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Suicide or sadhana…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent and sudden death of the Buddhist meditation teacher, mental health advocate, and social activist Michael Stone. His partner recently posted more information about the circumstances surrounding his death. Turns out he had long been struggling with mental health concerns related to bipolar disorder. Initial toxicology report indicates…
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Yoga & the Bhagavad Gita…
Yoga & the Bhagavad Gita from Laura Lea Nalle on Vimeo. Yoga & the Art of Living & Dying from Laura Lea Nalle on Vimeo. The Battlefield of the Bhagavad Gita from Laura Lea Nalle on Vimeo. Yoga & the Return to Fullness from Laura Lea Nalle on Vimeo.
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The sweetness of home practice…
The biggest challenge for me coming home from India this time around was going back to practice at the studio I’d been at for the last year. Maybe I changed, or maybe I was just seeing things more clearly, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I didn’t belong there anymore. I love the…
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Everything is Divine…
Well hello from Austin! I’ve been back from India for a little while now, and I’m excited to tell you about my experience this go ’round. I have so many amazing things filling my heart and mind, so much creative energy, I feel like I’m on fire! Instead of attempting some kind of linear exposition,…
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The time of God
I am back in Mysore to practice at the Sri K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute (KPJAYI). Experience is potent here. I wake up around 3am (Brahma muhurtham) to do my asana practice. The rest of my days are spent in chanting and philosophy classes and in my own solitary study of the Gita, the…
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Everything to give…
Well, I’m back in Mysore. Feels like I never even left. I had another dream before I left Austin. I had been feeling quite anxious about some circumstances that presented me with the opportunity to practice non-attachment in a big way. I was conflicted about whether I should stay in Austin to deal with the…
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The yoga of friendship…
In my last blog over at Raw Raw Riot, This is the training ground, I wrote: Showing up to practice is one thing; showing up to life can be a whole other battle. If you practice even when distracted/distressed/hurt/upset/in pain, then you are training well. This is the training ground, afterall. So let us train…
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This is the training ground…
Ok, yeah, so I haven’t written a blog since I was in India. I figure I should at least say hi and let y’all know I’m alive and well in Austin. Ahhhh, to update you in a nutshell on the last several months… My rib injury healed and my practice has been going well. It…
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Forget your perfect offering…
A month just flew by in the blink of an eye. Time is strange here. The days are impossibly long, and yet the accumulative passing of them goes by in a flash. I still have another week in Mysore, and many people have already left or are in the process of leaving this weekend. There…
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When the center of the universe is a coconut stand…
When the center of the universe is a coconut stand… not a coconut stand, the coconut stand. Of course there must be hundreds in Mysore, but you know the one I’m talking about, because your whole life revolves around it… My first week and a half in Mysore and I’m feeling the rhythm of things…
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The places you fear to go…
“No fear, no fun.” One of the things I love about Ashtanga, is that it requires me to confront some scary places. I started working on dropping back and standing up from urdhva dhanurasana (backbends) a few weeks ago. My teacher came up to me as I was going into the finishing sequence and asked…
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Life, happiness, and the pursuit of liberty…
One of the interesting paradoxes of ashtanga practice is that the more regimented and disciplined I am, the freer I become. Somehow, keeping a strict schedule around the times I eat, practice, sleep, etc, frees up a lot of energy. Maybe it’s the virgo in me, or maybe it’s a promise, a gift of making…
