I have been thinking and procrastinating about this for a long time now --although I have not made it official with IYI, I think that I will stop teaching yoga at IYI sooner than later.
I have been teaching there for 5+ years and I have been thinking for at least a year that it's getting old for me. Although I am grateful for my training and teachers at IYI, and the opportunity to teach there, I think it is time to go on hiatus.
Maybe I will teach somewhere else. Maybe not. If so, I will put that information on this blog. I am thinking that I need to spend more time working on my own practice and less time teaching. If you want to contact me, you can email via this blog.

Yoga To The People

This is a studio that believes that yoga is for everyone, and that the commercialization of yoga is against the spirit of yoga. So, Yoga to the People offers vinyasa classes by donation ($10 suggested donation). They are pretty awesome yogis, and their classes are crowded. Check out their website and schedule at http://www.yogatothepeople.com/

I got this quote from their website. It is particularly applicable to me these days. :

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine.
We were born to make manifest the glory that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

Animals are capable of Love and Attachment
No news here to me but apparently, other people dont think that animals are capable to care about us or other animals.

Here is a new book on this very subject :
Animal Manifesto by Mark Beckoff, PhD - available at Amazon. He also wrote The Emotional Lives of Animals. Do check out these books. Our furry and feathered friends deserve our love and respect as individuals.

And here is an article on the subject from the NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/pets/2010/02/06/2010-02-06_more_than_puppy_love_animals_form_strong_love_bond_with_each_other_and_with_thei.html

This made me laugh.... because it is sooo true !
"One of my first yoga teachers, David Life, told a great story about taking a private lesson with the late, great Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He described it as 3 hours of sweating, body-twisting, ego-driven effort to impress his teacher with his abilities, which left him collapsed in a puddle on the floor. Pattabhi Jois simply looked down at his sweaty, exhausted student and said, “You’re doing it wrong.”

I got this quote from a yoga blog : http://www.sarahcourtyoga.com.html/
She is a Jivamukti yoga teacher in California and she writes a great blog !

-Things that matter most should not be at the mercy of things that matter least.
-Goethe

Cruelty Free Eggs ?
You will see eggs labelled "Cage-free". "Organic". "Range-fed". "Humane" at the grocery store. These certifications look good, but they don't mean much- -plus, monitoring and interpretation of "humane" is pretty loose.

When we read "cage-free" that might mean that tens of thousands of chickens are crammed into one hen-house and while not technically caged, they don't live in humane, comfortable conditions. A lot of these chickens are trapped in factories and never see daylight. And when we read "organic," we can't be sure if that means the hens are raised without antibiotics and hormones -- which are passed on to you.

The World Society for Protection of Animals (WSPA) suggests switching from commercially raised eggs to buying those labeled "Certified Humane," "American Humane Certified," or "Animal Welfare Approved."

This means your eggs came from chickens raised with care, not confined to battery cages and fed growth hormones and antibiotics. And these designations are verified and monitored by animal rights organizations.

A lot of people eat eggs. I am not criticizing or condemning that. But the point is that eggs come from real chickens -- and although you might never want to kill and eat a chicken -- you need to consider where your egg is coming from and the egg laying chicken's right for a humane life and comfort. Egg producing factory farms are in the business of maximizing egg production. If a chicken doesnt produce enough eggs, or gets older and is past egg laying -- the chicken is killed.

Avoid the commercialized eggs in the grocery store. Buy your eggs from our local farmers at the farmer's market at Union Square and other places around the city.

It's all about living mindfully. Yoga is about how you do what you do. This is taking your yoga off the mat.