Yoga, Music & The Art of Listening
We all love music, don’t we? Music and movement have been united since drumming and dancing around the fires of our ancestors and more recently to the night club and festival party scenes of today. It can also really help create an ‘atmosphere’ in a yoga room, but lately I haven’t been playing music in my classes and there is a...
A conversation about the art of touch and consent
There have been several articles written of late asking students if they ever have experienced touch that felt inappropriate in yoga. Other professionals whose work can involve touching people are usually regulated by the government but yoga teachers are not, so how can we as a community make sure that students feel respected and safe under our guidance? Recently I watched ...
Keeping the flame of yoga alive
I often use the analogy in my classes that when we practice yoga or any physical activity we have a flame inside us. This could be a steady burning smoulder that lasts us hopefully for the duration of the class (and the rest of our lives) or it could be a wild fire that burns out everything in its path,...
An “un-Yogi” Yoga teacher
What does it mean to be a yogi? To become a yogi? What does a yogi wear? Who is a true yogi? What are the gods of yoga? Do I need to wear yoga beads? Does chanting in yoga make you a real yogi? Does yoga make you poop? The questions could go on and on… and on. Yes, a yogi...
Shaping awareness: on and off the yoga mat
As a teacher of physical disciplines for 20 years, I have come to a clear understanding about what I am teaching and how I am teaching it. I’m not talking about just moving the body and getting a sweat on, although that is a small part of it. I am teaching awareness on a deep fundamental level. I am teaching...