Is it Cultural Appropriation?
In recent years, conversation has begun around the “cultural appropriation” of yoga and many different activities or artifacts from other cultures that some people adopt. Whether it is studying a martial art technique, a massage technique or any other action, music or material from somewhere other from where your ancestors hail from, how can it be that we can only...
A journey of becoming
I've been thinking a lot lately about how men (and all people gender specific or not) can benefit from a regular physical practice and how I came to be where I am. In a society that bombards us with the perfect social media image and the perfect life plastered over our televisions, it's not all sunshine and roses. There are people...
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,...