Books to Deepen Your Yoga (Plus some bonus, classic yoga videos that still hold up)

Yoga is more than poses, of course. If you read here or have been around me long, I know you get that already, but I think we can still forget it…or lose track of it.

The practice of postures — hatha yoga — is just one form of yoga intended for people who learn through being physical.

It always blows my mind how wise the early creators of yoga systems were about human personality. They understood early on that there are so many different kinds of learning styles and so they accommodated them.

For example, there’s physical yoga but also the yoga of intellectual study, the yoga of devotional practices, and on and on.

The point being that the path was not and is not the destination. The destination is self knowledge that creates connection to the whole (and of course, there are so many ideas of what that “whole” is — whether it be a form of God/Goddess that is transcendent or immanent or just your best self or or or… no two lineages totally agree on this and thus so many lineages).

I am grounded in Kundalini yoga for the most part which is grounded in/from tantra yoga. Tantra is the system that makes the most sense to me on all levels. When I was about 11, I told my mother that I believe we are energy and that when we die, we return to the larger energy. Period. And that’s pretty much tantra in a nutshell. (Though, of course, it’s way more complicated than that.)

The books I’ll share are NOT just from the tantra tradition but lately I find myself getting more and more specialized in that area.

The books I’m sharing range from much easier to digest to more complicated. And yes, the tantra texts/books would be way complicated if that’s your first real deep yoga reading. They aren’t necessarily a great starting point.

I will link to them on Goodreads (and you can find me at Goodreads right here, though I’m mostly sharing fiction).

BOOKS

Anything by Stephen Cope is a great place to start, particularly the first three books on this list. He’s easy to read. His style is conversational and he’s just so… real.

Written in 1996, this is a classic. My first yoga TAPE was with Erich Schiffmann and it too holds. (HERE IT IS on YouTube. This video DEFINED yoga video aesthetics.) He’s a wonderful human (and I’ve been lucky enough to meet him and study a wee bit with him).

Most interpretations of Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutras are by men and wow… you can tell. So this translation with commentary especially for women is a breath of fresh air. It was so needed. Before this book, I was pretty much NO THANKS when it came to these particular sutras.

Sadhguru is a teacher of tantra based yoga. He’s the real deal and his first book has so much to offer. Even if you just skip his personal story stuff at the beginning, there’s so much depth.

Every yogi needs to read the Bhagavad Gita and there is no translation/commentary out there that comes close to this. (I had to link to amazon on that one to find it, but I would read ANYTHING by this man.)

My first Kundalini Yoga TAPE (yep… tape, yet again) was with Gurmukh. She’s a wonderfual wacky wise human and this little book about the chakras is always a good first place to explore these concepts. I still go back to this book now and then. (And again, here she is on YouTube.)

My first actual tantra book on the list is by the great scholar Georg Feuerstein. Seriously, you cannot go wrong when you read him. Except sometimes he can be a bit…dry. But this particular book is a great intro to tantra. Again, ready anything by him, for sure, but have coffee at hand.

There are SO MANY MORE texts but that’s enough for now.

AND please feel free to ask me for books that relate to specific areas you’d like to explore — whether those be physical, emotional, or spiritual, I’m guessing I have some idea where to point you!

I see you

I remember the very first time I saw into someone so deeply that I realized I was seeing a very young version of them. It happened during my first training at Kripalu, before I started teaching, as I witnessed a woman dancing.

That’s when I realized that this work I was about to embark upon was/is profoundly sacred.

The act of seeing another human — actually and fully seeing them — is profoundly sacred.

And when you are vulnerable enough to allow for that seeing, we are in communion together, bringing forth your truth.

I don’t think I can describe the work I do — the work we do together — any better than that last sentence.

I make the space for that bringing forth to happen by giving you the opportunity and the tools to be that vulnerable. I give you a method and a process through which you can explore yourself and all your parts and experiences… wordlessly, with no need to explain or make excuses or even to “try to understand.”

I also make space for you to process and transmute all of this, to make space for it inside yourself, to create wholeness, and to really know your strength.

If that’s not “church” or “temple” or “ritual,” I don’t know what is.

Joy List

One of my greatest current joys is READING NOVELS. One after another. At the speed I used to read when I was much younger or in college and graduate school. A speed that leaves my husband pretty mystified actually. If you want to see WHAT I’ve been reading, the easiest thing is to check out my goodreads.

I can’t say enough about the writing and the acting in this show, but my niece kept telling me to watch it and I kept being like, Whatever, and then I did and she was right. It’s really weird to say this but Killing Eve is actually, in a long and roundabout way, about the love, obsession, and the possibility of redemption. It’s also fucking HILARIOUS.

This local candle, soap, scent shop is really rockin’ it. You can order online, of course.

Here’s the best coffee I’ve had in Ohio, and they’re doing every freaking thing RIGHT, from how they treat farmers to the diverse staff in their stores… just everything. So if you’re looking for new beans, give them a try.

Our new bikes.

The possibility of our backyard.

The people in Columbus (why are they so DAMN FRIENDLY!?).

The fact that dance is starting to feel fresh again.

Fruit. I am a fruit bat in human form so this time of year is my favorite eating time.

Our wee neighborhood park. (And by getting you that link, I just learned that it’s the oldest part in Columbus and one of the oldest parks in the COUNTRY.)

Our amazingly openhearted neighborhood that is so full of art. Have you seen all the public art I’ve been sharing on my instagram?

My greatest music joy right now is him.

My greatest movement joy at the moment is this. Seriously, don’t you want to do that in a workshop?

Where are you finding joy?

The Universe is Dance as Are You

Our culture has stolen the arts from their rightful place as community-building and healing medicine, contributed to and engaged in by every single human. We can take them back. We can decide not to let anyone's limited and often commercialized idea of them rob us of their gifts.

Dance is in your cells. Dance is in your DNA. Dance is your very structure, just as it is the structure of the universe.

Nothing stops moving that is alive, and even in death, we contribute to that movement as we are taken back into the ground and redistributed through the web of life on every level.

As long as there is breath, there is dance within you.

And in this way we express and process things that words can never touch.

In this way, we relate to each other beyond the limits of verbal language.

In this way, we build ecosystems of joy and love and kindness as we become more of those things ourselves through the act of expression and the resulting transmutation.

July Quickie Yoga: Gently Finding & Strengthening Your Core and Inner Fire

LOCATION: Online, either live or videos on your own time
DATES: Tuesdays and Thursdays, July 13, 15, 20, 22, 27, 29, and August 3, 5
TIME: 10:30 AM to 10:50 AM (Easter United States time)
*NOTE: I get online at about 10:20 in case anyone needs to talk.
COST: $55 (includes access to me in a private Facebook group and access to the classes for the entire 4 weeks. Links do not expire during that time.)

If you’ve never done yoga with me before, read here.

Me and my co-teacher…

If you’ve never had a zoom class with me before, read here.

PLEASE NOTE: You must be willing to be in a private Facebook group to access these classes.

For this four week session (as usual, twice a week for 20 minutes; recorded if you can’t make the “lives”), we’ll be doing some of our favorite Kundalini yoga, but each day, we’ll also be exploring how to access and strengthen your core.

That may sound funny but I am constantly meeting women who aren’t sure they’ve ever actually, truly used their core.

And by core, I don’t mean your front tummy area, but the entirety of all the muscles around and through the torso. Think of it more as a “corset.”

We WILL NOT be doing “crunches” or anything of that crappy sort. HA!

This class is meant for anyone of any level. I’ll be providing plenty of modifications.

In Kundalini, this area also corresponds to your willpower and your capacity to create your life, so we’ll be working on that too!

Choosing Joy: It's not trite

This is taking ultimate responsibility for our lives. It's hard and sometimes I just want to throw a temper tantrum and say NO! I'M EXHAUSTED!

Sometimes the reality of this power we hold as individuals just makes me mad... why can't someone else do it!?

Choosing joy is not trite. It’s not about giggles or excitement, though it can be.

It’s something so much deeper.

If you’ve suffered from any sort of depression or anxiety, all of this can feel even more difficult and almost… cruel, right? Like how do we DO THIS in light of those mental health challenges especially?! When we barely have the energy to get out of bed, how do we choose joy?!

In light of those challenges, it’s actually more important that we become conscious of the fact of this choice.

In bed, when we are struggling, can we look around for even a hint of joy that could motivate us?

If you’ve known me for more than five minutes, you know that would be the sight of my cat, Peony.

When I’ve been in some of my darkest moments in this human form, the thought of that cat… the purrs of that cat, have saved me.

Joy has saved me.

“Do not look for rest in any pleasure, because you were not created for pleasure: you were created for spiritual joy. And if you do not know the difference between pleasure and spiritual joy you have not yet begun to live.”

— Thomas Merton

#DailyJoy: Skin Care

I don’t get anything from anyone when I write about stuff like this. If that changes, you know I’ll be transparent about it.

I’ve always taken decent care of my skin, and before I start talking about product, a little reminder that the best skin care is an inside job.

My skin looks freaking AMAZING when I drink ALL the splish splash (or water…whatever…I prefer this name given by Donnie Quinn one day in a class), when I eat massive amounts of fruits and veggies, when I sleep well, when I move well, when I laugh a TON.

That said… I love me some good skin care and the picture to the right is a small sample of my current favorites.

My routine is to switch things up a lot. Your skin doesn’t want the same shit put on it every single day from here to eternity… just like your muscles don’t want to be doing the same freaking yoga or whatever routine. Change is good and healthy.

I do this changey thing on a macro level — always looking for new products — and a micro level — daily cycling through different products.

Every morning, I do a gentle scrub with one of a few scrubs at hand. Every evening, I do a toner with one of a few toners at hand. And I am constantly using different day and night creams.

Onto the goods… these are my current OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING favorites:

(Note: I have skin that rarely gets a pimple and it’s normal to dry…never oily. Just so you know that these things are geared toward that.)

I got this Glazen Face Glow from Butter of London as a sample when I ordered some nail stuff (LOVE them for nails) and WOW. Like, I cannot say enough about this stuff. Makes my skin feel baby butt soft and then it also makes me look like I bothered with makeup. HA! It comes in different shades.

I love LUSH (and so does my husband, if you have a man in your life who likes good smelling stuff). Right now I’m obsessed with their Cup O’Coffee face mask. I do it once or twice a week and it always looks like I got an expensive facial, especially if I follow it with Magical Moringa Beauty Balm. I also smell so good, you might want to eat my face.

Speaking of baby butt soft faces, this one is new to me this week and again, OB.SESSED. Vitamin C Skin Boost Instant Smoother is everything its name says and more. I really can’t describe it.

I am also loving the Body Shop’s Petal Soft GEL Toner. (For some reason I couldn’t find it on their site but I just bought it at their store.)

And finally, I happened upon this last one by pure luck at a local organic grocer. Acure Radically Rejuvenating Facial Scrub with rose oil is just gentle enough to use every day. Or every other, as is my case.

I could go on forever but would love to hear what you’re loving lately.

The Tricksy of Wanting to Lose Weight

Here’s the thing, in this photo of me… a few years before I met Craig… I thought I was disgusting. That’s body dysmorphia right there. I literally could not SEE what I actually, in reality looked like.

I thought I “still” needed to lose at least 20 pounds here.

First, no.

Second, why? I would tell myself it was so my “dance lines could be seen.” As if they could not already.

My mental health, just like any humans, is directly linked to my physical health. We are integrated like that.

But my weight is not part of that equation except in a results/correlation sort of way.

I must move a LOT every day to really feel like my best self, to beat the depression monster that lurks in my distracted brain.

The amount of movement that takes happens to result in a smaller body … in MY very specific case. It doesn’t work like that for everyone.

People will often think that because I encourage you to love your joybody that I am anti-weight loss.

I’m not.

I’m anti body punishment.

I’m anti self hate.

I’m anti food deprivation.

I’m anti food labeling (“good” versus “bad”).

I’m anti whatever you’re doing that is NOT joyful.

I’m not anti weight loss, but I do want you to be very clear about your weight loss goal.

Where does it come from? Is it true to your body type? Are you loving yourself? Are you moving and eating with joy and play and fun and delight at the center?

Are you living outside the constant worry about and obsession over numbers — the number on the scale, the number of the size of your pants, calorie counts, any freaking number that brings you anxiety?

How are you eating and moving lately that brings you joy? I’d love to hear.