Yoga with PJ

09/26/2025

11/19/2024

Interesting insights here into mindfulness practices and the experience of time.

Psychologists and neuroscientists have studied for years how our perception of time changes and evolves throughout our lives

05/22/2024

A new study finds that altered states of consciousness (ASCs), like those experienced during meditation, are more common than previously thought. 45% of respondents reported experiencing ASCs at least once, often leading to positive outcomes.

10/11/2023

"One who knows the secret of sound, knows the mystery of the whole universe." – Hazrat Inayat Khan

09/26/2023

Well, to be fair, the poses are asana, not "yoga." And while yoga is often the word assigned to a collection of spiritual practices, yoga is defined in the sutras of Patanjali as a state of consciousness that leads to self-realization. I'm guessing AI isn't quite there yet. I still think this is pretty cool, though.

A VIDEO of Tesla’s humanoid robot Optimus has left viewers ‘mind blown’ as it displays impressive balance and coordination while doing Yoga. Optimus, the brainchild of Tesla owner…

09/05/2023

I don't have a ❤️ button anymore, but 2 different style Wow reacts 😁

08/28/2023

I prefer to refer to different asana as gentle or intense:

"But several times during the class she approach me and said, “This is how to do that if you’re a beginner.” Other times she said, “You can skip this pose if you’re a beginner” or “Advanced students can do the pose this way, but you should use a strap if you’re a beginner.”

But at that point I’d been practicing yoga regularly for more than 15 years and teaching for more than 10 – and not just classes, but workshops and teacher trainings – I’d written manuals and published articles. But she didn’t know me. So she assumed I was a beginner – probably because I’m not very flexible.

After class when my friend introduced me to her as a trainer, she was noticeably taken aback. I thanked her and we chatted for a little while and then said our goodbyes. Frankly, it was a little awkward, and it left me wondering: Why had she been taught (or unconsciously internalized) that people with less flexibility are automatically beginners?"

With all the discussion over the last 10 years about trauma, hypermobility, injuries, accessibility, etc. you’d think that everyone in the yoga world would’ve caught on – unfortunately, that’s not the case.

08/22/2023

Long article that looks at technology and research around meditation and some of the implications. One of the big questions raised is whether the path to attaining advanced meditation brainwave states makes a difference (rapidly through technological manipulation, or slowly through meditation practice.)

I would say that it does (and I have a lot of practical experiential reasons why.) But as a metaphor, think of Mt Everest. If someone flew you to the top to meet some folks who just climbed it, you would all enjoy the same majestic view. But your physiology and oxygen utilization and overall fitness would be very different. The meaning and transformative power of the experience would be different.

That said, there are still techniques to climb the mountain a little more quickly, efficiently and safely. That's a big part of the work I do as a yoga teacher and yoga therapist.

Exploring the wider range of meditation is no longer reserved for the monasteries. The new science of meditation is just getting started.

08/05/2023

Studies also show yoga helps with all of this. If this is you, don't hesitate to ask me about resources:

"People who dealt with violence at a young age were 40% more likely to have some sort of mobility impairment, such as trouble walking; 80% were more likely to have difficulty with daily activities later in life; and those who came from unhappy families were 40% more likely to have at last mild cognitive impairment."

Ailments later in life could be linked to childhood.

07/30/2023

An insightful piece on yogic ethics via a historic and current pop culture moment (Oppenheimer).

The new film Oppenheimer includes a famous episode in which lines from the Bhagavad Gita flash through J. Robert Oppenheimer's mind as he witnesses the first atomic bomb explosion in July 1945.

07/18/2023

Museums, paddle boats, live music, lawn bowling, archery, flowers, Japanese tea garden, yoga and sound baths (by yours truly) and best of all, empty wild-ish spaces for picnic and guitar playing. Golden Gate Park, pure magic. Come out and play!

Take in the views of San Francisco’s celebrated 1,107-acre park.