At the end of my teacher training, I sat in the center of a circle while the people around me “bombed” me with love. One friend said, “You are a very dedicated person, and I respect that.” She was right. Since childhood, I’ve been good… Read More »What are you devoted to?
In December of 2015, I’d bought a book called, Let Me Be Weak: What People in Pain Wish They Could Tell You. I didn’t know it was a Christian book, or I’m certain I’d have disregarded it before the prologue. I didn’t need anyone else… Read More »How I Found Faith in the Season
Shiva Rea is not new to dealing with haters. In 2011, she received a huge amount of critique for her “trance dance” at an Indian yoga festival, partly for the way she was moving and partly for the way she was dressed. In a deeply… Read More »Does Yoga Tell Us to be Non Judgmental?
Deciding to meditate is like deciding to “go on a diet.” It will take a tremendous amount of willpower, you’ll probably fall off the wagon, and you’ll likely reach a point when you call it quits. I’ve done a number of 10 day, 30 day, or… Read More »How I Learned to Meditate
“I am thoroughly convinced the reason you married me is because I’m one person you think is right as often as you think you are.” That’s what my husband said to me yesterday after one of our sparring matches; we get into it, not necessarily… Read More »Why I Meditate
Each year, my father writes one personal note to the associates he shares an office with. This year, his note fills me with joy, pride, and a knowing that I am – for better and worse and everything in between – my father’s daughter. His… Read More »My Dad’s Thanksgiving Letter
People often ask, “What did you do before teaching yoga?” The honest answer? Not much. At least not much successfully. With a writing, history, and interdisciplinary humanities degree, I wasn’t exactly on an employment path when I left college. I took administrative, marketing, and sales… Read More »The Right Way to Goal Set
On one particularly devastating day during my treatment for infertility, my father used that famous line: “If this is the worst problem you have, you’re doing better than 90 percent of the people out there.” I felt superfluously unheard and painfully misunderstood. Sure, I had… Read More »Does my problem even matter in a world with so many (much bigger) problems?
Part of being a leader is having a clearly defined vision, holding tight to it, and knowing how to let it evolve fluidly and responsively without compromising it. I’m working on the last part. Fluid and responsive is my aspiration. Furrowed and feisty is my default.… Read More »Why we don’t say “manifest” at The Yoga Harbor
I met Wendy very early in my yoga journey at what must have been one of my first 10 classes. She was subbing for another teacher, and I told my husband she was one of the most beautiful people I’d ever seen. This was sometime around 10… Read More »Meet guest teacher Wendy Garafalo