Looking within, to see beyond
Here we are in July. It’s kind of incomprehensible. Last time we touched on our journey through the first two of the eight limbs of yoga, we discussed tapas, turning up the heat, the third niyama. And oh how the heat has been turned up. Eyes have been opened. Hearts have been broken. People are […]
Developing Self-Compassion
Imagine a close friend who comes to you in some distress, and tells you they’re struggling and feeling bad about themself. How do you respond to your friend? What kind of words do you use, what body language, what tone of voice? Now, imagine yourself in similar distress, when you are struggling and feeling bad […]
What is Enough?
In January many of us take time to pause, evaluate, and step into the new year intentionally. This year, I gave myself the treat of a New Year’s Day class with Misha at 8 Limbs Wedgwood. We spent more than two hours slowing down and sloughing off the pace of our urban lives, in order […]
Respond in Kind
Whether you’re in the home stretch of your 28-day commitment, in the midst of a busy week or not quite sure if your head is fully aligned with your heart, it can be helpful to feel into where you stand, so that you may then respond in kind. Here are four ways to skillfully and […]
Self-Compassion, a Journey
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 […]
Fall Warm-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. […]
Invoking a Field of Kind Attention
“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 – […]
Sitting with Discomfort
In a letter that went out earlier this month, we said a lot of things. I’m going to focus on one of those things, a single sentence near the end – “Discomfort is not unsafe.” It’s a line I’ve been actively sitting with because it’s a statement I can experience as true and untrue. Discomfort […]
What Renews You?
We made it. The door of 2017 has closed, and here we are in 2018, its window wide open. There is possibility in a New Year, a fresh start. Renewal. So how are we, each one of us precious, powerful people, going to carry ourselves responsibly into the dawn of this nascent year? What inner […]
Retreating, as a Practice
It was 20 years ago that 8 Limbs offered its first yoga retreat at Sleeping Lady in Leavenworth, WA (20 years later we are still going, in fact we’re there this weekend!). Today we offer retreats throughout the year, for varying lengths of time. They’ve grown into seasonal traditions for not just getting away, but […]