Yogi Gene Studio

06/15/2019

04/22/2019

And now for your moment of zen. (jkl)

05/16/2018

Several people recently have been asking me for tips on how to start - or improve - their yoga practice. I will begin a series of simple, brief comments, quips and insights I have gleaned from my 12+ years on this path. Less than a blog, but more than a simple 'thought for the day; here will follow some things I've picked up along the way - often to help me remember something i had just learned. I was 57 when I took my first class, and 62 when I got my teaching certification, so remembering anything was sometimes challenging.. So here we start.

Lesson One: The first lesson of yoga is free. The first lesson is: Breathe in. Breathe out. Don't stop!
Here ends the lesson.

If you become fatigued from this work, lie down and practice it flat on your back. If you want a "position", place your right foot flat on the floor beside your left knee. Gently bring your right knee across toward the floor on your left side. :You may place your left hand on the right knee throughout its journey if it feels helpful.Turn your head toward your right. Hold this position and increase the relaxation anywhere it's absent. After ten or more slow breaths, return the bent leg to it's starting position and repeat the entire sequence on the other side. If this positioning is too taxing, it is perfectly fine to just lie on your back for the duration without attempting the advanced work involving positions and changing them. It's fine to keep it simple and avoid over-taxing like you were an elected official or something. There will always be time later for advanced work..

Tip: As the knee starts to cross over, keep its connected foot flat as long as seem sensible, the let the toes of that foot hook gently behind the knee of the straighter leg so it doesn't get lost and wander around.

Namaste!

11/30/2017

We usually think someone else has it together. But as Zen Master Ryokan writes: "Last year a foolish monk. This year, no change."

11/05/2017

I have a short list of outstanding teachers that have changed my life and enlightened my practice. Their light inspired my light and guided my path when I was ready to move deeper.
This beautiful teacher, Alex Dawson, was teaching at Equinox Columbus Circle (NYC) when I was dragged, under protests of not being ready, into my first advanced-level class. I remember saying to her, "I'm an old guy. If I stay back in the corner and try to not fall over onto anybody, May I still take this class?" "Sure! I'll keep an eye on you" she replied.and thus began a journey that amazed with details of placement tossed casually amidst mundane mechanics of classwork.Always awash iin the most heady, awesome, amazingly eclectic, surprising and totally appropriate fresh mixes of new and old music, she shared her practice on a visceral level, and with loving grace would suggest "as you step into the full expression of this pose, you'll want to get your front hip down....if not today, SOME day!"

She had announced to us weeks earlier that she was leaving NYC and moving to Los Angeles, but as that last NY class was drawing toward its conclusion, there was not a dry eye in the room. My heart was bursting with a flood of love and peace and gratitude like everyone's in that class as we collectively said good bye, good luck, God speed, Namaste, Om shanti shanti shanti.

10/04/2016

This photo by the brilliant photographer Lyan'lex Bernales was featured yesterday on the Yoga for Men site - a Florida school promoting men and veterans doing yoga. I was honored and humbled to be included in this group. I am a strong advocate of Men and Seniors doing yoga to improve ones health and to slow the aging curve. I was 57 when I took my first class, and sixty-six in this shoot.

10/03/2016

Quote of the month: