Beyond Asana Blog

 
Equanimity cradles the immense sorrow & wonder of life at the same time.

- Sharon Salzberg, Buddhist teacher

Have you seen NASA’s image of Earth as seen from Mars? There’s nothing quite like the view of our planet from space to gain helpful perspective and remind us that we’re all in this together.

Intellectually, we might know that we’re a blip on the cosmic screen. But seeing our world as a tiny speck in the vastness of space evokes a visceral sense of our place in the universe; it’s both awe-inspiring and humbling.

I’ve always associated equanimity – the evenness of mind that characterizes yoga - with spaciousness. When you maintain...

I loved the practice that Dr. Jessica Barudin, Indigenous researcher and founder of the Indigenous Yoga Collective, shared during her recent conversation with Sophie Gregoire Trudeau.

She invited us to do something so simple, yet so profound – to really look at our hands. Not just glance at them, but truly see them. She shared that in her Kwakwakaʼwakw culture, one’s hands are seen as conduits of the heart’s healing energy. She invited us to breathe into our hands as a way of enlivening the flow of our innate healing power. 

In the yoga tradition, hands are one of the five karmendriyas, the organs of action. Your hands are how you reach out to the world, quite...

Although my days of performing 108 Sun Salutations, Surya Namaskar, are behind me, connecting with an inner source of vitality and light through my practices has never felt more crucial.

I vividly recall practicing Surya Namaskar on a vast, open field at dawn more than 20 years ago, during my time living in India. If you’ve done something like this, you know there’s nothing quite like it to align with the primal rhythms of the earth and the forces that sustain life on this planet.

Surya Devata, the Lord of the Sun, is the most ancient deity worshipped in the Vedic tradition that preceded yoga. Through rituals and hymns, the sun was honored as a sacred,...

Do you know why humming is so good for you?

Simple humming, which is related to the yogic practice of Bhramari Pranayama, or Bee-buzzing breath, can positively impact your heart, soothe your nervous system, lower blood pressure, and reduce stress levels.

These benefits stem from the calming effects of activating the parasympathetic nervous system and the release of endorphins in your brain. Just a few minutes of humming a day can improve your health and overall mood.  

But the benefits of humming go beyond these physiological effects. There’s a deeper, more profound significance to it.

Seismologists have discovered that the Earth itself emits low-frequency sound waves that...

Life, like the natural flow of the breath, moves in a continuous cycle of giving and receiving - the fundamental energy exchange that underlies every process in the physical world.

The Vedic culture that preceded yoga recognized the delicate balance of reciprocity inherent in the web of life, and honored it through hymns, sacrificial fires, and other rituals. These aimed to foster harmony with the natural world and place human beings in right relationship with the earth.

As yogic practices emerged, these outer rituals became interiorized. Recognizing that all the cosmic and elemental forces exist within the human being in microcosmic form, yoga sought to unify the individual with the...

When Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh was asked by his students what the most important thing we can do for the healing of our world is, he replied, “The most important thing we can do for the healing of our world is to hear, within ourselves, the sound of the earth crying.”

This sentiment resonates with the many enthusiastic responses I received to last week’s postabout thinking like a lilac. It affirms that the unity awareness we foster in yoga isn’t just an esoteric concept removed from daily life.

Rather, seeing ourselves as part of the living body of the earth is a natural evolution of our awareness that strengthens and deepens over time.

This shift - from individual...

Last weekend, I attended a Work That Reconnects retreat where we participated in a practice called The Council of All Beings.

In this ritual, people set aside their human identity and imagine what it’s like to be another life form. Speaking on behalf of that entity, they share what life is like for them, and the gifts they can offer us humans.

It was astounding how much wisdom and insight emerged from invoking our moral imagination and tapping into our capacity to empathize with the more-than-human world.

The power of the practice clearly impacted me, because upon returning home and seeing the lilacs blooming in my yard, I began to wonder: What would they say if they could speak? What...

Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.

- Albert Camus

After months of near silence (save for those persistent crows) the sparrows, bobolinks, blackbirds, mourning doves, robins, and Canadian Geese are back, and they’re singing their hearts out.

The nerve! How dare they sing so sweetly, as if all is well? Haven’t they gotten the memo that that the world is on fire? That pain and suffering are everywhere?

Even if they could understand, I doubt it would change things. They’re birds after all, that’s what they do.

It’s only us humans, with our big brains and our capacity for conscious choice, that stray from our authentic nature, quelling the...

During a long drive this week, I got to catch up with two long-time yoga friends, both going through their own version of tough times.

Surprisingly, our conversations left me feeling uplifted and invigorated. Rather than feeling burdened by their struggles, I felt a deep sense of compassion and solidarity.

Just a few weeks ago, the roles were reversed. It was me confiding in a close friend about something that was weighing on my heart. She received my vulnerability with grace and openness.

While a friend’s listening ear may not solve our problems, it sure can lighten our load and buoy us through the turbulence of life’s uncertainties.  

In the Buddhist tradition, when one...

After my workshop last Saturday, a participant noticed with delight that the treetops visible from the studio had grown even greener during our afternoon together. In our corner of the world, every sign of the burgeoning springtime feels worthy of celebration.

In Chapter 10 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells his student, Arjuna, where to perceive the sacred in the world. It’s quite a list!

Among the many places he guides him to look, he says,
Of the seasons I am spring, that brings forth flowers. (10.35)

This statement has always intrigued me. The text later reveals that all seasons, indeed all of existence, originate from the same source.

So why highlight spring...