“Our world is wounded, fractured, broken and burning. We are products of this place and it is our job to heal the world through the healing of our selves.” ~ Chani Nicholas The difficulty of maintaining peace of mind during this world’s current upsets is obvious. On the eve of the U.S. Presidential Election, I…
Tag: Prayer
Peace Tools: Morning Routine
I thank you, ever-living sovereign, for restoring my soul to me in mercy. How great is your trust! – Traditional Jewish Prayer for the Morning * * * Like all of my days, as soon as I opened my eyes this morning, I said the above prayer. Then, in the period of time between splashing…
Falling Off The Yoga Wagon
Why does it take a sick day for me to realize I have totally abandoned my yoga practice? For the past two days, I’ve been battling a sinus infection. This morning, after sleeping 11 hours, I woke up, chanted mantras, said prayers, wrote in my journal, practiced breathing exercises and sat to meditate. All of…
Focus: The Yoga Sutras – Love & Murder
Each morning when I rise, I try to spend about 30 minutes praying, meditating and doing some Pranayama. When I do, my soul feels infinitely more peaceful throughout whatever the day tosses my way. For me, this is the point of yoga. From what I’ve learned, this was also the point of yoga for the…
Focus Wrap Up: Back to Basics
Over the weekend I taught the final classes in our January Back to Basics focus. To complement our fine-tuning of alignment, review of three-part breathing and return to proper resting, these last sessions invited students to deepen their commitment to setting an intention. Personally, I can’t imagine getting on the mat without exploring some kind…
Focus: Why Yoga? – Resilience
Today a friend is having a lumpectomy to remove cancer in her breast. This friend is a strong, solution-oriented, resilient woman. After reading my news about the betrayal, breakup and decompression process, she wrote to encourage me to join her in a ritual of surrender. Instead of asking friends to pray for her well-being, she…
Prayer & Niyama
One of the reasons I love prayer is because it is an antidote to guilt and blame. If I am unhappy with the way I have acted or have been treated, instead of stewing in self-recrimination, or harboring ill will toward someone else, prayer gives me a way out. I bring my painful feelings out…
Compassion for Killers
“Compassion for the unhappy.” “Indifference toward non-virtous acts.” – Sutra 1:33 So here I am, again practicing the locks and keys of Sutra 1:33 (see “Boy, 9, Dies…” post for details). This morning, 26-year-old Josue Peña was arrested for killing 9-year-old Oscar Fuentes a few nights ago. (*) Immediately, I thought, “Josue Peña must be…
The Urban Yoga Den 