Morning Light Yoga

06/09/2026

06/09/2026

A patient mind is a joy forever indeed. It's something which then... one has no fear. You see, normally we're completely motivated by our hopes and fears. You know, our hopes for everything coming, which is non-difficult and pleasurable, and our fears that we will encounter things which are difficult for us. And because of these hopes and fears, our longing for security, our fear of insecurity, we suffer so much. And so the path is learning to go beyond hopes and fears and just rest in what is happening in the moment. To have security in insecurity. And the only security we can have in insecurity is by resting in the nature of our own mind because there's no security outside.

- Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo

Photo: In the temple of Dongyu Gatsal Ling Nunnery, 2025.

06/09/2026

You can hear the ocean inside yourself.
Not as imagination.
Not as metaphor only.
But as the subtle sound of breath when the body becomes quiet, the chest opens, and the mind learns to observe.

Geeta S. Iyengar taught pranayama as a disciplined and subtle practice.

The body must be prepared.
The breath must be refined.
The mind must learn to watch without force.

One way to understand this approach is through three parts:
The body is the laboratory.
It provides the conditions — a quiet seat, an open chest, and a spine that can hold its length without strain.
Until the body can sit in stillness without complaint, pranayama cannot begin in earnest.

This is why asana comes first.
The breath is the experiment.
Not something to seize.
Not something to dominate.

Something to study.
Its length.
Its texture.
Its sound.
Its pauses.

The work is not to push the breath further each day.
The work is to observe it more closely.

The mind is the observer.
Not commentary.
Not impatience.
Not ambition.
Just watching.

When the mind learns to watch without interference, the breath becomes quieter, subtler, and more receptive.

Pranayama is powerful. It deserves respect.

It is not a breathing exercise to learn casually from a video or post. In the Iyengar tradition, it is introduced progressively, after the body has been prepared through consistent asana practice, and under the guidance of a qualified teacher.

What has your experience of pranayama been — difficult, quiet, surprising, or deeply calming?

05/27/2026

I have a weird, inverse variation of imposter syndrome that keeps me up at night (not all nights, but an embarrassing amount).

I don’t feel like an imposter and I don’t lack confidence. But, the world doesn’t make sense to me and I worry about getting left behind. It’s not FOMO—I’m not afraid of missing out on something. I’m worried that my expertise and my teaching will lose their audience.

As I write this, I’m realizing it should be called “irrelevance syndrome.” That’s what I have. I’m not sure if it’s in the DSM, but it damn well should be.

I’m writing this because if I deal with this, I know many of you do, too. So, hey, you have good company and you probably need this reminder that you’re not alone.

Also, my daughter took this photo of me with her proper camera last summer at the Botanical Garden and I’ve been looking for a chance to use it. Not bad considering the subject she had to work with.

05/25/2026