“Class was great, my shoulders feel good. Thanks for not hurting me,” my new student says to me as she exits class. I’m delighted that she’s enjoyed her practice, but dumbfounded at her parting words. Students get hurt in class? And it's teachers that hurt them? That seems rather backwards to me.
 Injuries from yoga practice are not unheard of, but they should be.

Waking up on Monday morning after a long weekend of play can be tough. Even if we’re starting on a new project — a new school year, job, or work season, — the excitement doesn’t always mean we’re up and ready to go full-tilt. 
Sure, we say we’re looking forward to something, or happy to be doing it when we talk to our friends, co-workers, and family, but in my experience, happiness is a verb.

Have you ever felt guilty for not going to yoga class? I used to. There were days that I would keep willing myself to go to yoga, and as each hour passed I would resolve to go to the next class. By the time it was evening, I promised myself that I would practice harder the next day and make up for my laziness. 

TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.

"What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."
                                                                                                                                Howard Zinn

One of the most profound things I've ever learned in my life was in my sophomore year acting class. We were learning the Stanislavsky method, which usually involves a lot of writing. Some of us weren't really getting it, even though we were writing pages and pages of character backstory. The teacher offered us this simple acronym - K.I.S.,S. - Keep It Simple, Student.

I fell in love with headstand pretty quickly into our relationship. I had never experienced anything like it, (remember – I have no background in dance or gymnastics) and every time I was in headstand, all was still; all was quiet. I never imagined that being upside could feel so amazing.

There's nothing so majestic as the rising or setting of the sun. It heralds in a new day, a fresh start, another chance to experience the joy and beauty of life. That's exactly what a bunch of people were thinking when they started hosting early-morning, exclusive, wellness-based dance parties. 

What’s normal to one person may not be normal to another. The meaning of the word normal is not universal, but rather subjective, based on to whom you are speaking.  We all go through phases in life that over time create a New Normal, and with enough time and patience, it eventually becomes Normal. The hard part is the integration – learning to accept the new normal, and let go of what once was.

One of the biggest current trends in yoga isn't  just about creating stunning, unique photos to impress your friends and family (although that's a great way to draw more people to the practice), it's about creating something bigger than yourself through communication, practice, and trust.