We go into meditation so that we can train ourselves into the present. That means we are able to somehow escape the tyranny of our mind and meet this moment... but we can't do that if we're in pain!

This simple yoga flow is designed to become your regular meditation preparation and target specific areas of common pains in meditation. Combining vigorous breathwork with easeful but targeted developmental flow this practices will help you to 'find your center' and to focus the mind for a guided meditation setup and mantra offering before leaving you to your seated practice. 

This practice was recorded on Sunday May 15 for the full moon eclipse and is heating or Brahmana in energetic quality.

I recommend you continue using the video guidance until you have a sense of competency with these techniques. After practicing along with the video guidance 3-5 times you will have the muscle memory to practice a few of these flows before each meditation session so that you're...

Have you ever been to Sedona Arizona? One of my favorite parts about being there is the way the red rocks feel. I’d like to invite you to join me for a free practice that gives you a taste of what that’s like—even at a distance.  

The sequence we’ll do is super short and only includes a few poses: corpse pose, mountain pose, and a brief opportunity to try tree pose. Most of you are already pretty familiar with these postures, but we’ll approach them differently by focusing on the earth element and specific activations of the feet and legs to help you cultivate steadiness and stability. 

We’ll pay attention to thoughts and sensations and breathe as wide and deep as canyons. Maybe afterward you’ll see why I just can’t seem to stay away from this mysterious place. Or maybe you’ve already been and you also feel the call return. Speaking of which, I have a little story to share about my last visit . . .

In 2020, I was...

I've shared an introduction to the elemental body in a previous blog post. In this post, I'd like to share a short lecture with more detail on your five bodies. Learning about the elemental body and building a relationship with the five elements can support your day-to-day life, and in developing a consistent and adaptable yoga practice.

This discussion took place at my retreat at the Circle Yoga Shala and some big news in my life is that starting this spring I will join the yoga teacher training team at 'the shala'. If you're interested in becoming a teacher you can get all the training details on the website. I would love to see you there! 

This content is a small part of my foundations program that lays the groundwork for our time together. In my programs, you will learn the why behind the practices so you can understand how to adapt based on your changing needs. 

If you're looking to get support in becoming more informed and intimate with not only your...

This is a short and simple practice to support you to reconnect to your breath and your senses. Although this practice is simple, it can be a profound support in developing a pattern of presence. 

If you use it frequently to anchor you in the present moment you will find yourself less distracted, worried, and fearful. It is most supportive when practiced often as a way of training your attention, but you can also use it in a pinch to calm down. 

In the audio, I say to lay down flat but you could...

• use it in your office chair five minutes before an important meeting
• start your walk with it to get out of your head 
• take quick rest to reset if you're working late on a big project
• do a wall sit and listen to overcome being overwhelmed by worry or fear

Bookmark the page and use it anytime you need to be guided back to your breath and your senses. 

Enjoy!

Want to learn more about what we do in yoga therapy and how it would apply to you and your life? Schedule an ...

My hermit side loves winter, and this season has given us more reasons than ever to, as I put it lightly to my friends the other day, ‘stay the-fuck at home’. 

As we move into year three of the pandemic I’m moving into ever deeper layers of nesting and homemaking. It is something new for me as this is the first house I’ve ever owned and the first time I’ve had so many legitimate excuses to stay at home for long stretches of time. 

Although I’ve resisted it, this new at-home work-life rhythm suits me fine. I had really grown to love spending my days at my little yoga therapy studio space with my community but time at home has made space for a closer connection with fewer dedicated clients, more nourishment of my body, and different kinds of creativity. 

One of the hobbies I’ve picked up over the pandemic is medicinal herbal oil infusions. The oils are for the face and nose or self-massage, all of which I highly recommend...

I teach from my life experiences in combination with a lot of techniques and methods. This ranges from performance training that I picked up in my college basketball days, to rehabilitation, injury prevention, and functional movement from a career as a strength coach, to meditating at ashrams in the Poconos and visiting shrines in India, to sitting in inquiry circles in the hills of Arkansas.

With there being such a variety of influences that you might even ask, what even makes this stuff yoga?

It is the vision of health and the promises of freedom and fulfillment that make it yoga. What I’m striving to teach is more than a random batch of movement or mindfulness practices. It is a detailed, personalized, and progressive course of yoga sadhana. That takes on a life of its own, through you. 

“Sadhana is the discipline of skillfully applying mind and intelligence as a means of being liberated from ignorance.” - Matthew Krepps

Yoga is at the core of what I do...

Liminality speaks to the times of transition, the space between. It could be transitions of day, the season, a job, or the space between who we are now and who we are becoming. 

When you traverse any area for the first time, it is wise to get a trusted guide. This way, you can quickly and easily become aware of all the things you could not have known about that will create difficulty. Someone to share your experience with and help you navigate what can only be known through experience.

So it is with the path of yoga, you need a guide. Someone who has walked the path before and has studied the lay of the land and developed their own way of practicing that they can share with you.

It is my goal to offer my experience through this blog as a guide to learning more about what it is like aim your life towards fulfillment and ease, which are at the heart of a yoga practice.

In my life, I have been drawn to study wisdom traditions in an immersive way. Initially what drew me to yoga practice was that it met me physically. It was at a time and place where I needed to relearn how to exist in my body after years and years of pounding on basketball courts and demanding...

How you can know what you truly want vs your self-defeating tendencies from the past? It's so tricky and hard to know!  This is why I'm so excited to share a practice that for me cut right to the heart of why we practice by asking me... What is it you actually want?

This practice is great to do as a way to connect with your deepest soul-level desire. Finding from the inside your own vision for what is possible for your life and the collective. Your connection to your own heart will deepen with this practice over time, stay with it for a bit.

Start this weekend and try to practice for 30 days to experience a deeper connection to your imagination, access to creative solutions, and a deeper sense of inner knowing. 

Tune in with this practice as a midday rest or as your transition from work life to home life. Write a few words in your journal about your experience each time you practice. You can download it here for regular use or save my SoundCloud playlist.

ENJOY...