I define yoga as a present you give yourself.

 

I attended my first yoga class in the spring of 2001 shortly after my Mom's death. I was in a dark place then and couldn't pray or find my way through the grief. During that first yoga class I was opened to the joy and peace available through the practice. For that one hour I didn't beat myself up. I have since considered yoga as the last gift from my Mom.... Read more...

How do you define yoga?
Yoga is a way of life for me. I study, practice and then, inevitably, perform, by having to walk the walk. Sometimes succeeding and finding a deep peace by the way a plan can come together, sometimes falling short and reacting in a way that totally surprises you. It is the ultimate preparation for death while also being the experiential expression of life. It is a process with which we can engage and negotiate the things that are out of our control. It can also illuminate... Read more...

Yoga is a way of understanding the world, just like science and religion are ways of understanding the world. It helps us remember what the rest of society helps us to routinely forget: that we are not separate individuals, nor are we lost in a sea of faces. We are tiny bits of ancient stars pulled together by energy that so desperately wanted us to be here that we are. 

 

I was four and a half years old... Read more...

How do you define yoga?
In Sanskrit, yoga means to join or yoke. I define yoga as a returning home to ourselves. Over time (lifetimes, years, months, days) we have forgotten our natural state is love and connection. We have forgotten the way to return to this state is to dedicate time (lifetimes, years, months, days) to ourselves, joining each of our layers or koshas: our bodies, breath, thoughts, feelings -- our witness and bliss.

It is easy to forget our inherent blissful nature when all our... Read more...

How do you define yoga?
The spiritual, mental and physical way to true self. A complete realization of oneness, through finding wholeness.

How did you begin yoga? What made the practice stick to you?
The way I found yoga was by stumbling upon it. I drove by a studio multiple times, was curious, so stopped in for a 90-minute hot yoga class. At that point in my life I was very much in financial survival mode - I went when I could afford it. The sticking point was simply the way it made me feel.... Read more...

How do you define yoga?
I think of yoga as primarily two things: love and freedom.

Love comes in befriending our bodies and loving our vulnerabilities as well as our strengths of body, mind and spirit. This love carries its compassion out into the world. The freedom in yoga comes in discovering we are not just our bodies, but souls coming into healing and wholeness. We are liberating ourselves from old patterns and notions about who we are and what we can do. It is wonderfully freeing to have... Read more...