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The Body Won’t Let You Lie
You already know what you should do. That’s not the problem. The problem is that knowing doesn’t hold. You mean well, right up until there’s something at stake. A competitive moment. A conversation that matters. A situation where the right thing is expensive. And then some other mechanism takes over, and you do the thing you didn’t quite mean to do. You have a story about it afterward. Everyone has this experience. The interesting question isn’t why — evolution explains that clearly enough. The interesting question is whether there’s a different foundation for ethics. One that doesn’t depend on willpower in the moment. Here’s what the yoga tradition actually says about this, which is not what most teachers say. Ahimsa — non-harming — shows up…
When is it Appropriate to Take Rest?
adapted from the DC Ashtanga Newsletter for April Ashtanga yoga is practiced six days a week. So, when is it okay to take a day off from yoga… and when should we reconsider canceling? Inertia is a funny thing. Objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Objects in motion, when in a straight path with nothing slowing them down, tend to stay in motion. With this little bit o’ physics, we can say that getting up and doing your practice can become its own perpetual motion machine, right? Yoga + Science = Win! (?) Not so fast. When is it appropriate to take off a day from practice? Saturday. Maybe do an oil bath. We have a six day a week practice, right? Saturday is a great…
Performing the Practice vs. Reading It: Why Inheritance Isn’t Understanding
A student asked me why the closing sequence comes last, and I heard how much of what I knew was inheritance, not understanding. I could have written a post about it. Instead I built the map — 81 lessons, on a platform I own. The thing is the proof.
Ten Years of Practice, No Idea Why: Building the System I Couldn’t Find
For years I mistook obedience for depth. The day I started reading my practice as a system instead of a set of instructions — and started instrumenting it like one — everything I’d called discipline turned out to be drift.
Elemental Bliss: Yoga Sutras and the Mind
Discover the secrets of elemental bliss with Yoga Sutras! Let your mind soar and your body rejuvenate through the magic of yoga.
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