Beyond Asana Blog

Last week, I introduced the Three Stories of Our Time as a useful orientation to being alive at this moment: Business as Usual, Great Unraveling, and the Great Turning. In this post, I'll explore how yoga contributes to this third narrative—the transition from an industrial growth economy to a life-sustaining society committed to the recovery of our world.

Author and activist Joanna Macy describes the Great Turning as an "ecosystem of response" with three mutually-reinforcing dimensions that work together to create meaningful and lasting change:

1.  Holding Actions

The first dimension of the Great Turning encompasses actions that slow damage to our planet, protect our social fabric, a...

Whichever way it goes, my work is the same. My work is to quiet my mind and open my heart and relieve suffering wherever I find it. - Ram Dass

The three stories of our time is a foundational teaching of Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects. It describes three concurrent narratives unfolding in our world that shape the backdrop of our lives. This framework has provided me with a valuable orientation for making sense of and responding to our current reality.

The first narrative is Business as Usual. This is the story of our modern lifestyle with its comforts and conveniences, and all the technological and economic developments that have made many aspects of our lives easier and safer.

In t...

In Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “A Descent into the Maelstrom,” a man recounts how he survived a shipwreck and the ensuing maelstrom - the powerful whirlpool that forms when opposite ocean currents collide to create a turbulent, chaotic vortex.

Observing his fellow sailors and the objects around him being dragged down by the tremendous force of the maelstrom, he held onto a barrel that kept him safe until it subsided.

It strikes me that in the maelstrom we are living through, we need a similar anchor to hold us steady. Fortunately, we have one.

Yoga develops within us a critical capacity: witnessing awareness. Our practices strengthen our innately human self-reflective ability to be ...

We will never be able to build what we have not first cherished in our hearts.

– Joanna Macy

At a time when we are constantly asked to be against so much, it’s crucial to remember what we are for.

This encouraging insight from Anand Giridharadas resonates with what I see as one of the core purposes of yoga in these turbulent times: to reconnect with our fundamental values.

The uncertainty surrounding us offers an opportunity to clarify our deepest intentions, independent of potential outcomes. What do we stand for no matter what happens? Given that we don’t know how things will unfold, what do we want to devote ourselves to anyway?

The Sanskrit term for intention is sankalpa; it refe...

A few days of springlike temperatures melted the impressive accumulation of snow and ice here in record time. During a walk this past weekend, I passed torrents of muddy snowmelt cascading down the mountainside and paused to feel the invigorating, raw power of the rushing water.

In some places, the current moved with such force that instead of gliding over the rocks, it formed small, turbulent pools flowing upstream, against the main current. It occurred to me that I too sometimes find myself stuck in similar patterns of resistance, fighting against life’s greater flow.

In these moments, it helps to remember that just as the rushing water follows gravity, we're carried by a force bigger than ...

A powerful moment unfolded during our recent Yoga and Work That Reconnects retreat when our group was practicing Mountain pose.

As we balanced the weight on our feet, strengthened our legs from the ground up, and anchored ourselves in the steadiness of the breath, a palpable shift filled in the room - each of us embodying the mountain's unwavering presence.

Through our physicality and imagination, we connected with something beyond ourselves. The mountain’s strength and steadfastness became our own – not just in a physical sense, but as a source of grounding and resilience to meet life’s daily challenges.

This is just one example of how yoga deepens our connection to something greater tha...

One of the highlights of my recent visit to Berkeley, California was the great honor of spending time with Joanna Macy, a Buddhist scholar, eco-philosopher, and root teacher of the Work That Reconnects.

On several occasions, we sat at her kitchen table in intimate conversation. I shared my deep gratitude for the inspiration I’ve found in her work, and we discussed the enduring timeliness of her writings and insights spanning seven decades.

At one point, Joanna asked me to read aloud the legend of Avalokiteshwara, a Buddhist story that powerfully illustrates the challenge of maintaining bodhichitta - the desire, born of compassion, to contribute to the upliftment of all beings. It’s a st...

If there’s one thing I love in the morning, it’s a strong cup of coffee, and I’ve become particularly fond of the pour-over method.

While travelling this month, I packed my high-quality Japanese glass cone and some premium filters. When those ran out, I switched to cheaper, flimsier ones.

The difference was stark – just as the water began flowing, the bottom would give out, sending coffee grounds cascading into my cup. What a waste!

This failing coffee filter strikes me as an apt metaphor for how many of us are feeling these days – our familiar ground is shifting beneath us in unpredictable ways. It can feel unsettling and overwhelming.

Where do we turn when it feels like the bottom has fa...

Running out of time at my recent Yoga for Strength and Resilience workshop was serendipitous – because the concept I wanted to share about harnessing the inner warrior deserves a broader audience.

Think of your inner warrior not as an abstract mythological figure, but as a flame already burning within you.

This warrior spirit appears in many forms in the Hindu tradition: Arjuna standing resolute on the battlefield of life in the Bhagavad Gita; the fierce Virabhadra, whose power we embody in our warrior poses; and perhaps most compelling, the goddess Durga, summoned in the universe's darkest hour to face what seemed undefeatable.

The righteous warrior archetype transcends gender, though, off...