You Can Overdo Literally Anything (How to not Burn Out)
It’s January, the time of year when many people throw themselves full force into a new routine, only to burn out on it by Valentine’s Day. This doesn’t just happen […]
On Soles and Souls: A Running Parable
To figure out if a running shoe works for me, I have one criterion: When my foot lands, I should be able to feel the ground, not the shoe. This […]
Sympathy for the Unembodied
When I first encountered yoga in 2003, I took as many classes as I could. The movement, the people and the challenge got me hooked. I distinctly remember being confused […]
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 […]
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,’ […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Being a Big Baby
Why is it a good idea to let babies play with blocks? It’s a mostly neurological one. Stacking blocks, creating new shapes, seeing how gravity works; this all adds variety […]
Teach Yoga Effectively; Avoid these Seven Phrases in Class
As yoga teachers, we want to make the practice as clear as we can. But there are several common ways of speaking in a yoga class that make the instructions […]
Is your yoga teacher a wanna-be cult leader? Ask this question.
It’s reasonable to assume there are no simple answers when it comes to self-inquiry. Each of us has our own unique experience. Teaching and sharing our experiences in a yoga […]
Empathy on World Kindness Day
Today is World Kindness Day, which for 19 years has been suggesting we explore the question “What does kindness mean to us?” It comes in many forms. For me, the […]
Fall Sequence for Warmth and Grounding
Autumn: It’s hot, cold, windy, calm, clear, and rainy all in one season. It’s a time where the fiery summer gives way to dry, airy elements. In Ayurvedic terms, Autumn […]
Yoga Teachers Should Stop Assaulting Students
My wife was assaulted by a yoga instructor at her former yoga studio. She’s cried over it, has lost sleep, and still has dreams about what happened months later. She spoke with a lawyer who confirmed that what happened is the definition of assault.
Richard Gartner | Frameworks Yoga 