I can feel September in the air. I like to think of this time of year as one of new beginnings. The light changes, and the crowds on the Cape […]
Yoga
TO THE MAT
Summer Is for Butterfly Poses
Yin yoga’s cooling effect on the season’s hot energy
Butterfly pose comes from a yoga tradition that is less well known than the one most people are familiar with. It grew out of the Taoist tradition, incorporating Chinese theories […]
TO THE MAT
Yoga Twists: Like Spring Cleaning for Your Body
How to breathe your way gently into a pretzel-shaped pose
It turns out that our bodies need a spring cleaning just like our homes do. Have you noticed feeling sluggish or stiff as spring comes on? In the winter, we […]
BODY/MIND
To Prepare for the Holidays, Just Lie Down
Starting with the simplicity of a single pose, yoga’s explorations of quiet
In just four weeks, we’ll be celebrating the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year. Pre-pandemic, this time of year always felt frenetic. We were all […]
BODY/MIND
Remixing the Basics
When the source of pain is hiding in old routines, it’s time to get out of the groove
After 15 years of both classical and new-age yoga training, I still find my home practice beginning the same way. Somewhere in the first five minutes: tabletop, on hands and […]
MINDSET
Going Back to the Gym, One Day at a Time
Returning gymgoers embrace yoga and advice from trainers
PROVINCETOWN — It’s early Monday morning at Mussel Beach Health Club and gymgoers are filing in and out. Some arrive on bikes, already warmed up. Some are wearing masks because […]
BODY/MIND
Are You ‘Life Hacking’ or Living?
How to keep the itch to be productive from co-opting your practice
With the move to remote work for so many, the already tenuous lines separating work and life have pretty well dissolved. One result is a thriving productivity industry. It seems […]
BODY/MIND
Whose Pose Is It Anyway?
Stop worrying about what your asana looks like and try to notice what it feels like
Have you ever been in a yoga class and thought to yourself, “I don’t look like the teacher or the person next to me — I must be doing this […]
BODY/MIND
Cultivating Ease With Yoga Nidra
A way to spend a while outside the mad rush
Western culture urges us to create lives that are outward facing. We measure the progress of our existence by external gains. We work, attain promotions, have families, perform chores; we […]
BODY/MIND
Good Is Better Than Perfect
All you need to do to begin a home yoga practice (or anything) again
Spring is on the way. Covid is on the way out. And many people I know are in the grip of a tense kind of anticipation that is equal parts […]
BODY/MIND
Wrist Watch: Warm-Ups for Overworked Typists and Yogis
Developing your active range of mobility is good for your joints
Wrist pain. Every yoga teacher hears about it, and from all kinds of students — seasoned athletes and deskbound writers alike. I’ve had it, too. I think we’ve all paid […]
BODY/MIND
Rest Can Be Part of Your Resistance
Restorative yoga is not a nap, but a complement to all the action
It feels like just yesterday that we were all holed up, arguing on Facebook about opening up for the summer season and wondering what would happen. And then it did. […]
BODY/MIND
In the Spirit of Sangha, Don’t Go It Alone
With Covid depleting our social capital, mutual aid is good for your health
“See you Friday night at Sangha!” Hugh said to me on the way out the door. I looked at the schedule on the back of my manual and sure enough: […]
BODY/MIND
Practice Makes Practice
A dedication to learning, instead of to perfection
“Practice makes perfect” or “10,000 hours to become an expert” — we like to believe that if we do something long enough, we conquer it. Then we can set it […]
BODY/MIND
Heart Up, Twist, Breathe
A technique for times when doing more is just too much
“I’m exhausted. I’ve done absolutely nothing.” This is what I hear from friends, students, and family. I say it, too. We’re exhausted, but worried we’ve somehow missed the mark. Why […]
