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Breathing to Reboot Your Brain

photo of dandelion against a blue sky, with seeds floating away

Do you ever have one of those really long belly laughs? The kind that leaves you nearly breathless, brings tears to your eyes, and makes your cheeks and abs sore? It’s the kind of laughter that can set the tone for an entire day, make your steps a little lighter, your smile a little quicker to appear, and a feeling, if only brief, that the world is going to be just fine. Those are great, aren’t they? Well it turns out, they’re actually pretty beneficial, too!

Can Yoga Reduce Stress?

woman sitting at a laptop with her hands on her head staring at a screen
Yoga, an ancient practice originating in India, has evolved from a spiritual pursuit to a widely touted method for enhancing physical health. But as a 2023 global study of yoga by Yoga Alliance revealed, “stress relief” has replaced “flexibility” as the primary motivator for people to embrace yoga. But does yoga truly have the power to relieve stress? This article explores the role of breath control, physical postures, and yogic meditation for stress reduction, and offers practical tips for beginning a yoga practice for stress relief.

Just One Breath: A Simple Practice for a Balanced Life

artwork by crafterall with the words just one breath
Artwork by Crafterall
In any moment, you have an opportunity to pause, reflect, and pay attention from the beginning to the end of one inhalation. Or one exhalation. You don't need to commit to any more. Yoga teaches us that there is nothing you need to grasp. This article explores the benefits of one-breath meditation and offers suggestions for how to practice (hint: it's very easy!) and how to remember to pause.

How's Busyness?

Matthew biking up a hill in a cyclocross race in 2009
No, that’s not a typo. Let's look at the busy-ness in our lives, at work, and away from work. Being busy has become synonymous with being a typical American citizen. It’s a point of pride for many to have long to-do lists during the week. But is all this busyness working for us?

How I Teach Kripalu Yoga

The word Kripalu in orange

When people ask me what style of yoga I teach or where I learned yoga, I proudly identify as a "Kripalu Yoga Teacher." When I completed my RYT-500 yoga teacher training at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Massachusetts, I earned this designation. More than just factually correct, I feel connected to the Kripalu lineage and I teach most of my classes as Kripalu Yoga.

Another Plastic Free July and an Article on mnyogalife.com

Plastic free july poster with people and a world
Once again I accepted the challenge this month and so far it is going well. This time around feels easier because it mostly has involved re-committing in some areas where I had started to allow some single-use plastic into our house. For instance, I'm back to more consistently peeling carrots and making my own hummus rather than buying bags of baby carrots and plastic containers of hummus.

Creating Yoga

Artistic rendering of the word create by Tim Mossholder
When people go to a yoga class, they typically expect the instructor to teach them yoga. While this may seem utterly obvious, this is, in some respects, an unreasonable expectation. Yoga teachers can't really teach people yoga. We can offer postures, breathwork, meditation, relaxation, and advice about how to practice, but each yoga student must find their own way. Each of us must, in a sense, teach ourselves yoga.