Ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya, and aparigraha are the yamas of Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga but they guide more than a yogic li

I often start my day by reviewing, adding to, and editing my to-do list. This is a list of tasks I have outlined for myself about what I should and should not accomplish on any given date or week. I often end my day by reviewing, adding to, and editing my to do list. A list of tasks that I did not accomplish today that I can accomplish tomorrow. Or the next day, or the next week. Sometimes tasks follow me for months as I transfer them from day to day to day. My current day pl

I am an advocate for the power of language and the importance of using language as a tool to make things better-whether that is your state of mind, your relationships, or the community you live in. There are three words that are often used interchangeably within the world of yoga and wellness. Affirmation, mantra and prayer. At first, and maybe in your personal practice, they may mean the same thing to you-but are they? What is affirmation? Affirmation can be understood to be

I am a strong believer that words and the language we use have tremendous power. Especially in repetition. The words we say to ourselves over and over and over again become internalized. They become truth. The phrases we repeat to ourselves become internalized. We believe them. They become truth. This is why I believe we should be exercising extreme caution with what words and phrases we repeat to ourselves. If we are constantly repeating negativity to ourselves, it becomes t

The way that we perceive things, whether it is a situation or a person, influences how we interact with the situation or person. For example, if we consider a situation to potentially be unsafe, we may act with more caution. This is a part of our survival instincts as humans, leftover from a time of physical dangers like wild animals. Our judgments have continued to exist into our current society, although we rarely need to judge whether a situation is safe because of the pot

The story of the lotus is the story of being human. The story of growth and moving out of the mud to bloom. The lotus also has many lessons to share beyond the widely known lesson of no mud, not lotus. A lotus blooms one petal at time, slowly unfurling itself to become the larger flower and the larger bloom in all of its beauty. The bloom is also perched upon larger petals, or leaves, that keep it afloat above the waters from which it grew. A lotus is a complex living remind

The lotus is an aquatic perennial plant that lives in flooded fields or ponds and returns to bloom year after year. It is aquatic in the sense that it requires an environment of water to grow. It is a perennial in the sense that it regrows year after year and its seeds can create flowers and beauty, even after hibernation. But the lotus is so much more than an aquatic perennial plant. The lotus begins its life deep under water, in regions where the water is still on the surfa