One of the questions I receive most often from students is, "What yoga can I do from home?" Without hesitation, my answer is always one of two things: 1) Do what you love. Practice what feels good. Whatever will get you to the mat, that's what you should do. When you climb out of bed in the morning and raise your arms overhead with a deep breath in, that counts! Add a stretch to the right and to the left, then bend over towards your toes (Uttanasana) and you have a yourself a

“Health, success, and wisdom depend in great part on the battle between good and bad habits.” It is impossible to be upset while breathing deeply. If I asked you to “get angry,” think about how you'd respond. You’d probably hold your breath or make fists with your hands, clench your teeth, contract your facial muscles, and furrow your brow." You would not likely take the time to think of something that angers you. The body is a much faster vehicle for accessing the emotions.

Who you are is a compilation of the things you do every day. Every single action you take was at first a thought in your mind. When you get up for a drink of water, the thought “I’m thirsty” came first. Meditation reveals our subconscious thoughts, allowing insight into what drives our emotions and behaviours. With introspection, you will find that even seemingly random acts are the product of long-held often deeply engrained beliefs or automated habits. In recognizing and de

I didn’t drive home for Christmas this year; 2017 was a remarkably challenging year, and when December 23 arrived and I was faced with a six-hour trek past Toronto, coupled with daunting weather watches and snow squalls, I just couldn’t do it. It wasn’t an easy choice; staying in Ottawa would mean disappointing family and disrupting some cherished traditions. But it would also mean a handful of desperately needed, sinfully antiquated, schedule-free days of rest. The lure of t

“Be still and know that I am God.” For years I prayed to an external source for help, wisdom, and solutions (in other words, to be rescued). For one particular instance, though, a certain prayer simply wasn’t being answered. I got so sick of being ‘ignored’ that I stopped praying (for about a month) and proclaimed in frustration, “Fine! I’ll do it MYSELF!” Bingo. My prayer was soon “answered.” Truth and wisdom reside within you. But in order for you to hear them, you must be

Printed in Sweat Equity Magazine Dec/Jan 2018 No longer considered an esoteric practice for spiritual devotees, meditation has made its way into our homes, schools, and offices. And although the methods are as varied as the reasons why people meditate, the results are consistent. Research says it’s so! With so many people exploring the practice, scientists have set out to evaluate its benefits—and meditation is empirically demonstrating its power. Here are the Top 3 scientif

“Letting go is the hardest asana.” Anonymous Recently I was asked why I do yoga. The obvious reasons came to mind: it keeps me strong and flexible. It’s challenging, relaxing, and anything else you need it to be. It quenches my thirst for philosophy, language, anatomy, and spirituality. But in reeling off those reasons, I realized none of them capture the real essence of what brings me to the mat, day after day. There are many ways to get strong, toned, and flexible and ma

Printed in Sweat Equity Magazine November 2017 Mary Jane. Ganga. Reefer. Grass. Weed. Dope. Bud. Herb. Cannabis. These are but a few of the many, many slang words and street terms for the more commonly referenced “pot,” or marijuana. Cannabis is the plant species from which the flowering bud grows and is used for its recreational, medicinal, spiritual, and therapeutic properties. Its use dates back thousands of years to approximately the third millennium, BC, and although pro

The journey to personal greatness, optimal health, and abundance won’t always be easy—but it will always be rewarding. So-called challenges are designed to strengthen your resilience and commitment to your chosen path. Obstacles force you to re-examine your goals and ambitions and hone the process along the way. They’re opportunities to test your faith, integrate the tools you’ve gathered, and explore coping mechanisms outside your comfort zone. Each time you move through som

We don’t have to be told that certain changes take place as we get older. If climbing out of bed in the morning requires a touch more ‘awareness’ than it did a decade ago, if forgetting where you parked the car, where put your glasses, or why you just hopped online are common occurrences, then you know what I mean. To an extent, these changes are natural and inevitable. Past the age of 50, most of us wouldn’t dream of attempting the positions of the lithe bodies we see in yog

Published in Sweat Equity Magazine August/ September 2017 “Hakuna Matata” In Swahili, “No worries.” Books like The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin and The Happiness Equation by Neil Pasricha represented a New Age twist on an age-old philosophy: happiness is something we choose. The yogis have known this for thousands of years, which is why they hunkered down and committed themselves to the discipline of meditation. The profound inner peace cultivated by spiritual adepts r

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), anxiety tops the list of most common mental health disorders worldwide, second only to depression, and rates continue to escalate. Between 1990 and 2013, the number of people suffering from depression and anxiety increased by nearly 50%, from 416 million to 615 million worldwide,1 with over 5 million cases of anxiety disorder (18.17%) in the UK population alone.2 A total of 8.2 million cases of anxiety in the UK were reported

Sometimes survival is just that: an uninspired trudge through the monotony of daily life. Sometimes the effort to resist is too much, and we give in to the urge to collapse on the couch, because, “Why bother?” There are days when gratitude is waning, and on those days, we have to trust. When anxiety builds or fear gathers momentum, we have to hunker down and select from our yoga toolkit: we breathe deeply, write a gratitude list, journal about the fear, pray, meditate, repea

We often hear what a "fast-paced" society we live in, and that's true. But it's as much one of impatience as it is of fast pace. Eighteen-year-olds drive fifty-thousand dollar cars, and newly engaged couples boast multi-karat diamond rings. With lines of credit and credit cards galore, big ticket items are nothing but a Gold Card app and a fifty-two cent stamp away. And maybe there's nothing wrong with that, not inherently. You take out a loan, enjoy the fun stuff, and pay th

It’s natural to feel a bit . . . blasé about something you’ve done committedly for a long period of time. Meditation can be challenging on the best of days; sitting still for 20 minutes when 100 other things need to get done shows remarkable discipline. That being said, small changes to your practice can reignite your passion for meditation and prevent you from slipping into the dull realm of habitual behaviour. Here are 6 simple ways to re-inspire your commitment to meditati

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), anxiety tops the list of most common mental health disorders worldwide, second only to depression, and rates continue to escalate. Between 1990 and 2013, the number of people suffering from depression and anxiety increased by nearly 50%, from 416 million to 615 million worldwide,(1) with over 5 million cases of anxiety disorder (18.17%) in the UK alone (2). Statistics Canada states that 2.8 million people, or 10.1% of Canadian

Fess Up! Yesterday a friend said she'd be taking a break from social media. I get that, as I’ve done it before myself. But she closed her account for a reason I didn’t expect: “Everyone is so happy and beautiful and perfect, with the perfect marriage and the perfect life," she said. "They have the dream job and the perfect body and, frankly, it’s depressing.” I’ve occasionally left a session of mindless scrolling with a sense of not measuring up, and it got me thinking… At th

Avoidance of pain is one obstacle to the spiritual freedom of yoga. Naturally we do everything we can to avoid pain—or our sanity could rightly be called into question! But when this avoidance overwhelms our willingness to experience life (we’re scared to enter a new relationship based on old baggage) then we limit our potential for happiness by obstructing our view of the truth. The film, “What the Bleep Do We Know” explores this concept of living our life on “autopilot.” To

"You have no problems, though you think you have . . . " ~ A Course in Miracles Published in Sweat Equity Magazine Dec/Jan 2017 Issue Problems exist only in the mind and are a prime example of how language determines our reality. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a problem as "something that is difficult to deal with." Conversely, it defines a challenge as "a demanding task or situation" and an opportunity as "a favourable time for achieving something for advance." Nothin