Category: Yoga 411

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. […]

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 […]

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 […]

Nature can be a great source of insight and healing, when we take time to be with it. This week we offer a seasonal poem and guided meditation. We hope they help you to connect with the restorative wisdom of autumn, and to experience the beauty of your own natural presence. Find a comfortable seat […]

When I first came to yoga I was a bit of a dabbler – trying a class or two here and there, using videos at home, reading books and magazines – not really getting very far. Eventually when I began practicing in earnest, I joined a very excited Steve Ross and his students on the […]

At the beginning of the month 8 Limbs owner Anne Phyfe Palmer opened her newsletter with two potent sentences – Money. It’s a sensitive topic! Behind the scenes at 8 Limbs, we’ve been diving into that sensitivity. In a recent admin meeting we reflected individually and as a group about our relationships with money. What and whom […]

Tapas  refers to a particular type of energy – a blend of discipline, passion and courage. It’s the sort of energy that propels us into acting in accordance with our heart, and on behalf of who and what means a great deal to us. Whether you have just a couple of minutes or twenty, the […]

This morning I attended the final class of this year’s Summer Intensive Teacher Training. One of my most favorite honors as Studio Director of 8 Limbs is as witness to the power of yogic teachings, when shared and studied with earnestness and integrity. The enthusiasm, tapasin Sanskrit, is energizing and contagious! The second limb of yoga, niyama, addresses […]

“Yama,” the first limb of the eightfold path of yoga, is sometimes translated as “restraint.” (8 Limbs Owner/Director Anne Phyfe Palmer wrote about her relationship with Yama in her May and June blogs.) This first limb essentially shares what skillful restraint looks like in practice. And by practice in this context, I mean life – […]