Author: 8 Limbs Yoga

A couple years back, during a guided meditation on retreat, I was given the prompt, “Why are you here?” I don’t remember exactly how I silently answered that question but I think it was something along the lines of, to deepen my meditation practice. Whatever it was, it was a pretty standard response for the setting. And […]

Our 2019 theme, Roots of Yoga, comes from a commitment to link our modern day practices of yoga to their source teachings and teachers – both to show respect and to inspire a deeper understanding of this powerful lineage. This blog will be updated daily. We’ll share kriya (cleansing) practices on Fridays, postures from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika […]

I hear there are other ways to say it these days, but steady once meant committed, longterm. In Sanskrit the word for steady is sthira, one of two qualities prescribed for the practice of asana in The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali:  Yoga Sutra II.46 – sthiram sukham āsanam – The pose must be steady and easeful. […]

8 Limbs changes our drop-in class schedule every February, June, and October. That means this Friday, February 1 you can expect some changes to your class options! We want to thank all the amazing 8 Limbs teachers for their presence in classes they may be leaving or taking on (and of course all of those […]

As 2019 gets underway we’ve been exploring the theme Ditch Your Distractions. Sometimes though, the easiest and most compassionate path to not doing something is to consciously turn one’s attention towards something. Here are five ideas for doing just that, including a 5-minute audio sound meditation. Create an opening practice ritual. Consistently rolling your mat […]

I still remember back to the first few months I practiced yoga, in the fall of 1994. I started attending once a week, on Tuesday nights. By the end of October it was twice weekly, and by November, almost daily — whenever I could. As the poses became more familiar I began to notice their […]

We would like to share some big transitional news. Melina Meza, who has been a part of 8 Limbs since the very first day, is leaving her current position as Teacher Training Director in April of 2019. Melina, who currently lives in Oakland, CA, is excited to explore new avenues closer to home and is […]

Despite what many headlines imply, mindfulness doesn’t fix us. Mindfulness is a translation of the Pali term sati, to remember. It relates to a particular type of remembering, one that is compassionate, contactful and clear seeing. It calls us to drop beneath the stories we tell and look beyond conditioning that may have kept us […]

Support, it’s a word we all use, but what does it really convey? As a verb, it means to hold up; to bear the weight of; to give assistance to. As a noun, it refers to the thing that offers support, or material assistance. Support comes from a French word, supporter, which is made up […]

Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive. – Hafiz With temperatures dropping, we’ve been reflecting on ways to stay warm. Below are three small things we invite you to try. We’ve also included a six-minute guided warming meditation. What warms you up? Upon waking, light candles instead of turning on lights. […]