“[My guru] says that people universally tend to think that happiness is a stroke of luck, something that will maybe descend upon you like fine weather if you are fortunate enough. But that’s not how happiness works. Happiness is the consequence of personal effort. You fight for it, strive for it, insist upon it, and more…

Do you sometimes have a hard time getting into yoga class? Is it hard to walk away from the stress of your day and leave it all behind? Do you want to get all the benefits of yoga? If you want to get into a better state during yoga class, try closing your eyes. I’m more…

I don’t know a lot about feng shui, but I do know that I believe in it. If you are not familiar with feng shui, here’s my very simplified definition: Feng shui is the ancient Chinese practice of placing stuff in the “right” place in order to receive good vibes and positive energy. For example, more…

My yoga instructor totally made me laugh the other day when we were in pyramid yoga pose (parsvottonasana). She must have noticed quite a few of us struggling, because she said to us, “Don’t fight the pose; embrace the pose.” It made me think to myself, Yeah, why am I being such a dork, struggling to more…

I’ve been thinking a lot about my Daily Downward Dog posts. I seem to focus more on the physical aspects of yoga, but I don’t spend as much time on the spiritual aspects of my yoga practice. Over the past year I have become more flexible and my back feels great, but I’ve also grown more…

“Dogs come when they’re called; cats take a message and get back to you.” —Missy Dizick and Mary Bly, Dogs Are Better Than Cats (1985) My yoga instructor made a really interesting point in yoga class last week. Why are so many yoga poses named after animals? Think about it—cat, cow, elephant trunk, pigeon, dolphin, more…

“When you look up from your typewriter, look at the trees, not the calendar.” –Mary Virginia Micka It’s looking like I’m going to be on a nature kick this week at MariaMedia. I love this quote because it reminds me to not get so wrapped up in the day and the deadlines and all the more…

Waves and yoga; these two words together equal extreme relaxation and a calming yoga practice. I’ve written many times about how amazing it is to practice yoga while listening to the sound of waves. It’s the best soundtrack I can think of. If you’re landlocked or can’t get to the beach, there is still hope more…

“Why do people do yoga? To clear their minds? I embrace the clutter in my head.” —Chris Rock, Comedian You gotta love Chris and, yes, we all have a lot of clutter in our heads, but it is amazing how great yoga and meditation can make you feel and what a relief it is to more…

Last week I wrote about how my yoga instructor basically had us play mind games to get us through the difficulty of boat pose. I’ll say it again: Yoga boat pose is definitely on my top-five list of poses I really dislike and is a boat trip I do not want to take. So, this more…