Family dinner

3

2

1

What moves you?

It's either something from the inside or something from the outside.
Real empowerment comes from using that which you already have to move in the direction you’d like to go.
It's you versus gravity. Muscles versus inertia. Egalitarianism versus classism. Equality versus marginalization. If your handstand isn't giving you the power to fight back against bigotry, what's the fucking point?

Like I said... What moves you?

Book learning can only get you out of so many jams. But carrying water up a hill? That has value. And you know, Rhodes Scholars can dead lift more and more through periodization, just like anyone else. I may never be able to multiply fractions on the fly, but I can teach you to carry your own weight. Strong people are useful.

Join me this week:

Eaton Workshop
1201 K St NW
Wednesday 1:30
Thursday 1:30

hmu for passes if you haven't

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AHS: MJH

Sometimes I like to look to see just to see if I can look. So glad to know that I still have a toe.

THEY TWIST.

TRYING TO BE
CAPTAIN PLANCHET.

needs more reach around. (😈)

#nationalchristmastree -
no chill. just right. wildfire ornament on California's tree⬇️

merry christmas
omg ho ho ho
#filamenasdc

The power in "power yoga" comes from developing the ability to be skillful in one's action. This is what we're practicing. .

Do you see these blocks? They are just blocks. They are neither inherently good, nor bad. They can foster strength just as easily as they foster self limiting beliefs. They are simply “building blocks” without objective— that which is being built is specific to the individual using them. I have heard others say differently. I am always wary of someone who tries to make their experience my experience. .

In practice, very early on, it looks like the aim is to make a shape.... that the ability to make a posture is the skill of yoga... and i dare say, at first, it is. But I would also posit that this kind of idea is somewhat limiting of the deep potential this practice has for developing a cornucopia of other desirable skills, including the skill of self realization. .

When others tell you that practice must be this way or that, do you wonder why? The Ashtanga Yoga practice is so inclusive and vast, why should we be limiting of the tools we can collect? Why should we limit our own resourcefulness, in fact our very own skillfulness?
.

What if the skill we are working on in practice is taking a step back without a sense of failure? How might we be able to foster out of the box thinking, more expansive thought?
.

What of the skill related to taking a step forward without a sense of completionism? How can we view the means as the ends instead of the ends as a goal. .
What if the skill of deep empathy? How can we relate our body to privilege? .

What of the skill of recognizing sameness without ignoring difference? And how about it’s inverted sister, honoring difference without ignoring sameness?
.

When you see these blocks, do you see an effort at universal oneness, weakness, or effort at compassion? In my understanding of yoga, they are exactly what you make of them. .

Better make it good.

I wish I could give out Ashtanga Yoga merit badges— today’s would be “I was kind to myself. ”
Practicing yoga with a contented mindset matters a great deal— really, what we’re doing on our mats is exploring our inside world to find a place where we can be self-satisfied. Cause you know, there isn’t any person out there that can satisfy you except you.
.
In order to do that work, we’ve also gotta maintain enthusiasm and heat around practice. Balancing that with our own self-satisfaction is hard— how are we to want to improve while also feeling like we’re golden just as we are?
.
By identifying the kind of satisfaction and the kind of work that makes us feel more and more free. The kind that doesn’t make us suffer more. The kind that helps feel satisfied and enthusiastic not just in practice but in our life.
.
In DC, a lot of folks take a push-hard get-results mentality to their work and their personal lives. They’re so miserable and don’t know why. They don’t want to be. So they push harder in all the ways— including on their mat. Maybe it’s not just dc.
.
What’s sort of funny/poignant/ironic to me is that the place in which folks could stand to push extra hard is that whole “being kind to yourself” angle. Laying off from pushing so damn hard is actually way harder than literally pushing hard— and it builds a ton more heat and breeds a ton more joy, contentment, and cleanliness of mindstates.
.
But doing the less “hard” thing (even when it brings them all the deep goods folks want way down inside) is so impossible that people push-push-push until they break. And then they wear their wounds as though they were honorifics on a sash. What if we could bring that same intensity to our self-compassion?

It takes
a village. @holly.yogs.lightly

@eatonworkshop

more legs
than a bucket
of chicken #eatonworkshopdc

GO SIGN UP!! link in bio!

Why the shapes, and how does that lead to self realization?
We construct shapes and patterns with our bodies to hone in on the ever-shifting nature of the mind.
Because somewhere inside of each of us is something unmoving and infinite. And only by watching that which shifts can we begin to hone in on that which doesn’t.
It is with these bodies (and brave, tenacious wills) that we create a sacred space for internalization— for observing the profoundly wild inner landscape — and take a stab at making sense of it all, and finding stillness in it.
So how do we find that which doesn’t change? We use our resources: a body that feels, a mind that discerns, and a heart that senses the abode of that unmoving, unchanging thing— infinite and luminous.
Our true self.

The paradox of course, is that as brightly as our god-like infinite, unlimited self shines, we are incapable of looking directly at it... a reminder of the great sense of humor the universe possesses.
And so, we find mirrors. In our friends, our spouses, our teachers, and that very nice cashier lady at Whole Foods. And, of course, our Postural practice. ..
** Drop in classes at the Eaton Workshop, 1201 K St NW
Tues 12pm- Wed 1:30 -Thur 130
**
Workshops this weekend at @mindthemat **
Mysore daily with @dcashtanga at @yogadragons

Yo! I’m a cyber monday!!

55 minute
vinyasa class link coming soon filmed
@eatonworkshop

general fitness update.

sitting in
the eye of
the storm

night work.

back bending — safely.

another day at the office with @emerymargaret (listen to that breath! wow!)

ho ho ho ho ho

thanks for the fade @michaelgeovanni

coach is unimpressed coach is unimpressed.

Saturday recap Saturday recap.

Virañci — he who creates.
Kinda looks like rain cloud to me 🤷🏻‍♂️ This posture comes in the middle of the middle of the third series. After having completed some major arm balancing and deep twists, this guy has you work with this set-up three different ways— seated up right in prayer, in a bound arm position, and then in an arm balance.
This is the third aspect of the A part of the posture. The B part gets weirder.
Next week I start creating and holding space for creation at the @eatonworkshop. Classes are $11, and I’m beyond excited to show you guys the space.
Classes this week:
Tuesday
12-1
Wednesday
1:30-2:30

attitude matters

#friendshipfridays @livelyogini

#friendshipfridays @xing_xing_kai #fbf

New Classes!! 3 new days to catch me, at my first regular public drop-in classes in over a year.
Join me at the hippest new hotel in the city with the MOST fabulous and chill yoga room— the Eaton Workshop:

Tuesday:
12-1
Wednesday:
1:30-2:30
5:30-6:30p
Thursday:
1:30-2:30

Classes are $11!

another day at the office @madeline.miskie

friendship.

taking on
saturday
like

sometimes I
hit a wall. thanks,
@davidgarriguesyoga

wild friday

Wanna work on leveling up your assisting game in the yoga room?
Im gonna spend three weeks (nov 13, 20, 27) at @yogadragons sharing a ton of my practical experience on putting together a usable schema for approaching practitioners-- and provide space for everyone to get practical hands on experience.
I'm keeping the numbers tight so that everyone has an opportunity to interface a ton. You can expect lively discussion and small group hands-on work.
Link in bio!

bakasana

control
is
hot control
is
hot

nothin to it/
put your
BACK
into it

this has to stop.

Not DC

Wine Country + Virginia is for Lovers

Fam. Sundays at @dcashtanga

@MEATBALLERS

OTHER SIDE

TYPICAL SATURDAY

26.

The
invitation
said
black tie
optional WANT

This is such a good #tbt

Kapotasana: Two Ways

Here are two different ways of approaching Kaptoasana, both with my student Madeline. In the first part, I'm functioning as a support structure both physically and mentally for her. I’m a big ole prop. Because Kapo was relatively new for her, working hands on together was super helpful, as sometimes going to scary places is easier with a friend.
In the second, Madeline is going about Kapo in a hands-off way, using a prop set-up (we use all kinds of different setups at @dcashtanga). Over the last few months, Madeline has become more confident and capable, so she can feel where she really is more effectively. She’s learned how to work on her own and it shows.
Modern postural yoga uses the body as a reference point for understanding the deeper dimensions of insight practice-- like the ability to internalize the sense and focus, allowing for meditation to come on line. An effective posture builds strength and flexibility-- so that you can work in a non harming way; it calms the nervous system-- building distress tolerance; it also works systematically with other postures to unlock certain understandings-- like a physical crossword puzzle keeping the mind and the body sharp.

The thing with these "bigger postures" is that  everyone has their own set of limitations-- both real and perceived-- and working with a good assist or prop setup helps us move from the unreal to the real. That is gooooood yoga, right there.

In the Mysore room, we teach yoga that allows for autonomy and agency. Teachers aren't put on pedestals, and theres no heirachy-- everyone can practice, and even better, folks learn how to practice on their own.

This November, I'm teaching a workshop series on assisting. Over the course of this series, we'll go over the philosophical and the practical of assisting in a yoga room. Participants will learn how see bodies and construct an approach that teaches using voice, intention, and touch. A good assist can offer guidance, make corrections, and sometimes even help with adjustments that a practitioner may not be able to make on their own-- so that they may learn how to *do it on their own!* The link's in the bio.

Cher & Dionne obv

when your bf and your bff out here in these streets reading you like LaVarr

before the successories

choices.

choices

what do you think it is??

my little pumpkin

our plane had caught fire and they dropped us in Texas instead of Mexico. #tbt 26.

coming in November to @yogadragons Tuesdays @ 730 3 weeks.

heart openers with friends.

😍

@daniidc

no more fried chicken but this salad hahaha

hud fitness center 30th anniversary aftermath

@champagne97 @lybra20 @xing_xing_kai

yes,
we use props
@dcashtanga

my singing teacher, ladies and gents. we learn a lot from each other. @madeline.miskie

18.

casual

I still like to write by hand with ink and shit (anatomy preview!!) da traps

maury’s truth truck. police necessary

serving lewks

yo h st fest

trapped.
lonely. trapped.
lonely. thank God for friends. thank God for representation. 320 lbs.
16 years old.
dying to understand. come out come out come out. someone needs you to be out and proud.

Hip Articulation!

You don’t need to know the names of every potential movement a joint can make in scientific terms to be a good yoga teacher — but it can definitely help.
In Tuesday’s anatomy class, we covered possible hip articulations: -extension
-flexion
-abduction
-adduction
-internal rotation
-external rotation

We also covered active and passive flexibility as well as open chain and closed chain strength building.
As though that weren’t enough, we also covered which muscles dowhat in order to make these different positions possible. Does this stuff interest you?

Hit me up in the Mysore room @dcashtanga or check out my anatomy courses. Link in bio!

Don't see one near you? Hit me up and I'll bring em your way 😉

#tbt #27

lessons from my applied anatomy course!

2018

national museum
of the American Indian

indigenous people stuff at the native american museum

8! Years!

mlk library not ready yet study break

show off. lift your chest, Spidey!!

still wet. still wet.

did I miss national boyfriends day?

finishing touches on my applied anatomy day 1 best study date ever, too. #instawags

who is jemal, tho?

@yasmikey

art all night

bae.

bae.

she’s so cute

What’s one thing we know for sure about weather? It’s gonna change. I know that, you know that, and yet i still get so bent out of shape as we move from Summer to Fall.
What a silly thing! It’s not like i have any say in it. Short of moving to India or Florida or some such like a snowbird, which you know I’ve tried, why not try to use that energy on something substantive?
This year, I’m making a pact with myself to not complain about the change of the season. The truth is that i don’t *like* winter the way i LOVE summer— but why bitch about the inevitable? Just like death and taxes, we know for sure that change is always a’coming.

So, I’m not going to lean into my dislike. I’m not gonna bitch or roll in the muck of self harming lamentation. Why? Cause all it does is make me feel worse. If it made me feel better maybe it would be ok— but it doesn’t, so it isn’t. And it’s such an easy trap to fall into.
i think the universe has an incredible sense of humor— it’s just very dark.
After all, we're all just careening to hell in a handbasket— these fantastic baskets of flesh and bone that are guaranteed to break down along the way. And we all take ourselves oh-so-seriously.

Since I can’t change the weather, I’m going to try to change my attitude. These are skills from yoga, for sure.