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Home Practice Woes & Lows: Four Strategies For When Self-Practice Kinda Sucks
Some days I wake up thinking “it’s a moon day somewhere, right?” Everything feels heavy, sluggish and why bother-ish, my internal weather cloudy with more than a chance of vegan meatballs. Or perhaps...
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Mysore Myths: Ashtanga and Repetition– Repeat Yourself Different
“Ashtanga,” she said, her eyes closed, trying to place it. “That’s the yoga where you….repeat the same moves all the time, right?” Ah repetition. The dirty/holy word of the ashtanga yoga world. Yes,...
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10 Things I’ve learned About Teaching From Some Really Great Teachers (Pom...
1. Share Your Enthusiasm (Don’t Curb it!) I’ll never forget the look on David Garrigues’ face when he helped lift my body through the transition out of eka pada sirsasana (“leg behind head”). It’s a...
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Ode to Putting A Leg Behind My Head
I love putting my leg behind my head. I just LOVE it. I can’t wait to stand up with my leg behind my head and it’s just so good to fold over with my leg behind my head or side plank with one leg behind...
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The Five Stages of Getting The Next Pose
The Five Stages of Getting The Next Pose Stage One: Elation. Oh happy Day! Joy! Fist Bumps. Internal and external high fives. You go girl. Neuroses vanish. Chakras Align. Face glows. Social media...
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What National Emergency? A Multiple Choice Test You Can Take For As Long As...
What National Emergency? A Multiple Choice Test You Can Take For As Long As You Want** (1) Which of the following could cause a national emergency: (a) The President boasting about about the size and...
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I Need a Pedicure– And Other Thoughts We’ve Had During “Mind-Clearing” Yoga...
Note: Inspired by an insta post I saw called “5 Mind-Clearing Yoga Poses” including several shown below. Naturally I asked the uber-talented Zoe Ward of @unrulyascetic on Insta if she would lend her...
View ArticleTake the Phrase “Ladies’ Holiday” and Chuck it
Last summer I told a fellow yoga teacher that in Ashtanga people refer to taking off from practice during certain days of a woman’s cycle as “ladies’ holiday.” She wrinkled her nose– Not at the idea...
View Article“Hi! I’m The Contagiously Sick Woman In Your Yoga Class Downward Dogging Snot...
“I really regret going to yoga, said no one ever!” LOL, that’s me here, sweating toxins as the sickness oozes out of my pores and everyone around me moves mats away. How sweet are they to give me some...
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Drop It Like It’s Hot (NOT!): I Was Afraid To Do Ashtanga Yoga Drop Backs*
I fell on my head. It was the shot heard round the Mysore room. Allright, it was more like a crack—the sound of skull hitting earth. Which, in effect, it was: Mine. My head meeting the floor. Let’s...
View ArticleI Am Not Okay: Practice, Poses and Posing
I am not ok. Consider this my answer to the call from a recent explosive Ashtanga blog asking “where is the darkness?” First, it’s nice to know I’m not alone in feeling like I’m drowning in a cult of...
View ArticleIs It Ok To Post Videos And Photos of People Practicing In Our Classes?
Savasana is not a photo op-– Well, what about my butt in upward dog? Sometime in the last year I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw it: a video of a yoga class I teach, featuring me, teaching–...
View ArticleAshtanga Toe, Part Two: The Cure (and Jon Snow)?
My most regularly searched post to date is about feet. That’s right– it’s not any of my funny-ish posts, like “America’s Next Top Yoga Teacher” or New Yoga Study Released; it’s not even my more...
View ArticleCan Anyone Help Me? Dispatches From the All8Limbs Ashtanga Lovers Facebook Group
Welcome to All8Limbs Ashtanga Lovers Facebook Group! This is a forum for ashtangis seeking practice advice, medical care, laparoscopic surgery, DIY knee replacement how-to’s from 200 RYTs,...
View ArticleThe Magic Happens Because Your Yoga Practice Sucks
“The magic happens when your yoga practice sucks” ~Shanna Small, sAshtanga Yoga Project.Can we talk now about how GOOD the seemingly bad days can be? About how, if you didn’t have those days, you...
View ArticleSlay the Slogs: Motivation for Home Practice
“The enemy is a very good teacher”- the dalai lama It is a truth universally acknowledged that a kick ass super motivated practice must be asking for a “this is all pointless/ i’m crippled/I’m a...
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The Guru Bachelorette: One Woman’s Search For A Spiritual Teacher/ Predatory...
Join us for our most dramatic season ever as our newest Bachelorette, Jane — your average woman with a yoga mat– searches for her very own special spiritual guide from our cast of Master guru giants....
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My Ashtanga Yoga Practice Is Too Comfortable
Every yoga practice should include something that wakes you up. Something that makes you fully conscious. Something that you cannot sleep walk through. Something that makes you completely...
View ArticleFriday Primary: This Is What You Came For (Sore AsF...
It’s Friday. The day after mysore practice in the room with teachers, people, no where to freaking hide. You managed to perform like a ninja…. kind of…..ish (or so you hope): you stood on your...
View ArticleThe Three Things That Get Me Through My Entire Home Practice (Most Days)
1. I do the practice when I feel good, when I feel meh and also when I feel down. When I step onto my mat with thoughts like: I’m tired! Or, I’m sore! Or, I feel lazy! I think about this nugget from...
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