops, mountaintops, hilltops, behind and below, where you can go unnoticed or plant yourself right in the middle of a world unfolding in and around YOU!