Inspiration

An Introduction to the Chakras: A Map for Listening Inward

For the past several weeks, we've walked the eight limbs of yoga together, ending with samadhi: that quiet sense of being completely absorbed, completely here. It felt like the right place to pause and ask a new question. If the eight limbs are the path, what about the one walking it? That's wher... Read More

The Last Limb of Yoga Isn't a Finish Line

For most of my life, I treated wholeness like a finish line. I'd feel whole once I was calmer. Once I was more disciplined. Once I'd worked through the next hard thing, or become a better version of myself. There was always one more step between me and enough. So when I first read that samadhi is... Read More

Dhyana: Meditation Was Never About an Empty Mind

For a long time, I thought meditation meant keeping my mind quiet. Not thinking about anything at all. So I'd sit down, close my eyes, and try to empty my head. Of course, the thoughts kept coming — lists, worries, a glance at the clock. Every one felt like proof I was doing it wrong. What I didn... Read More

Dharana: Where Focus Really Begins

There's a moment I know well. I've rolled out my mat, set up my bolster and blocks, and settled into my first breath. And before that breath is even finished, my mind is somewhere else entirely. A conversation from earlier in the day. A to-do list. Something I said that I wish I'd said differentl... Read More

The Space Between: Pratyahara and the Art of Not Taking Everything In

Some days I notice I'm taking in far more than I can digest. The news, the messages, the noise, the quiet pressure to respond to all of it right away. For me, it's the feeling of always being connected. To my computer, to my phone. I'll be honest: I almost feel naked without my phone. A text come... Read More

Pranayama: The Breath Is Where Life Force Meets the Body

Before you read any further, pause and notice your breath. Is it high in your chest or low in your belly? Quick or slow? Just notice, and don't change anything yet. That simple act of noticing is where pranayama begins. It's the fourth limb of yoga, and it's where the practice turns inward. Prana... Read More

Asana Was Never Just the Movement

In the Yoga Sutras, asana isn't described as a sequence of poses at all. It's really just one instruction: sit. Be rooted. Be comfortable. That's it. Out of the eight limbs of yoga, only one of them has anything to do with the physical postures we now think of as "yoga." Just one. I think that's ... Read More

Ishvara Pranidhana: The Practice of Letting Go

"Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be." - Sonia Ricotti This week closes something. Ishvara Pranidhana is the fifth niyama, and with it, we've now moved through the whole arc — the Yamas and the Niyamas both, starting with Satya all the way back at the beginning. I... Read More

Svadhyaya: The Practice of Self-Study

There's a moment in almost every class when I ask people to notice something — their breath, a sensation in their body, a thought that keeps circling back. It's such a simple instruction. But svadhyaya, the practice underneath it, is anything but simple. Svadhyaya is usually translated as "self-s... Read More

Tapas — The Fire That Doesn’t Burn You Out

Tapas is the Sanskrit word for heat. Literally, it means “to burn.” It’s the third Niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and if you’ve ever felt your muscles warm up mid-flow or noticed your breath start to build heat in your chest during a longer hold, you’ve already met tapas in its simplest form ... Read More

An Introduction to the Chakras: A Map for Listening Inward

For the past several weeks, we've walked the eight limbs of yoga together, ending with samadhi: that quiet sense of being completely absorbed, completely here. It felt like the right place to pause and ask a new question. If the eight limbs are the path, what about the one walking it? That's wher... Read More

The Last Limb of Yoga Isn't a Finish Line

For most of my life, I treated wholeness like a finish line. I'd feel whole once I was calmer. Once I was more disciplined. Once I'd worked through the next hard thing, or become a better version of myself. There was always one more step between me and enough. So when I first read that samadhi is... Read More

Dhyana: Meditation Was Never About an Empty Mind

For a long time, I thought meditation meant keeping my mind quiet. Not thinking about anything at all. So I'd sit down, close my eyes, and try to empty my head. Of course, the thoughts kept coming — lists, worries, a glance at the clock. Every one felt like proof I was doing it wrong. What I didn... Read More

Dharana: Where Focus Really Begins

There's a moment I know well. I've rolled out my mat, set up my bolster and blocks, and settled into my first breath. And before that breath is even finished, my mind is somewhere else entirely. A conversation from earlier in the day. A to-do list. Something I said that I wish I'd said differentl... Read More

The Space Between: Pratyahara and the Art of Not Taking Everything In

Some days I notice I'm taking in far more than I can digest. The news, the messages, the noise, the quiet pressure to respond to all of it right away. For me, it's the feeling of always being connected. To my computer, to my phone. I'll be honest: I almost feel naked without my phone. A text come... Read More

Pranayama: The Breath Is Where Life Force Meets the Body

Before you read any further, pause and notice your breath. Is it high in your chest or low in your belly? Quick or slow? Just notice, and don't change anything yet. That simple act of noticing is where pranayama begins. It's the fourth limb of yoga, and it's where the practice turns inward. Prana... Read More

Asana Was Never Just the Movement

In the Yoga Sutras, asana isn't described as a sequence of poses at all. It's really just one instruction: sit. Be rooted. Be comfortable. That's it. Out of the eight limbs of yoga, only one of them has anything to do with the physical postures we now think of as "yoga." Just one. I think that's ... Read More

Ishvara Pranidhana: The Practice of Letting Go

"Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be." - Sonia Ricotti This week closes something. Ishvara Pranidhana is the fifth niyama, and with it, we've now moved through the whole arc — the Yamas and the Niyamas both, starting with Satya all the way back at the beginning. I... Read More

Svadhyaya: The Practice of Self-Study

There's a moment in almost every class when I ask people to notice something — their breath, a sensation in their body, a thought that keeps circling back. It's such a simple instruction. But svadhyaya, the practice underneath it, is anything but simple. Svadhyaya is usually translated as "self-s... Read More

Tapas — The Fire That Doesn’t Burn You Out

Tapas is the Sanskrit word for heat. Literally, it means “to burn.” It’s the third Niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and if you’ve ever felt your muscles warm up mid-flow or noticed your breath start to build heat in your chest during a longer hold, you’ve already met tapas in its simplest form ... Read More

An Introduction to the Chakras: A Map for Listening Inward

For the past several weeks, we've walked the eight limbs of yoga together, ending with samadhi: that quiet sense of being completely absorbed, completely here. It felt like the right place to pause and ask a new question. If the eight limbs are the path, what about the one walking it? That's wher... Read More

The Last Limb of Yoga Isn't a Finish Line

For most of my life, I treated wholeness like a finish line. I'd feel whole once I was calmer. Once I was more disciplined. Once I'd worked through the next hard thing, or become a better version of myself. There was always one more step between me and enough. So when I first read that samadhi is... Read More

Dhyana: Meditation Was Never About an Empty Mind

For a long time, I thought meditation meant keeping my mind quiet. Not thinking about anything at all. So I'd sit down, close my eyes, and try to empty my head. Of course, the thoughts kept coming — lists, worries, a glance at the clock. Every one felt like proof I was doing it wrong. What I didn... Read More

Dharana: Where Focus Really Begins

There's a moment I know well. I've rolled out my mat, set up my bolster and blocks, and settled into my first breath. And before that breath is even finished, my mind is somewhere else entirely. A conversation from earlier in the day. A to-do list. Something I said that I wish I'd said differentl... Read More

The Space Between: Pratyahara and the Art of Not Taking Everything In

Some days I notice I'm taking in far more than I can digest. The news, the messages, the noise, the quiet pressure to respond to all of it right away. For me, it's the feeling of always being connected. To my computer, to my phone. I'll be honest: I almost feel naked without my phone. A text come... Read More

Pranayama: The Breath Is Where Life Force Meets the Body

Before you read any further, pause and notice your breath. Is it high in your chest or low in your belly? Quick or slow? Just notice, and don't change anything yet. That simple act of noticing is where pranayama begins. It's the fourth limb of yoga, and it's where the practice turns inward. Prana... Read More

Asana Was Never Just the Movement

In the Yoga Sutras, asana isn't described as a sequence of poses at all. It's really just one instruction: sit. Be rooted. Be comfortable. That's it. Out of the eight limbs of yoga, only one of them has anything to do with the physical postures we now think of as "yoga." Just one. I think that's ... Read More

Ishvara Pranidhana: The Practice of Letting Go

"Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be." - Sonia Ricotti This week closes something. Ishvara Pranidhana is the fifth niyama, and with it, we've now moved through the whole arc — the Yamas and the Niyamas both, starting with Satya all the way back at the beginning. I... Read More

Svadhyaya: The Practice of Self-Study

There's a moment in almost every class when I ask people to notice something — their breath, a sensation in their body, a thought that keeps circling back. It's such a simple instruction. But svadhyaya, the practice underneath it, is anything but simple. Svadhyaya is usually translated as "self-s... Read More

Tapas — The Fire That Doesn’t Burn You Out

Tapas is the Sanskrit word for heat. Literally, it means “to burn.” It’s the third Niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and if you’ve ever felt your muscles warm up mid-flow or noticed your breath start to build heat in your chest during a longer hold, you’ve already met tapas in its simplest form ... Read More

An Introduction to the Chakras: A Map for Listening Inward

For the past several weeks, we've walked the eight limbs of yoga together, ending with samadhi: that quiet sense of being completely absorbed, completely here. It felt like the right place to pause and ask a new question. If the eight limbs are the path, what about the one walking it? That's wher... Read More

The Last Limb of Yoga Isn't a Finish Line

For most of my life, I treated wholeness like a finish line. I'd feel whole once I was calmer. Once I was more disciplined. Once I'd worked through the next hard thing, or become a better version of myself. There was always one more step between me and enough. So when I first read that samadhi is... Read More

Dhyana: Meditation Was Never About an Empty Mind

For a long time, I thought meditation meant keeping my mind quiet. Not thinking about anything at all. So I'd sit down, close my eyes, and try to empty my head. Of course, the thoughts kept coming — lists, worries, a glance at the clock. Every one felt like proof I was doing it wrong. What I didn... Read More

Dharana: Where Focus Really Begins

There's a moment I know well. I've rolled out my mat, set up my bolster and blocks, and settled into my first breath. And before that breath is even finished, my mind is somewhere else entirely. A conversation from earlier in the day. A to-do list. Something I said that I wish I'd said differentl... Read More

The Space Between: Pratyahara and the Art of Not Taking Everything In

Some days I notice I'm taking in far more than I can digest. The news, the messages, the noise, the quiet pressure to respond to all of it right away. For me, it's the feeling of always being connected. To my computer, to my phone. I'll be honest: I almost feel naked without my phone. A text come... Read More

Pranayama: The Breath Is Where Life Force Meets the Body

Before you read any further, pause and notice your breath. Is it high in your chest or low in your belly? Quick or slow? Just notice, and don't change anything yet. That simple act of noticing is where pranayama begins. It's the fourth limb of yoga, and it's where the practice turns inward. Prana... Read More

Asana Was Never Just the Movement

In the Yoga Sutras, asana isn't described as a sequence of poses at all. It's really just one instruction: sit. Be rooted. Be comfortable. That's it. Out of the eight limbs of yoga, only one of them has anything to do with the physical postures we now think of as "yoga." Just one. I think that's ... Read More

Ishvara Pranidhana: The Practice of Letting Go

"Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be." - Sonia Ricotti This week closes something. Ishvara Pranidhana is the fifth niyama, and with it, we've now moved through the whole arc — the Yamas and the Niyamas both, starting with Satya all the way back at the beginning. I... Read More

Svadhyaya: The Practice of Self-Study

There's a moment in almost every class when I ask people to notice something — their breath, a sensation in their body, a thought that keeps circling back. It's such a simple instruction. But svadhyaya, the practice underneath it, is anything but simple. Svadhyaya is usually translated as "self-s... Read More

Tapas — The Fire That Doesn’t Burn You Out

Tapas is the Sanskrit word for heat. Literally, it means “to burn.” It’s the third Niyama in Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and if you’ve ever felt your muscles warm up mid-flow or noticed your breath start to build heat in your chest during a longer hold, you’ve already met tapas in its simplest form ... Read More