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…

“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…

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…

In yoga class the other night, we were in half-moon pose (ardha-chandrasana), and our instructor encouraged us all to take a risk and try some of the more advanced stages of the pose (like letting go with the hand holding us up and taking that hand to your calf or taking a bind with the more…

One of the things I love about going to yoga class is looking forward to what kind of music the yoga instructor will play during class. I’m not a big fan of the organic, mystical Eastern yoga music genre. I prefer it when the instructor plays modern music, the kind of music I hear on more…

I was away from my yoga studio last week and without a good yoga DVD, so I decided to lead my own class. I’ve never self-directed myself through yoga, and I wondered if I would have the self-discipline to keep it up for an entire hour. Typically, when I exercise at home, I’m really good more…

Can’t you just hear Julie Andrews blasting out those lyrics while twirling around on a beautiful Austrian mountainside? The sound of music can just sweep you away, and I got to have one of those Julie Andrews musical moments last week while practicing yoga. I showed up for yoga class a little late (imagine that), more…