Yoga For Life is a collection of essays focused on one regular life as seen through the lens of yoga. In them, yoga's deepest gifts are discovered in the mundane activities of daily life - laundry, grocery shopping, raising children, going to work, friendships, gardening - you name it! These personal, insightful meditations bring yoga's ancient spirituality, wisdom, and mindfulness sharply into modern focus.
Yoga is a practice designed to help us find contentment, happiness and faith in every aspect of our lives. Yoga For Life is written to help you as the reader – no matter the level of your practice – embrace the positive thinking, mental resilience, and transformation that develops by taking yoga beyond the mat and into your life.
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“How does an apple ripen? It sits in the sun.” Patience and persistence can be far more effective agents of change than the proverbial blood, sweat, and tears. Keep showing up. Trust the process. But recognize that you don’t need to be in control. Leave some space for unimaginable possibilities, surprising twists and turns, and miracles too great to even hope for. Life won’t let you down.
Regular rest is a fundamental part of success, health, and happiness. It helps us exist as human beings rather than “humans doing.” Practicing silence, mindfulness, and breathing are three ways to rest that create deep healing, inspire bursts of creativity, and offer clarity.
One of the hardest aspects to grapple with within yoga philosophy and spirituality in general is the idea of the Authentic Self and the false self. It was a relationship with a student that finally demystified my intellectual understanding and brought it to life.
You and I are human beings. As long as we live and breathe, we are going to experience reactions. We are not practicing yoga to eliminate reactions. We are practicing to weaken or (maybe … one day …) even eliminate the power our reactions have to dictate our responses to life.
If you, like me, are a recovering control freak, this one’s for you. Here are three ways to practice letting go of your need to control. When we step back and redirect all that energy toward ourselves – controlling our desire to be in control instead of trying to control the world around us – we feel 1,000 times better.
If you, like my family, are experiencing a sneezy spring, the broader practice of yoga can help. Yoga and its sister-science, Ayurveda, offer many practices beyond the moving and breathing we do on a yoga mat. In fact, the postures we do on our yoga mats are only one of many components that make up a complete practice. There are practices that are recommended to be done before we unroll our mats. Neti (which is translates as nasal cleansing) is one these purificatory practices and is particularly helpful this time of year.
Admit it. As funny as the line is, you too have said or wanted to say, “Oh. I wish I could, but I don’t want to.” We humans just don’t always want to do the right thing. This is one of the real-life stumbling blocks that yoga philosophy can help us navigate.
We have been shouldering a weight of worry and stress for more than a year now and it has taken a toll on each of us. As the world begins to re-open, we are faced with even more change. In addition to understanding why we are feeling anxious, we can also commit to practices for self-care to help us downshift from the long-term anxiety and stress of the pandemic.
Did you know that “Be not afraid.” is in the Bible 365 times? There are enough “Be not afraids” that we could read a different one every day of the year. That is how important this message is to anyone seeking a full, spiritually deepened life experience. Interestingly, while yoga philosophy doesn’t phrase it quite the same way, “Be not afraid” is a central message to yoga seekers on and off the mat.