Nowadays - and especially this time of year - many people answer the question: “How are you?” with: “Oh, I am very busy.” As if being busy equals “I am well” or “I am not well”. However, being busy is not something we are, it...
The most common question I’m being asked when leading a yoga retreat (or even after a weekly yoga class) is: “How do I hold on to this when I get back to ‘real life’?” This being: this good feeling, this daily yoga practice, this routine,...
In my previous blog I wrote about the importance of cultivating Mindfulness. We need to train our mind to not attach to our outer circumstances, in order to find true freedom. Each moment brings us the liberty to choose how we relate to it. However,...
On Tuesday we celebrated Independence Day (4th of July) in the Unites States. Today is His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s birthday (July 6). Two reasons to reflect on what freedom really means. For some people freedom means they can say and do exactly what they want....
There are two kinds of people: those who like to be quiet and those who like to talk. But even some of the people who like to be quiet look at me glass-eyed when I suggest doing a Day of Silence, or even going on...
Restlessness, one of the Five Hindrances, is a state of mental agitation that keeps us from being present in the moment. When I am experiencing restlessness I know the best thing to do is to sit and meditate. Yet when my mind seems like a...
In the early days of spring, when you are tired of heavy winter dishes but it is not warm enough yet to eat light salads as a meal, a nourishing vegetable soup is a great choice. You can have it as dinner one night (adding...
Hot yoga seems to be ‘hot’. When I look at yoga class schedules I often see hot yoga and warm vinyasa on offer. And then, of course, there is the chain of Bikram Yoga studios in which yoga is practiced in a room heated up...
As the world seems to move faster and faster, fueled by a never ending stream of information that is constantly available through our mobile devices, there is a need to slow down. Even in people's yoga practice - that is intended to relax the body and calm the mind...