When asked what I do for a living, I reply “I teach Yoga.” Almost always the follow-up question is “What kind of yoga?” The times when I’m feeling more talkative I respond “Mindfulness Yoga”. The follow-up to that is a quizzical look.

As defined by my teachers of the Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation Training I completed at Spirit Rock, Mindfulness Yoga is an inter-disciplinary method that blends the insights and practices of yoga with the mindfulness and meditation of Buddhism. Although the act of blending Yoga and Mindfulness together is new, Mindfulness is not, dating back to the time of the Buddha. In laymen terms, Mindfulness is about being in the present moment – letting go of past memories or future thoughts; paying full attention to what you are doing, moment by moment. Mindfulness training involves learning how to be aware of your mind, body and emotions and is taught in yoga, meditation, tai chi, and other similar practices. Read the rest of this post»

In The Gazette on Monday, June 22 there was a snippet with a photo of this year’s Yoga Mala. It was in Susan Schwartz’s Applause section. There were some mistakes in the article and I apologize for them. The corrections are below:

- two teachers excluded from the teaching list were Rocio Mchorro (Yoga Sangha) and Anna Smutney (Moksha Yoga Montreal)
- two teachers mentioned but they were not able to co-teach at the event were Allison Ulan and Dina Tsouluhas

Otherwise, it was great! I’ve included the scan here for those of you who missed it.

I’ve been getting a lot of mass e-mails from yogi friends lately promoting the new documentary Home. From watching trailers I knew this was an “Inconvenient Truth”-style documentary. I was a little reluctant to watch it, not because I wanted to stay in an ignorant bliss, but because a lot of these movies try to convey the urgency of the matter by throwing a lot of hard-hitting facts at you. I do understand and completely believe the urgency, but having them bundled up together for dramatic effect sometimes overwhelms me, causing me to lose hope momentarily.

This is where my yoga and meditation practice really help. Knowing this is my pattern, I try to be aware of this reaction. I then try to sit in meditation for a few minutes exploring this feeling of hopelessness. I allow it to rise, even grow, but as all things do, it also disappears. Read the rest of this post»

Having been a yogi for a number of years now, it is only natural I get exposed to yoga’s syblings, for example meditation, pranayama, and shatkarmas to name a few. But more and more, a certain sister has been trying to win my attention – and I think it finally won: Ayurveda.

As quoted from an ezine article:
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