The Big 6 Restorative Poses — a gift of self-love
All of life is a journey. We are carried along at life’s pace, whether we choose to run or sit still. Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson, Hunters of Dune The first half of my life, I spent my time…
The Big 6 Yoga Poses
Many years ago while I was beginning to practice at an Intermediate level, my Iyengar teacher of the day shared with me these six poses. His implication being — if you struggle with developing a consistent home practice, you could…
3 Poses for Peace
As Remembrance Day nears, I am reminded to give thanks to those peace-keepers who served and are still serving Canada. Whether on this shore or internationally, these individuals are in service to their nation, their families, their friends and their…
Restorative Yoga for Opening & Strengthening Your Heart
As yogis, we learn that physical sensations of tension or tightness indicate where in our bodies we hold pain and suffering. Alas, when we suppress our emotions, they don’t disappear, never to be seen again. Suppressed emotions are stored in…
Restorative Yoga for Everyday Enlightenment
The journey of enlightenment is a journey of the mind: from a focus on the body to a focus on spirit, from a limited sense of self to an unlimited sense of Self, from a sense of separateness to a…
Restorative Yoga for Pain & Suffering
Regular and steady blood supply is essential for good physical health. Eastern medical traditions suggest that the mind is the driver of subtle energy in the body and that blood follows that energy. If the mind is clogged (neurotic, anxious, upset), it…
Restorative Yoga for Relieving Sinus Congestion
Those of us with vulnerable respiratory systems need to be vigilant during flu seasons, and the past 18 months of COVID have amplified and extended this time of risk. The yoga sequence that follows is designed to cleanse the respiratory…
Restorative Yoga for Spinal Stiffness or Injury
When the world around us, both close at hand and globally, feels as though it is shattering, it can only mean one thing. An ending of some magnitude is upon us. Endings signal loss, which can often trigger fear. However,…
Restorative Yoga for Forgetting and Remembering
I recently read The Yield by Tara Winch, in which she explored the “trauma of remembering and forgetting.” The book’s protagonist battled two challenges — what she refused to forget and what she endeavored, no matter how difficult, to remember.…
Restorative Yoga to De-Stress
Arguably, two of the most well-known quotes are those of Albert Einstein and Mahatma Gandhi. Einstein reminded us that when we continue to repeat the same mistakes (war–Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc.) but expect different outcomes (peaceful co-existence), we are investing our…
The Politics of Power
This past weekend, good friends listened to me ranting about political parties that feel they can only succeed with “majority rule”, and using such rationale to call an election with two years of their mandate still remaining. What happened to…
Big Events = Big Awakenings = Big Results
Painting by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov Given the chaotic change and heightened stress of the past 18 months, one could arguably say what’s bigger than a COVID pandemic into its fourth wave. I suspect that the drought-induced pestilence (i.e., grasshoppers, war,…