Yoga, Health, and Wellness Articles + Recipes

Alongside insecurity, anxiety and self-centeredness, one of my greatest emotional challenges in life has been anger. And while it was much worse in my teens and twenties, it still tests me. Even just a couple of years ago, when I was living in Hawaii, there were days when I just woke up with an unshakable and debilitating irritability and animosity towards everyone and everything, for no immediately obvious reason. And this was particularly disheartening because, at the time, I felt that I had everything for which I could ever wish; I was living where I had always dreamed of living and had a wonderful partner, all the time I desired for investing in my practices, meaningful and successful work that generated more than enough income to support our modest but very comfortable life – not to mention surfboards, paddle boards, hiking shoes, climbing gear, and the perfect environment in which to use them all, every single day. And here I was, waking up exasperated and resentful of a life that was failing to fulfill me, compounded by all the guilt and shame that resulted from judging myself for feeling this way. It was a horribly difficult time, but it did teach me at least one important lesson: anger won’t disappear at some point in the future, when external conditions are perfect.

So, I won’t be the first to suggest that some good might come of the lockdown and social distancing enforced upon many of us by government action over the spread of Covid-19. Social media is not only full of political rants and tyrades of fear, but also of heartfelt encouragements, expressions of kindness and solidarity, and even beautiful poetry about us members of the great human family who are stepping up to take care of each other in difficult times, about the benefits to the environment and ecosystem of the planet from the forced cessation of destructive human production and transportation activities, and even about the psychological and spiritual benefits of just withdrawing from the world a while and spending time with ourselves.

Did you know that the first sense we become aware of as babies is touch? More than sight, smell, taste, and sound, touch is what helps us feel a true sense of connection with the people around us. There’s nothing quite like a hug from a friend you haven’t seen in a while, holding hands with your partner or child, or simply receiving a pat on the back. In certain cultures, kissing on the cheek is a common greeting, while other countries might frown upon even a handshake. Within your family or group of friends, touching could be common or non-existent. No matter the environment, many of us can go through an entire day or days without touching anyone at all. Lack of touch correlates with feeling disconnected, and we’re here with some new ways to change that. Touch is vital for overall health and wellness on a long-term basis.

Whether you love a power Vinyasa flow class with minimal cues or an Iyengar class with seventy-five minutes of specific directions for one posture, you can benefit from digging deeper into alignment principles to enhance your yoga practice. Yoga Sutra 2:46, Sthira Sukham Asanam, states the posture should be steady and comfortable. Learning about intelligent yoga alignment will aid you in reaching this state each time you step on the mat. When you gain more knowledge about healthy alignment in yoga and philosophy behind a pose, you can benefit more fully––physically, mentally, and emotionally. We’re excited to share a special collection of nine short alignment tutorials, each specific to a certain yoga asana (posture.) These ten-minute classes will help you find the best version of each asana for you. The classes in this package cover common yoga poses and touch on all families of postures including forward bends, balancing poses, arm balances, twists, and backbends. We aren’t saying each posture needs to look a certain way or that every person will practice the asana in the same manner. Instead, we suggest if you increase your awareness of how each posture feels when you adapt alignment cues to feel right in YOUR body, you can deepen your experience.

Since I sold my Yoga One studios in California back in 2015, I've been focusing more on my personal studies, especially in Dharma, meditation and Ayurveda. In fact, I have not offered a single Tantravaya 200 Hour training in all of 2016, after directing at least a couple each year for nearly a decade. So during this time I have been asked the same question from students around the world: which training should I pick?