The Daily Downward Dog Blog
Inspiring Stories, Cool Yoga Playlists, and Yoga Tips!Finding Time to Make the Yoga
Well, I’ve managed to do it again—load up my plate with too much work, too many extracurricular activities, and still find time to spend with my family and friends. Plus, add in a little travel away from home, and, needless to say, the first thing I drop off my list...
Fun Yoga Book Clubs
I have to say that I am really loving the Twitter yoga community. I have met some awesome yogis and yoginis out there in Twitter land. One of the best things about Twitter is learning about great new yoga blogs, interesting articles, and the chance to learn more about...
In Search of the Yoga High
If you practice yoga, don’t you just love the way you feel after you finish a class? You know what I’m talking about—that tingling feeling throughout your body, a sense of inner peace and happiness, and that heady feeling of being high. If you don’t practice yoga, I’m...
No Excuses—Just Do Yoga
One of the excuses I hear quite often is, “I’m too old to practice yoga,” or, “I’m not flexible enough to practice yoga.” Well, for all you naysayers out there, I’ve got a story that will prove you wrong. Check out this article and pictures from the Daily Mail about...
Kiss-Ass Contentment!
As part of my yoga-teacher training, we were asked to review and sign off on the ethical guidelines for yoga teachers. This means living my yoga based on Patañjali’s yamas and niyamas that are part of the Yoga Sutras. One of the guidelines in particular really struck...
Let Love Rule
Today’s yoga theme song (actually, this could work year round) is “Let Love Rule” by the incredibly hot and musically gifted Lenny Kravitz. I got inspired for this theme song at the end of a yoga workout given by Eoin Finn on MyYogaOnline.com. Eoin led me through a...
Bliss and Joy
No, this is not the copy for the front of my holiday greeting cards this year. It is what I felt last week, when I finished teaching my very first yoga class. For those of you who don’t know, I started yoga-teacher training in late September, and I guess it is...
Dream Job
Playing off my recent yoga fortune card encounter, I got to thinking about making my dreams come true. Making dreams come true—or, rather, finding my dream job—has been a bit of a theme in my life this year, and I’ve written about it several times on my other blog,...
Yoga Fortune—Fulfillment
My yoga-teacher training instructor, Jan Hauenstein, has this really cool set of cards by Mario Duguay. The cards are called Messages of Life and are kind of like inspirational fortune cookie messages. The instructions on the box read as follows: "Simply ask the...
Give Love
Here’s a fun message to take along with you today: Give some love! Check out this super cool video from MC Yogi, with his signature style of yoga-inspired hip-hop music. Yogafriends.com is a fantastic online community that brings together people around the world with...
The Mistress of My Mind
My ego thinks she is pretty damn hot. She is always trying to come in and take over my thoughts when I’m entering the yoga zone, deep into a meditation session, or, I’m sad to say, when I’m supposed to be relaxing in savasana. Recently, I was relieved to learn that it...
Do You Suffer From Seriousness Disorder?
Do you know what seriousness disorder is? It is a plague that impacts 80 to 90 percent of adults in America. Apparently, we’re all just a little too stressed out, too serious about ourselves, and forget to take the time each day to laugh! I’m guilty as charged and was...
An Everlasting Love
I was on a road trip this weekend, listening to tunes on the radio, singing at an embarrassingly loud level, fully emoting, and practicing all my best backup singer moves. Yes, I was driving and no, I didn’t care what the other turnpike drivers thought of my awesome...
Favorite Savasana Moments
I just had a pretty amazing savasana yoga experience. I was in a class at Lifesource Yoga with Deirdre Sargent, and she led us through a fun practice with lots of stretches and hip openers. She has a great way of structuring the class so it is challenging for some and...
Just Breathe
At her eightieth birthday party, Sophie Tucker (a.k.a. The Last of the Red Hot Mamas) was asked to reveal her secret of achieving a long life. She replied: "Keep breathing." Damn, I was hoping she would say it was a few glasses of red wine every day, but nevertheless,...
The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Om
Can’t you just hear Julie Andrews blasting out those lyrics while twirling around on a beautiful Austrian mountainside? The sound of music can just sweep you away, and I got to have one of those Julie Andrews musical moments last week while practicing yoga. I showed...
Yoga Mile-High Club
I’ve always had this unwonted curiosity about the mile-high club. It just sounds so forbidden, and who doesn't love to break a rule every once in a while. However, with all the airline regulations these days, I would not recommend getting caught in the bathroom in an...
Namaste 101
I’m always looking for new ways to demystify yoga. Trying to figure out what om’s got to do with it or the difference between an utkatasana and a vrksasana can really throw a newbie yoga practitioner into a tantric tailspin. I have to admit, I’m two years into my...
Feeling Stronger Everyday
I’m writing at my desk this afternoon, and even though it’s been six hours since my morning yoga workout, I’m still enjoying the pleasurable and exhilarating residual effects—tingling muscles, bounds of energy, and a great mental attitude (or in other words, I'm still...
Plugging In
A few weeks ago at the beginning of yoga class, the instructor asked the class to plug in. She wasn’t talking about plugging in our computers or our cell phone chargers; she wanted us to plug our minds into our yoga practice. We were being asked to feel the heat in...
Thank You for Flying Yogi Airlines
The other night in yoga class, we went from standing split pose to airplane pose, which, if you have ever tried it before, is really hard to do and still keep your balance. (BTW, if you check out the link to see a standing split, I look absolutely nothing like that...
Embrace Your Tiny Dancer
I’ll never forget the first time I was in a yoga class and the instructor invited us to dance. It was a morning class on New Year’s Eve, packed to capacity with students wanting their final yoga fix for 2009. There was a cool vibe in the room; the yoga instructor was...
Top Ten Reasons to Try (and Love) My Yoga Online
So, you’ve seen the ads and wondered what My Yoga Online is all about. Well, in a nutshell it is an online subscription service that offers a huge selection of yoga, Pilates, and meditation classes on-demand. If you’ve thought about trying it but need a little nudge...
With A Little Help from My…Yoga Instructor
In my recent blog “Amazing Yoga Moments,” I announced that I had triumphed over one of the many “ego poses” (thank you, Meg (@yogasavestheday), for that term) that had eluded my yoga practice. As I got into tripod pose for the first time, I blissed out with a major...
Back Care Yoga with Rodney Yee — DVD Review
On my journey to find the best yoga DVDs, I’m taking a lot of time to check out those geared toward back care. I suffer from scoliosis and for years I’ve just lived with the pain and tight muscles in my back (I have a really high tolerance for pain, but even that was...
What’s Your Yoga Theme Song?
I love rocking out to a good tune while practicing yoga. The yoga music experience just adds another rich layer to practicing yoga, and the other day while I stood in mountain pose (tadasana), I found myself becoming musically inspired. Standing incredibly tall, heart...
Yoga for Stage Fright
Special guest post by Amanda Peyton Breathing, it’s such a simple thing to do and so therapeutic, yet most people don’t realize the power of breathing and meditation to help with all those special things life throws at us like stress, fatigue, and one of my worst...
Have a Yoga and a Smile
I’m doing a smiling Buddha kriya* with Y is for Yogini (a super fun yoga blog you should check out) for the next 40 days. I figured I needed some structure to my daily meditation to get me off my butt, and after reading the long list of benefits of doing this...
Where You Place Your Yoga Mat May Say More Than You Think
I recently wrote a blog about yoga mat fêng shui and the fact that where you place your yoga mat can have a big impact on your yoga class experience. It got me thinking that maybe where you place your mat in class says something about your yoga personality. So, after...
My Guided Meditation Session with Trudie Styler
Trudie Styler is a lucky lady! Not only is she married to one of the hottest rock musicians, she looks fabulous in her mid-fifties, lives in this incredible villa in Tuscany, and gets to practice yoga with her husband, Sting! She also happens to be a pretty cool lady...