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A Student Finally Found Me Out
I teach meditation classes. I don’t call it meditation, because we are moving around, standing up, standing on our heads, and breathing a ton. But we are meditating. I thought I would always get away with teaching meditation without anybody knowing. However, one of my students figured me out, and now the jig is up. […]
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My First Mindful Decade
I think I just lived my first mindful decade ever. In reflecting on my last ten years, I’ve experienced more life than ever before. My memories are vivid and numerous. Life and everything that comes with it means more to me. This could be, in part, because all my other decades are relatively way back. […]
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You Can’t Teach Both Alignment and Accessible Yoga
Every yoga class I teach is an accessible one. My students will never be subjected to my preconceived notions about what is correct. Tias Little calls his practice a ‘styleless-style,’ and I’ve adopted that term for my own teaching. The yoga should fit the student. When a student is required to fit the yoga, they […]
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Yom Kippur Yoga (when you’re standing all day)
“Yes, one time my daughter passed out.” I was talking with a client about Yom Kippur and asked her if her family has ever had physical challenges during the service. The Jewish day of atonement involves standing for long periods of time, so people are bound to faint. Or, as another client put it, “everybody […]
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Summer of Left
I am right-hand dominant. I catch myself thinking down the right side of my body. My right is more sensate, stronger, and more skilled with fine-tuned movements. As yogis and yoga teachers, we typically practice asymmetric postures starting on the right. This summer, I’m changing my practice and teaching with a focus on our left. […]
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Can you be too blissed? In a car, yes.
I started practicing yoga in 2003, with my heart set on figuring out what bliss felt like. Bliss is one translation of samadhi, the last limb listed in the Yoga Sutras. It’s also translated as absorption, boundlessness, or integration. Whatever you call it, it’s elusive. At the beginning of my teaching career I tried to […]
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In Praise of Yawning
(Based on the lecture portion of my sleep workshop “Snoozefest: How to Practice Yoga for a Good Night’s Sleep”) Yawns are the best. Virtually all vertebrates do it, with humans yawning as early as 12 weeks in gestation. A unstifled yawn is literally a breath of fresh air. It feels fantastic. Humankind doesn’t fully understand […]
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Straight (and Curved) Lines to Trust and Beginner’s Mind
I am learning how to draw because I want to become a better visual communicator when I teach workshops. I’ve been drawing for about seven weeks now, and I’ve noticed a paradox: I’m getting better at it because I forgot why I wanted to draw in the first place. I credit three authors and their […]
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Sparks light, but coals heat: Cultivating Resolve
(Originally published in 2015: Check out the app here) The first thing I’ll admit to in this article: It’s about me, working on an app called Onward Facing Yoga. The app contains 11 sequences and 18 hours of instruction. I hope it ignites the spark of home practice and gives teachers ideas for guiding their […]
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Yoga on Lockdown: Teaching Students During an Active Shooter Emergency
I’m not sure how long I’ll teach yoga—it could be two months or 30 years—but I’m sure the class I taught in Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh, on Saturday, October 27 will be the hardest class I ever lead. I’m okay. The students I’ve checked in with are okay. We will get better and be better, as people, […]
Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga 