Mudita: Empathetic Joy

    So still. How can she sit so still? Here I am on a meditation retreat, supposedly cultivating peace of mind, but instead I’m agitated, spinning unhappy thoughts. And there she is, a beacon of peace and light. She’s the picture of enlightenment. If only she’d fidget a little. Oh well, at least I’m […]

Pursuit of the Perfect Pose

    I stand, feet three feet apart, arms outstretched, ribs and spine extended laterally, on the unforgiving concrete floor. Triangle pose. A confusing chorus of the sharp, insistent voices of two teachers and two assistants bounce about the room. Instructions are being yelled out so quickly that I feel I can’t possibly perform them […]

Slowing Down

    It’s not easy to walk fast on the beach. Sand yields so willingly to the pressure of a footstep. With each sinking step you must first unearth your foot in order to take another. Solid ground requires only momentary contact; sand invites us to linger. Perhaps this is why people who live in […]

Teacher, Know Yourself

  It is wisdom to know others; it is enlightenment to know oneself. ~ Lao Tzu I’ve been fortunate to learn from so many knowledgeable yoga teachers over the past 30 years. My first teachers, Olivia Cita Mason and David Riley, as a physical therapist and doctor, planted a seed of curiosity about anatomy in […]