Refine your practice: understanding sthira and sukha

June 27, 2014 in Blog

Refine your practice: understanding sthira and sukha

Explore yoga’s “yin and yang” concept the next time you’re on the mat

One of the fundamental concepts behind good yoga practice comes from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, a source text for many of today’s popular styles of yoga. In the Yoga Sutras, the sage Patanjali defines the physical postures of yoga (called yoga asana) this way: Sthira sukham asanam (2.46), which is commonly translated from Sanskrit to read “Asana is a steady, comfortable posture.

”In other words, every yoga pose should be done with the qualities of both steadiness (sthira) and comfort (sukha), effort and ease.… Read the rest

When Yoga Works

May 12, 2014 in Blog

When Yoga Works

by Jill Sockman

How content are you with things as they are? If you’re at all like me, it depends very much on the day (and how connected I am to my practice). Generally speaking, I think I can say with confidence that the closer the external circumstances align with the internal “how things should be” compass, the happier we are, right? Hmmm. So, what about the other 360 days of the year?

I have been both the recipient and sharer of this teaching on many occasions. The Yoga is working when we are content and at peace with life (on the inside and the outside) regardless of circumstance. … Read the rest

Our one true constant – the breath

April 2, 2014 in Blog

Our one true constant – the breath

by Jill Sockman

I had a new experience this week as I tried my hand as human voodoo doll. I’m kidding (I think) but that’s a little bit what I felt like after my first session of a technique (torture) called dry needling.

For the uninitiated, after the session, I described it this way: if you’ve ever had an acupuncturist hit an especially zing-y spot, multiply that sensation by 27 and then imagine her jabbing the spot over and over then carefully selecting a dozen more locations to do the same thing. Mid-treatment, I turned to my physical therapist and asked, rhetorically, how anyone could possibly tolerate this who didn’t know how to breathe.… Read the rest

It begins

February 6, 2014 in Blog

It begins

My blue family,

At about this time every year, I silently (or not so silently) ask the question, “why do we do this?” It’s usually followed by a short list of reasons why a fundraising event of this magnitude is really out of our scope and is, therefore, driving us out of our minds. But that small and whiny voice is always drowned out by the deeper, stronger, louder, and truer voice that answers, “we do this because we can.”

In the words of Albert Einstein,

“Every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”… Read the rest

The Power of a Moment, or Saving the World Through the Transcendent Bliss of the Whoopee Cushion

January 24, 2014 in Blog

The Power of a Moment, or Saving the World Through the Transcendent Bliss of the Whoopee Cushion

by Kathleen Yount

It was one of those moments. Somehow, my eight-year-old niece got her hands on a whoopee cushion. (Yes, they do still make those things.) After a variety of attempts, she successfully slid it under her uncle as he sat down in his chair, and she lit up laughing as he landed.

Well, we were all laughing, but my niece’s face was completely transformed by delight. I’ve seen her in this state before, other too-rare moments where she’s in full-on joy mode (and to be clear, it’s not always related to passing gas).… Read the rest

This is your life. Right now.

January 2, 2014 in Blog

This is your life. Right now.

byÂ Jill Sockman

I love to cook, and over the years have gotten pretty good at it. Â No one ever “taught” me how to cook, I absolutely cannot be bound to using a recipe, and the big downside, according to friends and family, is that you’ll never enjoy the same meal twice.Â Â But believe me when I tell you, I got it wrong pretty regularly before I started getting it right. Â As we start a new year and I begin another journey around the sun, I’m struck by how what happens in my kitchen is some kind of metaphor for my journey in life.… Read the rest

Put the Phone Down

November 1, 2013 in Blog

Put the Phone Down

by Jill Sockman

I grew up in a home where the phone was considered a tool – or an appliance maybe. Not unlike an oven or a drill, it had a purpose, generally work-related, and otherwise one should leave it alone. Time chatting on the phone was limited, and even as a teenager I was not permitted to have a phone in my bedroom. In fact, I clearly remember my disciplinarian father telling me (in no uncertain terms) that the phone was NOT a toy. My, how times have changed.

Fast forward to the present. During training last week, I was staying in a cabin, on a ranch about halfway up the mountain from Carbondale to Redstone, Colo. … Read the rest

Step outside the Kingdom of Comfort

September 1, 2013 in Blog

Step outside the Kingdom of Comfort

by Jill Sockman

So, here’s a little question for you. How much are you missing out on in order to stay warm, stay dry, stay safe or stay comfortable? I’m beginning to realize that the older I get, the more I just might be missing.

There was a time in my life when adventure was de rigueur. I was pretty uninterested in comfortable, as it generally meant *boring*! While I suppose there are elements of maturity and practicality at play here, there are also elements of complacency, fear, laziness and wayyy too much time spent in my comfort zone.… Read the rest

Deciding for your highest and best interest

August 3, 2013 in Blog

Deciding for your highest and best interest

by Jill Sockman

So, I was giving some thought to how we make decisions. In personality tests, this process is often broken down into two categories: intellectual/factual or emotional/intuitive. As I understand it, most of us have a primary method (one or the other) as the place from which we decide.

I’d like to add another element, continuing on from my ramblings last month. How many of our decisions are truly decisions and not just default reactions? How many things do we do without much mindfulness or introspection? And even more, how many of our choices are based on erroneous beliefs and patterns of behavior (samskara!)… Read the rest

Get out of your groove

July 2, 2013 in Blog

Get out of your groove

by Jill Sockman

Yoga classes, magazine articles, songs on Spotify…everyone’s talking about letting go. What the heck does that mean? And how are you supposed to do it?

Whatever it is that you are holding on to — and the list of possibilities is long: childhood baggage, unforgiven hurts, unhealthy habits, toxic relationships, I could go on and on — chances are good that you didn’t pick it up last week. Part of the holding on is, itself, a habit. And a habit takes time to really cement into your way of being.

So you recognize that you’ve got something tight in your fist (or your mind or your heart) that is holding you back.… Read the rest

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