Today I was asked why we call hip stretches “hip openers.” I don’t have a good answer! Are we opening something that’s locked? Is “openness” of the hips even desirable, given the stiffness that’s required for good running? I...
All summer, I’ve been avoiding the work of cleaning up my office. It’s not a horrible mess, but the shelves have books wedged in sideways, and it’s growing harder to find what I’m looking for. It got bad enough that I was more interested in...
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending class at cambio., a donation-based studio in Colorado Springs. The class was billed as “Crosstraining Yoga,” appropriate for runners and cyclists, so I brought a copy of The Athlete’s Guide to Yoga, although...
As I sat in meditation today by an open window, a dog visiting my neighbors barked and barked. The barking was regular but not at rhythmic, predictable intervals. Yap . . . yap . . . nothing . . . yap, yap . . . Instead of finding this distracting, I discovered it was...
In the last 36 hours, I’ve spoken with four athletes who profess interest in yoga but who feel intimidated by going to their first class. Once or twice a week, I get an e-mail from a potential student who worries about coming to yoga for the first time. So...
As I sat down for meditation today (day 9 of the Big Sit, and it’s going well), I glanced out the window to see a bunch of red-breasted nuthatches perched in our backyard trees. At first they looked like pine cones as they sat, then a school of fish as they flew...
