Downward Dog Style: Livin’ in a Cardboard Box
I jumped ship on my yoga studio recently; the change happened so fast: one week I was doing what I normally do, taking classes that fit my schedule in a space that is so familiar it’s like a home away from home, and the next, not so much. It feels sort of like a break-up,...
Downward Dog Style: Don’t Miss This…a BBQ, a Wild Boar and Yoga
“Don’t miss this.” These words, this phrase: whispered, yelled out, barked, snarled, growled, simply stated, clearly and authoritatively, in a yoga class. What do they mean? I’ll elaborate to provide some context…don’t miss even one single second, focus on this very minute of your life, this exact moment. With whatever the tone of voice these...
Downward Dog Style: Take Yoga Back?
“What we’re trying to say is that the holistic practice of yoga goes beyond just a couple of asanas [postures] on a mat. It is a lifestyle, and it’s a philosophy,” Sheetal Shah, senior director at the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) says. NPR aired a story last Wednesday morning, “To Some Hindus, Modern Yoga Has...
Downward Dog Style: Karma’s a Bitch?
Lately, I’ve been spending a significant amount of time thinking good thoughts. Just trying my damndest to put greatness into the world. Through my actions too, of course, but my brain has been overflowing with warm, fuzzy stuff. This weekend, despite the fact that Saint Pat’s celebrations left quite a mark on the streets, I...
Downward Dog Style: Ninety Minutes to Grace(land?)
Oh my, what a difference a few weeks can make. There were far too many moments in January and February when all I could think about was problems. And when all you can do is think about problems, more and more creep up at every turn. Because it’s about headspace and projection and mindset, isn’t...
Downward Dog Style: Luxe Yoga Gear—An Oxymoron?
“And we care about this why?” is the question of some random woman on the New York Times Facebook page alongside a photo of Angelina Jolie wearing Atelier Versace on the Oscars red carpet Sunday evening. I like to think I have the answer: the reason we care is because fashion is art. Design is...
Downward Dog Style: Upward or Downward Spiral?
Ever notice how when you’re going through some sort of problem, experiencing some sort of trouble or crisis, everywhere you turn that trouble is like a burning light shining straight into your eyes. Every news story, magazine article, radio broadcast, every conversation overheard at work, in the grocery store, on the street. Friends bring it...
Downward Dog Style: Face of a Joke on the Body of a Truth
Ahhh, the adopted persona…everybody’s got some sort of shtick. Maybe you’re a “that’s what she said” guy or you make funny noises a lot to entertain people. You like to pull quarters out of people’s ears or can switch hit between foreign accents for hours on end. There are tons of occasions when the shtick...
Downward Dog Style: Is Ouija in Charge?
It’s newly twenty-twelve, and I am already sensing a trend for the year. Apparently, serious reflection is going to be the MO for the coming months. And I’m finding, in just less than thirty days, this modus operandi is slowly becoming a detriment to me. In other words, I’ve been handing out quite a self-inflicted...
Downward Dog Style: Yoga Rocks the Butte
It always strikes me as odd when people on the Front Range have never visited the Western Slope. Are you kidding me? We’re still talking Colorado here. You’ve been to the Springs and not the western slope? Hmm…you may need a bit of an attitude, err, altitude? adjustment. The western slope is the prettiest part...
Downward Dog Style: New Habits or a New Start on Old Habits?
It’s almost the New Year. Twenty twelve. The end all, be all? Either way, it’s time for making goals, resolutions, plans. Whatever you call them, it’s a time for thinking about the previous year and the present moment. The changes necessary to make whatever you said was going to happen, happen, or whatever you said...
Downward Dog Style: Intuitive Knowingness & Pure Happiness—Can it be Yours this Holiday Season?
Are you genuinely happy? Ask yourself. It’s an important question to pose any time, any season. It seems somehow especially, though not more, poignant to ask it around the holidays, at the start of a new year when change or goals or plans might be welcome, may be necessary, are likely intimidating yet undoubtedly (or...
