"We think that the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart." — Pema ChödrönA few months ago my 15-year-old dog rather suddenly became ill and I made the very difficult decision to end his suffering.  It was heart breaking and mysterious. One moment he was looking up at me,

Often habits are what define the tone and texture of life.  They influence our choices on levels both conscious and unconscious and can be the driving force behind success and contentment or repeating cycles of futility and frustration.  We bring our habits with us onto our mats every time we practice.  Although frustrating at times, ultimately it is our receptivity and willingness to

One of my favorite authors, Ram Dass, in his lecture Cultivating The Heart Of Compassion, describes the ego-body complex as a space suit. Much like astronauts who need space suits to walk on the moon, the ego acts like our space suit for our awareness or soul or pure-mind, while we are exploring this plane of existence. I have always found this analogy to be useful since it clearly contrasts the functional,

The Potential Of Sunyata or EmptinessSunyata is a Sanskrit word that is generally translated into English as emptiness. Sunyata is the noun form of the adjective "sunya" which means "empty" or "void" (derived from the root "svi", meaning "swollen"), plus -ta -ness, making empty (- ness) or voidness. The idea behind the word makes reference to unbounded openness or a hollow or womb pregnant with unlimited

From the continued meltdown of the financial sector to the trillions spent on bailouts and stimulus packages, foreclosures, Ponzi schemes, death panels, incessant talk of healthcare reform, homegrown terrorists, H1N1 hype and the death of Michael Jackson, 2009 has felt like a very long meandering drive down a poorly maintained, winding mountain road in the dark. One word stands out in my mind...calamity.

Anything that we do on a regular basis can begin to feel stale after a while. Anyone that has been in a relationship can attest to this. The energy that ignites the spark in a friendship or romantic relationship can grow cold with time. Sometimes we lose sight of what it was that generated our interest in the first place; other times we take aspects of our loved one for granted. We may also become

Several years ago I took a group on a retreat to Costa Rica. During one of the group discussions, the issue of suffering emerged as a topic. It was fascinating to witness how difficult it was for the majority of participants to “admit” that they experienced meaningful suffering in their day-to-day lives. Many students only seemed capable of defining suffering in terms of issues like

There was a time, early on in my spiritual development, when I thought there might be answers to the big questions presented by the serendipity of a conscious mind. As an adolescent the BIG questions, for me, perpetually centered around my own mortality. It wasn’t necessarily the death of my physical body that disturbed me so much as it was the existential crisis presented by the emptiness seemingly

What moves us, what inspires us, what in our experience of life provides us with the spark to transcend? No matter how much or how little we have, the inherent repetition of life can dull our appreciation for its singular beauty. Sometimes we are jarred awake by tragedy or catastrophe and become painfully aware of living in the present. Other times the majesty of nature or the deep sense of belonging

Recently the CDC released research into the trend towards obesity in both adults and children in the USA ( cdc - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/2009.2014). The prevalence of obesity has been steadily increasing in the USA since the mid-1970’s. Today more than a third of the population is battling obesity and its associated illnesses of heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

There was a time, early on in my spiritual development, when I thought there might be answers to the big questions presented by the serendipity of a conscious mind. As an adolescent the BIG questions, for me, perpetually centered around my own mortality. It wasn’t necessarily the death of my physical body that disturbed me so much as it was the existential crisis presented by the emptiness seemingly

Effects of Hatha Yoga Practice on the Health-Related Aspects of Physical FitnessTen healthy, untrained volunteers (nine females and one male), ranging in age from 18–27 years, were studied to determine the effects of hatha yoga practice on the health-related aspects of physical fitness, including muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, cardiorespiratory fitness, body composition, and pulmonary

With the start of a new year it is important to restate the intention or meaning behind the practice of ashtanga yoga.   The practice is meant to sharpen the razor of discrimination. With sustained practice we develop razor-like attention that can be used to slice through karmic attachments both latent and active.  The discrimination developed enables one to see through the four primary forms

Q: Why don’t you talk philosophy more when you teach? Don’t you think it would be helpful to give students an idea of what they should be focusing on or thinking about while they are practicing?A: A Yoga practice is like a Rorschach inkblot test in action. It is important to give students plenty of time to really sink into the thickness of their own thoughts. As they do this they will