Anusara Yoga in New York Times

The founder of Anusara Yoga, my teacher, John Friend was featured in a multiple page article in the New York Times Magazine entitled “The Yoga Mogul.”  You can read the entire article here:  http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/magazine/25Yoga-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1.  It is an informative article discussing the philosophy of Anusara Yoga, different styles of yoga taught in America today, his personal history (including his yoga performance and work with the Yoga Ashram described in... [Read more]

Saint Francis and the Sow by Galway Kinnell

The bud Stands for all things, even for those things that don’t flower, for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing though sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness, to put a hand on the brow of the flower and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing; as Saint Francis put his hand on the creased forehead of the sow, and told her in words and in touch blessings of the earth on the sow, and the sow began remembering... [Read more]

What Does Namaste Mean?

Namaste is the greeting we use at the end of yoga class.  What does it mean?  And how can the use of this word improve our lives, our relationships, and the state of our world? This month Yoga Journal Magazine (March 2010 ) featured an article on Pastor Eddie D. Smith Sr. who introduced the word ‘Namaste’ to his congregation in Georgia.  He saw how so many of the young black men in his community were killing each other.  He instructed them to begin to greet each other with the word ‘Namaste’... [Read more]

Has My Heart Gone To Sleep?

Has my heart gone to sleep? Have the beehives of my dreams stopped working, the waterwheel of the mind run dry, scoops turning empty, only shadow inside? No, my heart is not asleep.  It is awake, wide awake. Not asleep, not dreaming - its eyes are opened wide watching distant signals, listening on the rim of vast silence. - Antonio Machado  Read More →

Has my Heart Gone to Sleep?

Has my heart gone to sleep?  . . . No, my heart is not asleep.  It is awake, wide awake.     – Antonio Machado (19th century Spanish Poet) Complete Poem Here I just returned from teaching in Mexico City.  I was surprised to see people there grappling with the same issues that confront us here in the USA:  financial instability, environmental degradation, the fast pace of life, and a deep longing for a better way of life that invites forth more of our humanity and dignity.  Yogis all... [Read more]

Slowing Down to Hear the Music of Life

The rate of change in life is accelerating.  Everyone and everything is moving faster and faster. The Wahsington Post recently put Joshua Bell, one of the greatest violin masters in the world, in a busy Washington, D.C subway station .  They video taped him playing violin while people rushed by.  They wanted to see if anyone would pause and notice that a master musician was playing some of the most exquisite music on the planet.  You can watch the video by clicking here:  \”Stop and Hear... [Read more]

Celebrating Yoga Del Mar – a poem by Nikyta

We shape clay into a pot.  But it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.        -Tao Te Ching #11 like this space / how an empty room / without furniture / No pictures hanging on the wall / bare wood floor and draped windows How an empty room / can hold so much the modern temple / more than just a bare room / in a strip mall / but a room whose emptiness / holds such vast worlds / that we, 10 years later / have ripened and  bloomed / within this clean and unstructured space... [Read more]

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