Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"Come to the point where you make the choice to let go and just be as you are."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class: 
"When this practice becomes an offering to something bigger than yourself, and it can also be just to yourself as a gift, it's so much sweeter; you have so much more energy because it is a gift, an offering."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"Every day we can use a reminder that we are in charge of our state of being, our innermost state."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class: 
"It's 8 o'clock in the morning. Do you know what your arms are doing?"

Yoga Dose

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"For sure, this practice is your creation. You are creating your life, you are creating an environment to experience now beneath your skin."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class: 
"Allow this practice to be playful. If it is not fun, it will not last for long."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class: 
"These postures are obviously a way to wake the body up. They are also a way to wake ourselves up into what we are doing and how we are being."

Transformation Starts Within

The video below details the progression of a disabled veteran who had nearly given up hope on his life as he heals his own body-mind and spirit, restores his will, learns to walk again and loses 140 lbs - through a yoga practice. Given that it was posted online only two days ago and already has nearly one million views, it's obvious that his message is needing to be heard by many.

I find this video particularly inspiring for a number of reasons. First and foremost, through this video log, this man is demonstrating how there is much more to what he is doing than exercise in that a committed practice can heal and empower the whole being. He also demonstrates that healing requires constant dedication, practice, commitment, effort, faith and compassion to overcome the challenges that he faces. He is also touchingly honest about his process and compassionate with himself in recognizing that it takes a lot of work, patience, baby steps, half-starts, tumbles and failures as he transforms his life. 


His message is clear, "Never, Ever Give Up." The icing on top is that he started on this path at 47 years old!

Yoga Dose

Thanks for the reminder.

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others."
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"When you take on this practice, begin with a baseline of speaking supportively to yourself at all times. Start and end there and from there you will have a system, a body, a cell structure that is nothing but nourishment."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class: 
"How beautiful it is that we get to feel the action of this body, the effort of this body, and that it always leads us to the heart, every time."

Yoga Dose

"We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It's just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy."

― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart: Heartfelt Advice for Difficult Times

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"Let every posture be a vehicle, a way to honor the body and what the body needs. Let the practice be a way to really listen to our truth and be in alignment with that."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
Practice in such a way that you're not just hanging out in your muscles, you're using them to your advantage."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"With all due respect to the yoga practice... Remember. All of this stuff was just made up by someone, many different people who practiced, listened, experimented and explored. They were not unlike you. You have this capacity."

Yup, Even Bears Gotta Move

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"No matter what happens in your life, this practice will always be here for you, to support you, to make you stronger, to make you healthier, to make you wiser, to make you feel better."

Yoga Dose

Heard in Class:
"It doesn't matter if you're a little off balance. You'll probably learn a little more if you are off balance."