New Worlds of Body, Mind & Spirit Since 1901
Why Set up a Home Yoga Practice?Developing a home yoga practice can be a lifeline. For many people, group yoga classes are not viable for reasons like cost, time, availability of childcare, and transportation. Unfortunately, disabled people are still rarely considered by mainstream studios, and racism and transphobia are as prevalent in the yoga industry as they are in wider society. Even for people who do feel comfortable in group yoga classes, setting up a home practice can bring the tools of yoga to life in a totally new way. If yoga is medicine, then our home practice is how we prescribe our own healing. Yoga can become a transformative part of our everyday lives, rather than ...
The fear of death is not a flaw in the human system; it is part of our design. A healthy awareness of mortality keeps us cautious. It prevents reckless behavior. It encourages us to look both ways before crossing the street and to step back from the edge of cliffs. In that sense, this fear is protective—it helps keep us alive. Most of us carry this awareness quietly. It may surface after the loss of someone we love, during an illness, or in the stillness of the night when life feels especially fragile. These moments can be sobering and uncomfortable, but they usually pass. The fear rises, reminds us that life is precious, and then recedes again. In my years of working as a ...
When you think of darkness, or the dark within us, what comes to mind? Does it bring up uncomfortable memories, difficult emotions, or the idea of being taken over by something outside of yourself? In my experience as a therapist and coach, darkness isn't something to fear or fix, although we may believe that it is. Darkness, or shadow, is often more about what we've put there than about who we are at our core. Pulling from Carl Jung's conception of the shadow, this inner darkness is not just our anger, jealousy, or shame that cause us to act in ways that may lead to disconnection, but also our disowned talents and hidden desires that have been cast aside. Darkness can be just as much ...
The term "energy healing" conjures different images for different people. We often think of energy healing as something deliberate; we may envision a person laying their hands on another, or placing crystals on their body, or playing singing bowls that are aligned with specific chakras. We may also assume that anyone who practices energy healing must have undertaken intensive training, and is probably actively involved in healing circles, reiki shares, and other healing practices. Energy healing is a vast topic, which can make it difficult to know where to start. There are many books, websites, guides, and healers, that the whole thing can feel overwhelming. Not to mention that there are ...
