Does Yoga cure headaches?

Does Yoga cure headaches?

At the end of a 45-minute class yesterday, someone told me that her headache was gone.  She repeated the good news, obviously pleased, and very surprised. Yoga can act that quickly.  I think of it as magic.  After all, we were only breathing, and moving slowly, and...
Day in, day out, with a smile…

Day in, day out, with a smile…

Have you ever had a dream that you accomplished, with daily attention and persistence, even when you didn’t feel like it?  You were embodying the 3rd niyama, tapas.  When you hold a yoga pose for one more breath, because you know the benefits will be worth the...
Happy for No Reason

Happy for No Reason

One of the gifts of a long-term yoga practice is an ever-growing sense of ease and inner contentment that underlies anything which takes place in the outer world. This is an embodiment of the second niyama, known as samtosha, or contentment.  Here’s an evocative...
Everything in its Place

Everything in its Place

Have you noticed the order in most yoga studios?  The mats are rolled neatly, the blankets are folded and stacked, the floor is clean.  Perhaps when you enter the room, you perceive a subtle, quiet energy, distinct from the outside world. You are noticing sauca, which...
Spring Cleaning

Spring Cleaning

What is it about the return of the light that inspires us to declutter, organize, and clean our living space?  Maybe the stirrings of new growth in the natural world find an echo in our inner life which stimulates us to clear space for fresh energy. The fifth and last...
Everything in Moderation

Everything in Moderation

Good advice, from my mom.  She was often referring to food choices, but this concept has great value in many areas. We are now studying the 4th yama, which is Brahmacharya, often translated as celibacy.  Literally it means  “Walking with God”.  So one way...