I can understand and appreciate the importance and magic of having a teacher transmit the information to you directly after years of studies. Keeping sacred texts safe and secured so its teachings would not be diluted. The image of students dedicating hours and years of their lives to serve and follow a teacher or guru, so they can obtain knowledge, wisdom and inner peace is fascinating to me. I believe that having that personal connection and feeling of unity was and still is a gift of its own.

I can also appreciate how some things have changed in today’s world. Even though some of us still strive to find a teacher and guru that would guide us in our personal quest for wisdom and inner peace, thanks to the web; many of us have endless information at the tip of our fingers. We can easily access information about yoga, different schools and lineages, meditation techniques, pictures and meanings of mudras and the list goes on. We can even read the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita online. Of course this does not replace the guidance of a teacher, but it sure helps to support anyone’s efforts during their personal growth.

Thanks to the web and social media, the way we teach yoga and practice together is even changing. I never imagined that people across the globe could come together and practice yoga from the comfort of their homes. Sounds crazy right? Well think again.

Recently, I joined a new online movement that is bringing yoga and other health and wellness classes to everyone across the globe. What is fascinating to me is that now the possibilities are endless. This new way to connect with like-minded people has changed the way I can now teach and practice yoga LIVE with anyone in the world.

My goal has always been to inspire others and to make a difference in people’s lives and the world in a daily bases. I feel that I am doing that with my daily local classes and trainings but I never imagined that the key word “WORLD” would bring this new concept into my life. The fact that we can see each other, talk and interact using our computers as we practice yoga is something remarkable.

I still love having that human contact, going to yoga classes and studying with my teacher but I also embrace the opportunity to reach new heights in my teachings and thanks to the advances in technology the SKY is the limit!

I would love to see you in cyberspace and practice yoga together. You can come to my online live classes or watch the recordings later at www.learnitlive.com/adrikyser. Learn it live is offering a free Health and wellness symposium February 20^th -26^th and we would love to have you there. I will be teaching a Special Class “Cultivating Awareness to Bring Balance in your Life” on Feb 24^th at 7 pm EST. I hope to see you there.

Ah, the holidays are in the rear-view, and I’ve had lots of time to simmer and shine, lots of tears, exuberance, teaching, breakthroughs, run-ins. I always say that my mat — our mats — are the laboratory, the surfboard, the life raft, the magic carpet, from which we have the opportunities to work through all the things that get thrown at us — good, challenging, ugly, spirited. It’s the same in real life i suppose. The difference i think is that the mat, and the safety of that environment, gives us the freedom to fall apart, get confused, lost, and then found again — rather like Hansel and Gretel with the crumbs along the path, finding our way back to home base.  Or maybe Humpty Dumpty. But enough of obvious fairy tale metaphors.

It would be disingenuous of me, as both a practitioner and teacher, to sit on a pedestal and proclaim capital T truth, as though I still don’t occasionally fall to my knees in tears, praying for clarity and insight, kindness and release — loving compassion even in the face of really hard choices and challenges. I do not believe that as yogis, it is our job to hold ourselves above our students, proclaiming Truth, Love, Wisdom and Beauty, without having also dredged up the darker aspects of ourselves, and come out on the other side; we are works in progress.

I try to latch onto universal themes in my work — speaking to the broader ideas that bind us together in the human experience. In showing up with this willingness to be vulnerable and offer up whatever small insight I may have, I gain SO much from my students, who share their experiences and breakthroughs with me in turn. A true teacher is a  student — tasmai shri.

The thing is, ‘fear’ is still something many of us seem to contend with (or at least I do), in one form or another. Fear of: failing, succeeding, falling, work, love, loss, pain, hardship…we work so hard on (and off) the mat to dispel these things, to hold them at bay. On the other hand, we often struggle with abundance, in a converse way: acceptance of what is, of the affirmations around us. I am continually amazed at small interactions that happen daily in my life — a conversation about a journey; a small gift of appreciation; a hug from someone who I may have helped; the way I feel when I close my eyes and drum.  All reassurance that my own ‘what if’s’ are being answered. Sometimes grace is obvious, sometimes it is subtler, like a song that makes me cry, or the way a room full of students just breathes all at once, in release. Being moved by nuance.

In buddhism, pain is part of living; suffering a choice. so the goal then, is not to hold these things at bay after all, but to live in and through them. How to accept and choose to NOT suffer as a consequence of some of these fears, is the million dollar question.

I ask myself if this is what or where I’m meant to be. Applying for that oh-so-elusive McJob last week is SO not where I WANT to be, but keeping food on the table is an important consideration for a single mom just trying to provide. So I try to create space around this idea of ‘abundance’, letting it come, but fear creeps in occasionally, in the form of ‘how will I pay that traffic ticket?’, or ‘will I ever be able to afford that tiny fixer upper?’, or even ‘what’s for dinner?’. Every time i show up to teach, i am reminded that THAT is where I’m meant to be, despite not living a rockstar’s life or even the roadie-of-a-rockstar’s life, or even the gardner-of-a-roadie-of-a-rockstar’s life. you get the idea. Fluctuating between gratitude that at least I found this thing — this purpose — and worry that it’s not going to sustain us.

So then the question becomes ‘How long can I hold out?’ In a world of  young(er) hipsters leaving for india, thailand, retreats, immersions and other things I cannot presently afford, when i’m merely trying to sustain myself, my kids, and this road I’ve chosen to tow. ‘We are exactly where we are meant to be’, frankly pisses me off at times. I thought I’d be more ‘comfortable’ by now, not in a complacent or entitled kind of way, but in a ‘I’ve earned it’ kind of way. And so I keep going, because that’s all I know, and for the first time in my life, my work isn’t ‘work’; it’s a gift. It gives to me, and I give to it. Owning my own studio? Teaching larger events? Gaining wider recognition? Sure, that would be great. But then I always come back to what it is that brought me here: my love of connecting with people where they are.

Last week one of my students, a wiser lady, said “Wendy, you are a great yoga teacher, sure — but I think your true gift is more about letting people get comfortable with being themselves.” That insight was so deep and resonant for me, because I think she’s right. I teach, I sing, I dance, I tell stories, I laugh, I cry, I’m a goofball….and that’s yoga to me. Allowing others to simply come into the room and be whoever they need to be, is really what it all comes down to, for me.

About the Author

Wendy Devore,  RYT200, Level 2 Stott Pilates Trainer, AFAA PT,  brings with her over 15 years of experience in the fitness, pilates and yoga industry. Her dance/performance background, and love of music, kirtan and drumming, helps her bring a uniquely fun and energetic flavor to all her classes, so that students of all fitness levels and ages really enjoy their practice.

Wendy’s primary focus in the last 10 years has been in the area of mind/body work, and functional core training. She utilizes whatever tools she has, and incorporates these into her classes so that her students are always challenged.

“As an educator and teacher, I try to inspire and motivate my clients and students in a positive way, to reach their life goals through consistent training and practice, striving for a balance between mind and body.” - Wendy Devore

Click here to visit her website and learn more!

You can only get this from being in contact with the Earth.  Being barefoot is the best but we know that isn’t always an option so check out Juil Sandals with their Energy Flow Technology that keeps you connected to the Earth. The following article was written by Roy H. Lidtke, DPM, CPed, FACFOAM.

Click here to visit Juil’s website and shop today!

Yes you read correctly. 108 years…but I shouldn’t say “old.” She is 108 years YOUNG!

(Note: I was not allowed to show Katherine’s photo so instead I’m sharing the above photo of the oldest woman ever, Jeanne Calment, at her 122nd birthday party. Jeanne Calment exhibited many of the characteristics of which you are about to read.)

108 year young Katherine wasn’t just special, she was one of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met…

While there are definite signs her body is starting to disconnect from her soul (including loose dentures that made it hard to understand her), Katherine has the vibrancy of a young child.

Squirming around, flirting, a glimmer in her eyes, a passion to meet, share, taste…she’s squeezing every possible ounce of a life that began way back in 1903.

Born in South Dakota before it became a state, Katherine had a radio talk show, and moved to New York City because she wanted the big city experience.

She’s still frisky as a teenager. When the social worker put his hands on her asking, “Do you want to lie down?” she retorted, “Are you propositioning me?” HA!

Seriously, there were sparks flying off this woman.

She truly loves being alive.

I want to share with you with some lessons learned in my brief but unforgettable meeting with this 108 year young wunderkind:

1. ROCKY POWER

Katherine is now homebound on a 3rd story walkup apartment in NYC’s Upper East Side. Her priorities include human contact, sweets (ie cupcakes), sharing rich memories, and a sense of humor.

She has earned the right to live deep into life because she enjoys it. 

She struck me as the type who wouldn’t let anything hold her back or keep her down, which might explain why she was married 5 times.

Now this doesn’t mean leave your spouse.

Rather, it means, like Rocky Balboa,  take life by the goddam horns, never stay down for too long, and get after it!

A wise one said, “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.“

2. TRUST YOUR JOURNEY

As goes the quote, “We are not humans on a spiritual journey, but rather spirits on a human journey.”

And you really got that sense from Katherine, like she was the last soul from a pack who ran around the earth for quite some time and left her behind because she demanded it!

She has lived an active life, a rich journey, and loves to share her moments and memories. The ups and downs, highs and lows.

And she seems to inherently TRUST people. When we walked in the door, such was Katherine’s excitement, that she threw her arms in the air as if to signal “TOUCHDOWN!!!”

3. STAY RELEVANT

I recall one moment when she shook her hair (even at 108, she has a funky short hairdo) on her head in a fashionable way that struck me as a throwback to what must have been en vogue in the 1920’s.

Katherine knows what’s going on in the world around her, she still likes to put on her makeup, she’s still cool!

Sometimes as we get older, we dismiss trends, movements, technologies.

A huge lesson from Katherine. Stay in the game, stay curious, keep your finger on the pulse. 

If you could use a little of this 108 year old’s vitality, consider jumping off with me on an odyssey: my Livin the Moment 2012 program.  Our rallying cry will be a line that best summarizes Katherine approach. I should also mention it’s a line from a cheesy Disney movie, and God knows I’m a sucker for cheesy movies:

“Put life in front of you and run at it!”

If you’ve been knocked down in life, if you feel that your regrets overshadow your dreams, if you are always looking over your shoulder and being chased by your fears, doubts, and worries…

…this 12 month journey will inspire you to turn around and seek freedom FOR life, not from it!

I’ve been sharing my Livin the Moment message and developing and practicing this philosophy for over 13 years and by joining me on this mission to take back your life, you have my absolute commitment that we are going to strip off the darkness and stoke the fire igniting a 2012 filled with passion, pleasure, and presence!

Take advantage of the early registration price by visiting here today and joining me for Livin the Moment 2012

Let’s Rock 2012!

Namaste,

David Romanelli

“I love my life.”

How do you feel when you hear someone say that? Do you feel like, “Yeah, me too!”?

Or do you feel envious? “How arrogant! Where do you get off lovingyour life? Especially when mine stinks.”?

Recently I ran into someone who asked me what was going on in my life. I told them I was just about to be on Good Morning America and was very excited about that. They didn’t say congratulations or ask me any other questions. Instead of being happy for me, their thoughts turned to, “What am I doing wrong with my life?”

I felt like I had been in a time-warp and was looking at an earlier version of myself. I may not have ever said that out-loud but I used to think that way. Back in my twenties and early thirties, I lived much of my life that way. Someone else’s success or joy meant less for me.

What a myth!

Thankfully I found yoga and Wayne Dyer and my calling in life and I no longer feel such lack. In fact, one of my mission statements is to serve and give back as much as I humanly can. This involves helping others thrive even when—especially when—they are in the same exact field as mine. It’s funny because (and here’s a little secret of mine) the more I do that, the more show up for me. Mostly it was fear that had stopped me, and most people, from truly living in this way. But once I opened the floodgates to There is enough for everyone, I started to believe it, teach it, and experience it daily.

OK, so you have reached a place where you feel joy at someone else’s joy. Or maybe you were always that way? Lucky you.

Next point of discussion:

How do you get to the place of “I love my life” when you don’t? How do you get there when you feel like your life has taken a wrong turn?

I teach free yoga for kids with special needs. I started this after my nephew (the rockstar pictured above) was diagnosed with Prader Willi Syndrome, and it cracks me right in half with happiness. One day a few months ago I asked a question I start every kids class with:

What do you love about yourself?

Now, when I pose this question to a room of perfectly healthy adults, I  hear crickets and tumbleweeds roll across the mats. But these amazing kids can’t answer fast enough.

“I love my life!” Jeanie, a blind and severely autistic girl, yelled out before I had even finished the question.

It took me a minute to compose myself; to process the profundity of this little girl—who cannot see a thing, who needs two adults with her at all times—telling me that she loves her life.

That brings me to the next question I ask them:

What are you thankful for right now?

The kids’ answers range from “my parents,” “my Legos,” “music,” “my dog,” “my yoga teacher” (yay!), “my legs,” “the school bus,” and “ice cream,” to “God” and “roller coasters.”

They don’t have to think about it. They have their list ready at all times, both what they love about themselves and what they are grateful for.

So how do you get to the point where you truly love your life?

Here are some ideas that have helped me and my students:
(you may have seen me write about some of these before)

1. Make a Joy List. I do this in many of my yoga classes and ask my students to post it somewhere where they can see it.

2. Create mantras for yourself. We do this in my yoga class, as well. Create a phrase or a word and repeat it as often as needed to replace another mantra that no longer serves you, such as “My life sucks” “I am fat” “I am broke,” etc.

3. Laugh when you fall. It is my rule in my class, but start to apply it to real life as often as you can. Develop a sense of humor. Especially about yourself.

4. Be kind.

5. Be grateful for what you have right now AND for what is on it’s way. Say “thank you” in advance.

6. Forgive yourself for not being perfect. No such thing. As my client’s son Will says, “Mom, why isn’t the word perfect extinct since it does not exist?”

7. Do yoga. On and/or off the mat.

8. Find things to be in awe of.

9. Sing out loud, even if badly. Feel free to come to one of my karaoke yoga classes (that was what I was on Good Morning America for).

10. Write poems, even if only in your head.

11. Dance.

12. If you don’t have anything nice to say, you know the deal.

13. Tell someone that you love them. Yes, right now.

14. Take more pictures.

15. Watch Modern Family.

So there you have it, just a few simple ideas, so that you can really own saying “I love my life!”

If these ideas don’t work, come with me next time I teach my kids and ask them—they seem to have it figured out.

Click here to read the original article

I have had so much kindness displayed to me in my life.

For this I am eternally grateful.

While I was still waitressing at the Newsroom, 5 years ago, my regulars, The Simons, came in for lunch as usual. I was upset and they noticed. My nephew Blaise had just been born in Atlanta and there were major complications. He was in Intensive Care (NICU) and was having his brain scanned. I was crying as I was taking their order for Arnold Palmers. I had no money to fly there, I was scared. I got their iced tea-lemonades and came back.

They told me they were sending me to Atlanta.

They did.

I will never forget that act of kindness.

Now that is a big example, but there are lots of small ones. Every time I go in my bank, the tellers all know my name and say hello. It’s like Cheers. Small acts of kindness like this are not small to me at all.

They keep me going.

So back to mean people. Yea, they pretty much suck. And kind people pretty much rule.

And, yes I know that their lack of kindness is coming from a deep well of unhappiness or insecurity or tiredness or because someone else was just lousy to them. So here is my advice to them: take a deep breath in, bite the inside of your cheek if you have to, but, under no circumstances, should you do or say something to tear someone down or to try and make them feel less than.

So what I decided is that to make up for every person who is less than kind I will be extra kind. Take this challenge with me! It feels good. Be kind for no reason. Be kind to a homeless person. Be kind to the person in the car next to you. Be kind with your thoughts. Be kind to yourself.

That, Dear Manifesters, is the essence of yoga to me.

Yoga Sutra II.33 VITARKABADHANE PRATIPAKSABHAVANAM

“In the face of negativity, one should cultivate the opposite view.”

So yea, mean people may suck a little tiny bit.

There may be a moment when you feel like they have sucked the life out of you but you will get back up, with a smile and you will go do something nice for someone or yourself. You will forget about anything else. Your kindness, whether it was given or received, will overpower anything perceived as meanness.

The bottom line really is this anyway isn’t it? If we are to take nothing personally then even “meanness” should go unnoticed.

Yea, I am working on it too.

Oh, and PS, If you are of the “meanies”, here’s a little secret: It is way easier to be kind than mean. And it makes you look cuter!

Keep kindly manifesting your life. One laugh and smile at a time!

She has written a book, is an accomplished singer/songwriter and musician, and is celebrated across the globe as one of today’s greatest yoga teachers. As if that weren’t enough, Alanna recently launched her own teacher training program, the Kaivalya Yoga Method. Since Alanna lead my 200 hour teacher training at Pure Yoga a few years back, I have been her biggest fan. She has the ability to engage her students, make them laugh, and make them see yoga as something that is happening right now, something that we are all capable of. I highly recommend studying with her.

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Alanna and talk to her about the Kaivalya Yoga Method. Check our interview below, and if you are interested in learning more about TKYM, click here. The first program kicks off April 1st in NYC.

Interview w/ Alanna Kaivalya

Michaela Best: First of all, congratulations on the creation of The Kaivalya Yoga Method, what an incredible accomplishment. What was the inspiration behind developing your own teacher training system?

Alanna Kaivalya: Thank you! I’m really excited about this process, which has arisen pretty organically in response to students’ requests that I develop a training and a method for them to study and learn what I’ve learned over the years. Having worked with and developed teacher trainings across the country, I now have an eager body of students who want to be able to take their teachings to the next level. What’s interesting for me is that this process has demanded that I do the same. As I started to think about doing my own training, naturally, I had to figure out what to call it. Then, once I named it, I needed to quantify the specifics of what it would include. While it hasn’t necessarily been easy, it has been effortless, and it seems like that’s the sign that it’s the right time for The Kaivalya Yoga Method to be brought to life.

Michaela Best: That’s so exciting! How does the Kaivalya Yoga Method stand out from other 200-hr programs, and what sort of students would benefit most from participating in it?

Alanna: One of the things that became clear to me over the years was that there is only so much that can really fit in to an initial 200 hour teacher training program. While these programs are great ways to begin a teaching career, the serious teacher eventually needs to get another injection of wisdom and knowledge to take their teachings up a notch. That’s who this training is for – those who’ve been teaching for a while and feel they’ve plateaued and want to develop further their knowledge of anatomy, adjustments, philosophy, sanskrit and sequencing and learn how to tie all these things together into a masterfully artful class backed by substantiated knowledge. What I’m looking to provide is the platform for mastery, understanding and intelligence in teaching. I’m hoping to give the folks in the training what they need to be able to open their eyes to individual students (even in group classes) and truly see what they need to be happier and more free in their bodies and heart.

Michaela: That’s great, there is definitely a need for that sort of refresher. Is the program appropriate for individuals without any prior certification as well?

Alanna: It could be! I’m honestly looking for committed students with a solid history of yoga practice and study. This training will require a kind of “spiritual maturity” because we’re not covering basics, per se. There is an application process so that people will get a feeling of whether this is a good fit for them, and also so that this training can be filled with students who are ready to make a leap into the depths of yoga. What’s important to me at this early juncture is cultivating the right group of individuals – individuals who are interested in teaching yoga and seeing students without boundaries and beyond hierarchy – to help substantiate and grow this method. It’s an important, exciting time, and I can’t wait to develop a team of people in April who are excited about sharing yoga in this uncomplicated and profound way.

Michaela: Yes of course – that leads us right into our next question: what are your visions for the future of the Kaivalya Yoga Method? How do you see this program growing in years to come?

Alanna: My vision is to facilitate the growth and training of responsible, educated and compassionate teachers. The Kaivalya Yoga Method isn’t about creating a formatted kind of experience, but rather giving teachers the foundation and structure they need to create authentic, important and intelligent classes for students informed by the fact that they have the tools they need to live this practice. Maybe most important is this: Yoga is not an external experience. We cannot throw it out to students without having run it through our own bodies and hearts first. It’s not rote or experimental, but rather known and experiential. While each of the TKYM teachers will need to fortify all they learn with me through their own dedicated practices, they’ll have a comprehensive set of tools to be the kind of teachers that help students find more peace and freedom….because they’ve had that experience themselves. It’s an optimistic vision, but one that I believe there is room for. I’m hoping to relinquish hierarchy and dogma in favor of cohesiveness and integrity. I think if these principles are the foundations than the future will be shaped by those on my team – TKYM teachers who can hold space for students to transform and evolve in a responsible, effective and safe way.

Michaela: Fabulous! Anything else you’s like to tell our readers?

Alanna: Just that on the heels of all the hubbub about the recent New York Times article, this seems like a good time for all of us to examine how and why we teach and practice. This kind of inquiry can result in profound insight. I hope to facilitate both the inquiry and the insight with those who study with me, and extend that wisdom to the students whose lives we may have the opportunity to touch. This is an exciting time in our yogic culture. Yoga has taken hold of the west and is here to stay so I think we have to be conscious and cautious of how we continue to make our mark on the world.  This idea brings me back to a quote from one of my favorite movies, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder version) – “We are the music makers, we are the dreamers of the dream.” This is true, and so what dream are we going to create together and how will that music sound? We have this great responsibility as yogis to be those who affect the greater world through our actions because we’re so aware of them, and this awareness is best when fueled with heart and compassion.

Check out this video below to learn more about the Kaivalya Yoga Method:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to learn more about the Kaivalya Yoga Method & to apply today!

People enter yoga through many doors; asana, pranayama, meditation, weight-loss, stress management. The list goes on. It doesn’t really matter which door you walk through or where the path leads, but hopefully, it continues to inspire and transform the yoga that lives inside you — “your” yoga. Your yoga is the one that meets you where you are at any given time. Its wisdom supports you while you play the edges, comforts you when you need soothing, and focuses you when clarity is called for. Your practice isn’t something you achieve, it is something you draw from deep within. It lives inside you.

Recently, I had the privilege of working with a yoga teacher from Chicago. “Bun” has an intelligent yoga practice. He knows his strengths and weaknesses especially since he works with a Femoroacetabular Impingement of his right hip. He has to be careful of internal rotation as it aggressively forces the boney spur on the head of his femur against the cartilage (labrum), wearing it thin. The tissue around the hip itself is moderately weak, and the left hip is considerably tighter due to the extra load it carries.

I prescribed a series of yoga poses to focus on strengthening the tissue around the hip and to create space around the joint. With injuries and physical conditions it’s important to find the right balance of strength, stability, mobility and release. Could Bun simply practice a vinyasa class that would increase his strength and flexibility? Absolutely. Given the understanding he has of his body, he knows what he can do and what to avoid; however, it’s not the the kind of physical practice that directly corrects the imbalance nor brings penetrable consciousness for a lasting change.  The yogi’s way is to tap into the yoga that lives inside. Here’s just a small peak into the yoga that lives inside Bun as of right now. I’ve shown three strength/stability poses and one for mobility/release. Thank you, Bun, for allowing me to share your story.

Single Bent Leg Press at Wall (Strength/Stability)

Stand near a wall and bend one leg at a 90 degree angle. Press the entire outer leg into the wall. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat opposite side. Practice a second set with weakest side closest to the wall.

Utkatasnaa (“Chair” or “Fierce” Pose) with belt (Strength/Stability)

Place a yoga belt around the top thighs and abduct (pull apart) them, trying to break the belt. If the work puts pressure on the knees, place the short edges of a yoga block between the inner ankles for more of a hip distance stance. Hold 30 seconds x 3 sets.

Follow with a “Half Dog” or Uttanasana (Standing Forward Bend Pose) at the wall to release.

Supta Padanghustasana with wall, belts and sandbag (Mobility/Release)

Place one belt around one foot and mid-back, with the leg at a 90 degree angle.

Place a second belt round the opposite foot and the upper thigh of the leg stretched upward. Roll the inner thigh of the stretched out leg toward the floor. Roll the top outer thigh of the leg stretched upward. To give your student a wonderful adjustment to encourage release and space around the joint, standing near your student, straddle your feet around the leg stretched out. Work your outer ankle inside the belt of the leg stretched upward, using the belt and the position of your body to help make space around the tissue and hip line.

Want to learn more about finding your yoga and helping your students find theirs? Join Leeann Carey Yoga in a Yaapana Yoga teacher training to learn more about the power and application of yoga therapy.

Love,

Leeann

Photo: Danny Kim via NYmag

[Written by David Regelin] When I read the headline of the New York Magazine article about me: “You call that a tree pose?!” my heart sank. I immediately sensed that I had been used to promote the growing popular and reactionary trend of yoga skepticism. I actually couldn’t read it all at once, I had to lie down for a bit before finishing as I found it nauseating. The very tone of it is sensationalist and off putting. Practically every quotation has been skewed and taken out of context making it seem as though I am a harsh and bitter teacher who admonishes and scares students as a teaching tool. By the end of the article I was devastated. I honestly found it to be a thoughtless, lazy, and provocatively tasteless ploy to sell magazines.

Dear reader, please, if you took the time to read the article, please do the same with this response and allow me to clarify and defend myself before you allow this false characterization of me to harden in your mind. For those of you who shared the article on Facebook please share this as well. I would like to address some of what was printed and described in what I feel was a skewed and unfair manner, as well as elaborate and give a positive context to what I actually offer as a Yoga teacher.

The article begins: “David Regelin draws his dark eyebrows together into an expression of concentrated disdain”. Oh lord. While I do have thick dark eyebrows, and I certainly concentrate while I am teaching, I am not disdainful of my students, especially with the eight faithful students who showed up to my class on that rainy night over the recent holiday vacation period. “The eight students before him are obediently bent over in ankle to thigh (…I think she meant ankle to knee) …like a flock of Lululemon clad flamingos, but the instructor does not like what he sees”. Altering the position of someone’s yoga posture does not mean that I don’t “like” what I see, It is a formal adjustment and it is not accompanied by a like or dislike,  a correction is not a value judgment. It is purely objective. That I would say “A lot of you think you are good at yoga…but you shouldn’t be coming to class to perform” during an “ankle-to-knee” moment is an incomplete and misleading quotation, and this particular seated pose is very difficult to show off with. In reality while I teach I make my way around the room to help and adjust as many people as I can, I get blocks/blankets etc. for those in need, while describing the geometry, natural form, and function of the given pose. The “red faced middle aged man” that I am supposedly telling “not to perform” is a dear student whom I know well, and that guy is definitely not coming to class to perform for anyone, he gets red sometimes because he works too hard, and he is in class because I give him personal attention whenever he shows up. And I do not admonish him or anyone else who shows up to my class. I do however speak in a very direct and matter of fact way, and I don’t think many people are used to that.

I do now and again crack a joke typically with a dry tone and say things like “you shouldn’t be coming to class to get muscles like mine” which is usually followed up with the zinger “because that would be impossible”. I tell that joke every other class and It’s one of those jokes that’s funny because it’s too arrogant to be taken seriously. It is an attempt to offset the intrinsic confrontational moments in the practice. The “confrontation” I speak of, by the way, is between the student and themselves, not them and I. If I say something to the effect of, “If you want to show off all your best moves then this class is not for you”, it is followed by, “because in this class you have the opportunity to work on that which you can not yet do”. I now place the emphasis of my teaching on technique and form because my goal as a teacher is to give people the tools to develop their own skillful personal practice, as in: “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. And I do think it is all too commonplace and easy for Vinyasa teachers to offer a fleeting workout experience with a fun music playlist. Students don’t know what they don’t know. I want my students to become skillful: skill defined not only as physical ability, but the mental capacity to make distinctions.

When I taught the “Multi-Intenso” class years ago it was a reflection of the diverse practices I had going on at that time: Kundalini Kriyas (sets of Hatha postures typically held for long durations, or with many repetitions, along with intense breath practices, and sometimes chanting), martial art’s, and gymnastic handstands. There are many teachers and students in NY who nailed the handstand and it’s variations in my class back then, and I don’t mind boasting that fact. I played Indie rock and hip hop, almost always the more subtle kind with few or no lyrics. The music was a tool to keep a metronomic pace, entertain people, and even sometimes purposefully distract students during the discomfort of a hip opener such as “ankle to thigh ” and I never, by the way, said “I hate that!” about teachers doing similar, I did, however, say it is a ploy to captivate and entertain students. And I admit that I myself used it as one for years. For the record, music during class is a tool which can be used effectively or not. Most often it is not. I make loops of songs at home to play in class designed specifically for the purposes of the class structure. What I was doing back then worked, in the sense that people came in droves, and I had fun with it. I only taught at one studio, Kula, and I never traveled anywhere or was part of any jet-set. I do travel often now, mostly offering the Vesica Practice, and I use music sparingly as a tool for rhythmic breathing and pacing postural sequences.

Handstand classes with music and long flowing sequences are par for the coarse now, and there is nothing wrong with them necessarily. I have simply moved on. It worked for me then, I was younger and I had a mere 200 hours of training, and hadn’t yet developed my teaching skills. I think it’s fine for young teachers to do that, those classes can be really fun. I do think that nowadays its difficult to find a teacher who is brave enough to come out from behind the overpowering music and actually get in the way of fun and teach something sunstantial. Yoga is in it’s disco era, and it is a little depressing when you are trying to teach to people who just want to boogie down.

I am, to anyone who knows me personally, an introspective person, with a deep yearning for spiritual insight, and was this was long before I discovered Yoga. I’ve always felt spiritually inclined, however, the student base I was attracting with the Multi-Intenso brand was primarily fitness oriented, and while it is not necessarily “non-spiritual” to strive to be fit, I was disappointed because my message was buried under the intensity of the class format. I was also consistently injured from my own overzealous and uninformed practice habits, and I didn’t want to pass that on to my students. Any teacher who gets injured from their practice and does not reevaluate how they teach lacks integrity.  Plain and simple. And people who say that if you practice with the right intention you will not get hurt are ignorant. Don’t get in a car with them at the wheel. Nobody intends to crash, you have to watch where you are headed, adjust your mirrors, and maintain your vehicle.

When I found Nevine I was a wounded soldier of Yoga. I pushed myself and injured myself so consistently that I had begun to wonder if yoga was actually beneficial and transformational, or if it was just an awesome sport. When I began to apply Nevine’s method of centering to my own practice all of that changed. I couldn’t keep it to myself, I couldn’t go on teaching as I had before, I am so much more capable now than I ever was and I used to work so much harder at it. Good form functions.

I changed the name of my class as an attempt to appeal to those who were searching for something mystical, revelatory,  and profound within their Yoga experience. I was showing up to teach, turning down (not off) the music, and asking people to examine the pattern and relationship between the content of their consciousness and that of their own posture, instead of concerning themselves with what the people around them were doing. Many of my Kula students from a certain era were primarily conditioned to work hard and sweat. As my teaching method evolved I had to introduce a new set of terms to my students because I was not offering the same concepts as most popular alignment methods. “Alignment implies measure” -Nobody understood or seemed to care. Finding ones center is not just a sentiment, It is an actual process which at first reveals how off-center one actually is to begin with. Being centered often feels strange because we are all conditioned to practicing/living with our own particular disposition and a new perspective can be revealing and unsettling. The quotation – “yoga is not about performing”, is always qualified by the following statement, – “it is about informing” -a classic Nevine statement. The bodies language speaks of none other than our own thoughts, feelings, and overall state of being. In that way the dialog of Yoga can be informative and transformational. The geometry that I describe is an impersonal and objective way of revealing very personal aspects of ourselves that we might otherwise overlook or avoid without a means of interpreting and linking the relationship between inner and outer form.  As a result of these changes I lost many of my old students. Others praised my evolution and brought their friends to my class who had been scared off by the name or idea of “Multi-Intenso”. The dialog between myself and students after class went from “can I have your playlist” to “can you show me that adjustment again?”.

I have definitely taught classes where in hindsight my vibe was too serious, or where I perhaps addressed one individual to the point where they might have felt picked on. I am still evolving and developing my tact. I also encourage and praise people directly and as a group when they apply themselves or have a breakthrough in their practice, but I am not in the business of handing out gold stars. I want to be clear that I do not use fear tactics or intimidation to motivate or scare anyone into doing as I say, as the article implies, nor do I have a problem with being a teacher and holding the space, or speaking directly with someone. I do not teach yoga postures for the sake of developing a flashy practice, or as part of a dogmatic tradition, or stylistic allegiance. I teach form and pattern, so that people can develop a functional practice that enables good posture, perspective, insight and well being. I’m still working on it. 9 years of teaching is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

The article isn’t all bad, and I don’t mind the photos, but it does paint a harsh picture of me as a teacher and individual. I know the author just wants to get people to read her work, and to sell the magazine she is paid to write for. I also know from speaking with her that she has a limited knowledge of yoga and she did not make any effort to speak with my long time students, or explain in any substantial way the method which I took the time to explain to her, elaborate on my carefully planned sequences, my honest intentions to inform people even if it means that they might not see the value of it for years to come, and the intentional silliness and of my jokes.

I’ve just gotten back from a vacation, and I honestly felt a little jittery as I logged on to facebook to read posts concerning the article. They are of course mixed. The article does not make me seem like a nice guy, and I am a nice guy, but when I teach, I teach. For the record Kula is a wonderful studio and I still promote Schuyler Grant and her teachers. I did have discussions that turned into arguments with some teachers. I am critical of yoga trends because I am invested in the practice, and it is not just a pastime for me. I do not in any way associate my observations or base them on what was printed in the NY times article recently, I won’t even get into how poorly researched and misconstrued that one was. Practice Yoga. Do not underestimate it’s potential for good and harm. Teachers keep upping your skill.

-”The revolution will not be televised, the revolution will take place in your mind when you turn around and take a look at what you have not been shown”. -Gil Scott Heron

www.DavidRegelinYoga.com

Check out David’s classes at NYC’s Katonah Yoga

Read the original NY mag article here

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- Click to see the Pure Yoga studio profile and check out their website for more information -

**NOTE: By entering this contest you will receive an opt-in to subscribe to Pure Yoga’s email list to receive studio news and information on upcoming events and offerings

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About Kirk Hensler

Kirk Hensler was raised in metro Detroit on a steady diet of meat, potatoes and team sports. As a competitive athlete, he relied on his speed, power and dominant attitude to excel. Years later, when he took up martial arts, he was tossed around a sweaty dojo for months by various women and children. One day, while horizontal on the mat, he had the profound realization that their patience and finesse quietly trumped his strength and aggression. This led to an exploration of ancient Eastern philosophies, which, in turn, led Kirk to Taiwan, where he taught English, studied martial arts and ate a lot of delicious and strange street food. When Kirk returned to the US, he began applying what he’d learned to his Western, urban life and to his career as a wellness coach, martial arts instructor, and yoga teacher.

Special thanks to graphic designer Megan Landry, whose website is designtaco.com.

Click here to read the original story on Recovering Yogi.

Like many, I started to practice yoga while I was trying to find relief from stress. My grandmother had gotten ill and I was one of her main caregivers. In addition, my husband was traveling due to his job and my baby had just turned 1, so to say I was over my head it’s an under statement.

I started to suffer from severe back pain and sleepless nights. In my search to find some balance again, I turned into yoga. I remembered growing up and hearing my mom always talked about yoga, metaphysics, holistic health and so on. So I guess some of that stuff stuck with me.

After several months of practice, I started to notice a difference. It not only helped me at the physical level, but it also helped me re-build my confidence, a sense of connection and so much more.

I always had been an outgoing, fun, loving and self-confident girl. Hence why I wanted to become a lawyer. I wanted to make things right and help people…. When I first moved to the US, my English was not the greatest and many people were rude to me. I felt rejected, hurt and like I did not belong. This made me become self-conscious about my accent and the way I spoke and for a period of time, I only relied on my husband to speak for me in public. I had put my law studies on hold, I did not have any friends and I felt lost for the first time in my life.

When I found out that my favorite yoga teacher was moving, she recommended that I registered in a yoga teacher-training program that would start in few months near my house. My first reaction was no way. I was horrified at the thought of teaching and having to speak with my accent in front of strangers. That brought back memories of all those people that were rude to me. I was afraid of being rejected once again for being different. After a lot of consideration, I decided to start the program. I figured I could learn how to teach so I could practice at home without ever having to teach in public.

Well, I guess the Universe had other plans for me. I was offered a job a little before I finished the program and I started to teach ever since

It sounds easy right? Well it was not. I had to get over the fact that someone I respected and viewed as a mentor point blank told me “ You are not good enough”…… That was another blow to my new found confidence.

Thankfully, I cried for few days but then something happened. I got this urge and fire to prove that I was good enough not just to that person but to myself too. I started to do more yoga trainings and I found my great teacher Shiva Rea.

The truth is that not matter what others think, you are the only one that knows the truth. You only know what you want, who you are and where you are going. You are the only one that can follow your dreams and make them happen. There will be roadblocks, barriers and obstacles in your path. It is up to you to choose to fall and give up or figure out a way to get past it, grow and learn from it.

Personally, I choose to learn from my experiences. I may stumble and fall but I make sure I get up, dust off and keep going.

What I learned about myself through this process is that I like to inspire my students; I want to make sure people feel heard and supported. I want people to feel that they are not alone and that is ok to be different. Maybe it is because the way I felt in the past but either way, this is something I truly hold true to my heart.

To me a good teacher is not the one that can do all fancy poses, twist into a pretzel and has the largest classes, for me a good teacher is the one who cares, the one that in a positive way challenges you to grow on and off the mat, the one that inspires you to become a better YOU!

So to all of you out there that ever doubted yourself or doubted if you could become a yoga teacher, please remember that all you can do is be your true self, speak from the heart and have good intentions. Only then good things can happen.

Please enjoy the video below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

“When you follow your bliss, the Universe will open doors where there were only walls”

Learn more about me at www.innerbeautyyoga.com

And don’t get me started on being the recipient of good will. It’s like a permanent and positive imprint on the soul when a person takes the time to share a little niceness. Conversely, think about how rotten it feels to be on the receiving end of ill will.

It’s much easier to be kind and have compassion for someone you like, but it can sure feel like a monumental task when mustering up a little love toward someone you don’t like, or who has wronged you. That’s where Metta, the Buddhist practice of loving-kindness, can help. Metta can have a huge impact on health and well being and there are studies to back this up. Metta signifies friendship and non-violence as well as a strong wish for the happiness of others. It not only develops concentration, but the quality of good will and forgiveness which can seriously tip the scales away from the tendency toward being angry or agitated with another being.

Stanford University research suggests that a short seven-minute practice of Metta can increase social connectedness. A study published in the Clinical Psychology Review show that  loving-kindness meditation (LKM) and compassion meditation (CM) may reduce stress-induced subjective distress and immune response. Neuroimaging research found that LKM and CM may enhance activation of brain areas that are involved in emotional processing and empathy. Loving-kindness meditation has also been shown to reduce pain and anger in people dealing with chronic physical maladies

Speaking from personal experience, practicing Metta meditation has kept my negative emotions in check, brought on a more positive way of thinking and has increased my overall sense of well-being. Each and every time I have chosen to step outside my comfort zone to help a fellow human or even to just empathize with a friend, colleague or student, I have experienced both personal growth and joy.

More importantly, when I am kind to myself it is much easier to be loving toward others. I have learned to move my ego aside during my asana practice. If a child’s pose feels better than an arm balance, I really try to listen to and honor what my mind and body are in need of at that moment.

In her book, Bringing Yoga to Life, Donna Farhi writes that Yoga “can affect deep change only when practiced within a larger context. We shall see that Yoga has less to do with standing on our head than standing on our own two feet and that the physical practices of Yoga remain mechanical gymnastics until transmuted by our intentions to clarify the mind and open the heart.”

Something I practice daily is making deep eye contact with others. Even when I am face-to-face with someone I don’t know, a person in line at the store or maybe a cashier, I look for humanness and it is always easy to see. You’ve heard the adage that the eyes are the window to the soul… It becomes challenging to be annoyed with others when you see they are really just like you. I also try to imagine what it would be like to be in another person’s situation by repeating in my head “what is it like to be her/or him?”

Honestly, it is not always easy being kind and I get derailed pretty regularly. But as Farhi writes, there are “many obstacles and distractions that will undoubtedly rear their heads along the way. These temporary road blocks are predictable and often necessary components of any serious spiritual endeavor. Obstacles offer us an opportunity to rub up against what makes us uncomfortable instead of using our practice as a means of evasion.” She suggests that challenges are not a sign of failure, rather they show us that we are growing and deepening our humanity.

As a yoga teacher, I am constantly scanning the room thinking about the myriad professions and roles of the practitioners in class. Doctors, dancers, athletes, accountants, parents, PhD’s, pharmacists, artists musicians and others. I am see them each as rich souls with multi-dimensional lives. It then feels super easy to offer kindness, respect and compassion

“Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” - Scott Adams

It is the shortest day of the year, and we are only going to get brighter and lighter from here on out. This video offers a fun and uplifting challenge for you to take on this holiday season.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Happy Solstice!

A couple of bucks for the bell ringers, some cans of food for the office drive, a new toy for a child in need, and that end-of-the-year thank you gift for teachers, your letter carrier and the UPS man. All of the giving almost makes up for the mass commercialization that tells us all to spend gobs and ask for a lot of “stuff.” What if we redirected our attention always from the “material stuff” that we want but don’t need and focused our giving efforts year round?

You’ve likely heard the quote by Mahatma Gandhi “We must be the change we want to see in the world.” You might even have the t-shirt. He was a true karma yogi. Karma loosely means action, or duty. Karma Yoga is a spiritual discipline based upon unselfish performance of duty without seeking anything in return or being attached to any outcome. This was Mr. Gandhi’s yoga. He gave-and-gave-and-gave without a thought of what he’d get in return. He did this for most of his life. If he were alive today, he’d give year round. Perhaps we should all take a page from the Mahatma’s giving book.

The average person wastes huge amounts of energy on useless petty arguments, heated discussions about nothing and defending their point of view. That can zap your mental and physical energy and make you feel like you don’t have time for giving. Even if you desire to get behind a good cause, you have no energy left for that work for the greater good to be done. Asana (the physical postures) and meditation can help you find greater clarity, but maybe there’s more.

Gandhi, through the tireless practice of karma yoga, along with other forms of yoga including bhakti and kriya yoga, was able to clear his mind. His mind was on the task at hand, (in a nutshell) bringing fair treatment to the people of India. Gandhi was a perfect example of a man who accomplished great things peacefully and sought no reward. Gandhi saw everything he took on as part of the divine process of the universe.

So to all who practice and teach yoga this is a CALL TO ACTION to move past just the physical discipline and get out there and change some lives. Gandhi was an example of a human being who accomplished great things. If we all follow his lead who knows what we can do for the good of human kind. We just have to get out of our own way and get to work. The possibilities for positive change in our world are infinite.

In the Talmud it says “Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” So, if you don’t know where to begin, here are some suggestions for you to get started volunteering:

-Amnesty International

-ASPCA

-Big Brothers Big Sisterster

-Habitat for Humanity