Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose—and to Yoga!
As far as I can tell, Eckhart Tolle is a yogi—or at least he’s talking the same talk. And, as illustrated in his two bestselling books The Power of Now and A New Earth, walking the same walk. Clearly, he’s awake. He sees beyond the veil of illusion that keeps most of us believing that we are not all connected; that we are not all, inherently, made of love; that we are not each particular articulations of divine consciousness (of God, Buddha, or whatever it is that you choose to call the spiritual thread that connects and enlivens all beings).
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Dear Missoulians, I offer, no urge, the following advice: Grab a pen, find next Tuesday in your day planner, and write “World Rhythm Yoga” in the 5:00-6:00 p.m. slot. Taught by seasoned dancer/yogi Gillian Kessler, the class blends movement and music to the effect of pure end-of-the day, blow-off-steam, get-down-and-funky fun. Traditional yoga postures, interspersed with pliés and relevés, will challenge your muscles, refine your balance and build stamina—as well as open your mind to the invigorating possibilities of yoga/dance fusion. [more]
Yesterday I flew from my home in Missoula to visit family in Connecticut. There are certain guilty pleasures I allow myself while flying: mindless magazines, bubblegum, random conversation with strangers. I also enjoy the instant diversity and the unwritten but well-understood rule that it’s OK to eavesdrop, at least on your in-flight neighbors. And, as of yesterday, the not-so-guilty pleasure of practicing yoga.
And I do mean asana.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Yoga Online with Yoga Today
Imagine unlimited free yoga from the comfort of your living room. No commute, no schedule wrangling, no punch cards. Too good to possibly be true? Not since June 2006, when Yoga Today went live.
For two years, the Jackson Hole-based Yoga Today has offered a wide variety of yoga classes—with names ranging from “Power of Intention” and “Awakening the Root Chakra” to “Full Body Harmony” and “Blending Breath and Movement”— for free. All you need is an internet connection and 60 minutes. Even those without a highspeed connection can participate by practicing to an audio file.
In a recent interview with Yoga Today’s Executive Producer Kimberly Whitman, we talked intention, audience and YT’s global appeal.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
When Gas Happens in Yoga Class
I’ve certainly done it. You probably have. It is likely that someone, somewhere, is doing it right now…. The “it,” of course, is the inevitable passing of gas in yoga class. There’s just something about those restrictive clothes, those twisting postures and the quietness of it all that seems to entice farts. (As I recall, there is even a posture in Bikram Yoga called “wind-removing pose.)
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Summer Yoga in Western Montana
With summer comes long, warm, sun-worshiping days. We trade our down jackets for tank tops—our yoga classes for trail runs. We are drawn out rather than in. And, in terms of our practice, this is just fine. Yoga is, after all, about being fluid and flexible, not rigid and attached.
Still, it is a special time to practice asana—with heat comes increased physical flexibility and the opportunity to go deep into postures.
So, it is in this spirit of warmth and summer—not to mention those delicious, indulgent childhood associations of leisure and play— that I offer some regional retreats, workshops, and classes worth considering. Please add to the list if you know of any more.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
A Yoga News Roundup
From yoga-related law suits to resonating floors, these stories are worth a read...
Yoga student sues yoga teacher. A yoga student at the Northbrook YMCA in Northbrook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, recently sued her teacher after incurring what she called “severe and permanent injuries” from an adjustment. According to Chicagoist.com, student Janet Weiss blames the YMCA for not adequately checking into teacher Wendy Sadler’s training, which took place at the Himalayan Institute in Pennsylvania. Comments on the Windy City-based website include interpretations of the incident as a heads up regarding aggressive adjustments to a thumbs down (actually a “Dammit, Janet”) toward the plaintiff.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Lessons from Lino
Last weekend I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Rome’s Lino Miele at a workshop in Bozeman, Montana. Lino is a senior Ashtanga yoga teacher who has been studying the practice for more than 20 years—yet you wouldn’t know it at first glance. He’s as humble as a novice and as excited about the practice as if it were a recent discovery.
The following highlights, based around his teaching of the Full Vinyasa System, can inform and lend context to all students of yoga, Ashtanga or otherwise.
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Yoga On & Off the Mat
Setting the Stage for a Home Practice
Considering last week’s “Inspiring Reasons to Practice Yoga at Home,” it’s fair to say that a personal practice is worth exploring. Rolling out your mat at home, on your own schedule and in a way that supports your body/mind, bolsters all aspects of your yoga practice.
Now, it’s just a matter of preparing a place.
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