Category Archives: Syndicated

7 Mini Mantras You Can Share With Your Kids

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As a new mother, I am getting in the habit of making sure my daughter gets empowering messages on a daily basis. Rather than only hearing she’s adorable (which, granted, she is), I want her to hear about the volume of her power, depth of her compassion, and the scope of her abilities. I recently wrote an article for Inner Fire on this topic: 7 Mini Mantras You Can Share With Your Kids. Although it’s presented as suggestions for others, I wrote it as a commitment to myself; these are the yogic messages I want my daughter to grow up on.

Some of these messages I emulate naturally: from the day she was born my daughter has struck me with her sense of determination and purposefulness. To convey other messages, though, I have to overcome my own quirks and reservations. One of the hardest messages for me to commit to when the baby topples over or gets scared is:

5. “It’s okay to have feelings”: Accepting loss and change is not easy. It is normal to feel grief, sadness, frustration, and anger. Resisting these feelings or pretending they’re not there only creates more suffering. Being okay with unpleasant feelings (santosa) and expressing them in healthy ways won’t make them go away immediately, but it will allow you to move through them with grace.

When she falls or gets startled, my automatic reaction is to swoop in to hug her, kiss her, cuddle her, distract her from what happened, and prevent her from crying. I like to think that my daughter is getting 24/7 on-call private yoga instruction from me, but this is the exact opposite of how I encourage my yoga students to face challenges. When I’m being more mindful with my daughter, I put a hand on her to let her know I’m there, and say, “How was that, little one?” Often, once she gets past the shock, she goes back to what she was doing as if nothing happened. Sometimes she cries, and then I hold her close if she reaches for me and reassure her, “It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to process what happened.” I think she picks up on it. I notice that from the safety and security of my arms, she immediately looks back to the location of the fall or to the stranger who surprised her and moves through the negative emotion so she can go back to exploring confidently.

Read the rest of the article over at Inner Fire>> 

Go Bhakti Basics: How To Incorporate Chanting Into Your Yoga Practice

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I love kirtan, but when I was new to the practice it alienated me. I didn’t start practicing yoga to find a new religion, so chanting the names of deities I knew nothing about felt awkward. I recently wrote an article for Inner Fire about non-religious chants teachers can use to be inclusive of all yogis:

So much of the kirtan and mantra chants presented in some yoga classes call upon Hindu deities. These chants are inspiring and evocative for those they resonate with, but they may exclude yogis committed to different religions or to non-religion.

When I chant the mantras I discuss in this article, they remind me of the teachers I learned them from and of the other lessons they taught me. Om shanti shanti shanti and Om mani padme hum were the first and last chants I learned in my yoga teacher training with Shakti Mhi. She made yoga philosophy accessible to me and guided me into a practice beyond only movement, breath, and focus. Asato Maa Sad-Gamaya reminds me of my mentor, Les Leventhal, leading this chant in his deep baritone voice at the end of a delicious, sweaty vinyasa class. He taught me how to sense, explore, and embody the principles of yoga on and off the mat. Lam vam ram yam ham om reminds me of a healing practice I did with Diego Del Sol when my body was profoundly misaligned. He is the only teacher I know who watches students carefully during pranayama and provides detailed feedback about the quality of their breath. His teaching supported me in feeling like there was still a place for me in public yoga classes when I had to heavily modify my asana practice. Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu is chanted in one of my favorite songs on a kirtan album one of my students recommended to me when she got tired of me playing MC Yogi all the time. Chanting it reminds me that my students are some of my wisest teachers.

Read more about these chants in my article over at Inner Fire.

6 Age-Old Cleansing Techniques Every Yogi Should Know

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The most horrifying moment of my yogihood so far was when I read the materials list for my first yoga teacher training, and found out I had to buy an enema kit. I didn’t know where to get one, so I went to a hole-in-the-wall local health food store run by an old hippie. When I arrived, he was chatting with one of his regular customers, so I mulled around waiting for her to leave and pretended to look at herbs. Eventually the store owner paused his conversation and asked, “Can I help you find anything?”

“Uh…,” I hesitated, and then continued quietly, “I’m doing a yoga teacher training, and I need an enema kit.”

“What?” he asked, not quite catching that last bit.

“I need an enema kit,” I said as confidently as possible. “Do you sell them?”

Both he and his customer burst out laughing, and then quickly bit their tongues in response to my mortified expression. He told me kindly that he didn’t carry them and had no idea where I could buy one. Some hippie!

Not all kriyas (yogic cleansing techniques) are as extreme as enemas. To read more about accessible takes on age-old cleansing techniques, read this article I wrote for Inner Fire: 6 Age-Old Cleansing Techniques Every Yogi Should Know.

7 Yogic Practices That Support Graceful Aging

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Yesterday was Grandparents’ Day, and in honor of grandparents everywhere I wrote a post for Inner Fire about supporting graceful aging through yoga. I’ve been teaching various forms of movement to seniors for over ten years. When I first started (with aquatic fitness), I encouraged students to keep chatter to a minimum so they could focus on their exercise. Through experience, I came to recognize that forming a kula, community, is part of the practice, not a distraction from it:

5. Community. We don’t always think of the group dynamic of a yoga class as a part of our practice, but the social aspect of yoga may profoundly affect health. Studies show that strong social ties improve immunity and increase longevity. Start a conversation with another student before or after your next class!

Now, as a teacher, I try to foster connection, conversation, and community in my seniors’ class even if it means starting the structured part of class a couple minutes late (i.e. softening my type A personality) or allowing other voices to be part of the yoga class experience rather than expecting to be the star of the show (i.e. letting go of my ego).

Read the rest of the article over at Inner Fire>>

Please visit my public classes page to see my current schedule of seniors-friendly classes or contact me about private sessions for a personalized class tailored to your specific needs.

6 Steps For Success Every New Yoga Teacher Should Know

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Inner Fire asked me to write a post to guide new yoga teachers after their first training. After I wrote it, I realized that most of the tips apply to seasoned yoga teachers as well—as we develop and gain experience we often need to recommit to an authentic personal practice, reevaluate our dharma (purpose), and reaffirm ourselves after injuries or other road bumps.

The number one principle that helped me get started when I was a newer teacher was:

Have the courage to say yes. Hang in there; if you’re diligent eventually opportunities will arise. Some of them will scare you. Unless you’re legitimately underqualified, say yes anyway.

Years ago, I got a last-minute call to sub for Les Leventhal, one of my mentors, I was cycling home at the end of my day. I wasn’t on the shortlist of teachers authorized to sub for him at the time, but the studio was desperate. I was sunburned as heck, I had already taught a class or two that day, and I was wearing the type of ridiculous outfit I only get to when I’ve procrastinated on laundry as long as I possibly can. I had every excuse to let my insecurities get the better of me and say no to this intimidating opportunity. But, I turned my bike around, swallowed my nervousness as best I could, and stepped up on stage in front of his packed mat-to-mat prime-time class. That opportunity lead to more subbing, which eventually lead to teaching regular class at this popular studio.

As I’ve become more experienced, the most relevant principle has been:

Have the courage to say no: […] Have the courage to say no to opportunities that are inconsistent with your intention […] Trust that turning down incompatible opportunities will free up the time, energy, and space needed for your vision to come alive.

As I’ve taught various styles to different bodies and minds I’ve formed opinions about what I believe to be safe, effective, and ethical. The scope of what I can teach authentically has become smaller, not larger, with experience. I now recognize that many opportunities are immediately alluring, but are ultimately just distractions that suck time and energy away from manifesting my intentions as a teacher (and as a human). It takes courage to turn down offers that immediately feed my ego or fill my pockets, but I trust that saying “no” to the wrong opportunities makes space for the right ones to come about.

Read the full Inner Fire post here.