Yoga

My personal experiences on and off the mat

Bringing Yoga to the LBGTQ+ Community

accidental goddess1 Comment

I recently had an opportunity to represent a local yoga non-profit organization at a Pride Festival in Apex, NC. I’ve worked with You Call This Yoga as their website manager for many years and I believe in their mission to bring free, accessible yoga practices to people who:

  • Might not have access to yoga  (can’t afford it, can’t get to classes)
  • Think yoga is not for them  (not my community, my age group, my body type)
  • Believe they can’t do it (not flexible enough, can’t get up and down off the mat)

Continue reading →

Teaching Yoga on Zoom: My Path to Acceptance

accidental goddess8 Comments

At the start of 2020, I was teaching two yoga classes at a local dance studio and was about to start a new weekly series for Duke University employees. My calendar was as full as I liked it, with room for other yoga gigs that periodically came my way. This all came to a  Covid-19 dead stop in March. Pandemic-mania meant time for me to take a break. I was not interested in moving my classes online, either with YouTube videos or scheduled Zoom sessions. I felt the Internet was already flooded with good content, much of it affordable or free. I thought “I’ll just wait it out, resume in-person classes when the situation improves.”  Are you laughing along with me?

Teaching yoga at home
On my mat in my “Butterfly Yoga Studio”

By the end of April, the situation was not anywhere near improving and I found that I missed teaching yoga. I missed having a weekly commitment that kept me pro-active and involved — devising new sequences, considering modifications, researching and learning. Most importantly, I REALLY missed my students. I capitulated, purchased a basic Zoom account, and emailed announcements to my local students.

My first class was April 29th and, except for holidays, it has continued weekly. Having spent many hours on conference calls in my corporate life, the Zoom learning curve was short and, luckily, I’ve had very few technical difficulties. But, the teaching experience has been VERY DIFFERENT, in both good and bad ways.
Continue reading →

Bringing Serenity to Your Mat

accidental goddess7 Comments

Did you know… that yoga is not just a physical exercise program that you might choose in place of other gym offerings like kick boxing, weight lifting, or Zumba?

Yoga Prayer FlagsIf you delve in the history and philosophy of yoga, you will find that it is much more than the body-centered approach (Hatha yoga and its spin-offs) that has become immensely popular in our society. Yoga can be traced back 5000 or more years with ancient texts such as the Rig Veda, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gîtâ, and Patanjali’s Yoga-Sûtras.

Like the Bible and other sacred texts written so long ago and in a different language, our modern English interpretations vary.  I am most familiar with Patanjali’s definition of yoga as an eight-limbed path that can lead to enlightenment. It includes asana (the poses) as only one of the limbs.  It can get complicated.
Continue reading →