We began a new session this past week at The Yoga Room, and our theme for this session is Wisdom from the Virtues Cards. This deck of cards was given to me a few years ago by a yoga student. The Virtues Project is a global grassroots initiative to inspire the practice of virtues in …
The Yoga Room
The Yoga Room Wins 2nd Year in a Row!
In case you haven’t heard the exciting news yet, The Yoga Room won Best Yoga Studio in Washtenaw County in Current Magazine’s Readers Choice Awards – for the 2nd year in a row! I am very honored and humbled that so many of my students took the time to vote for me. Here’s …
Earth Day Project 2013 – Virginia Park Tree Planting
For our annual Earth Day project this year, 10 hardy Yoga Serves volunteers (plus a toddler and The Yoga Room’s mascot, Annie the dog) came out on a chilly but sunny Sunday morning to help out Ann Arbor Natural Area Preservation by planting some native fruit trees at Virginia Park and doing some general clean-up. …
Earth Day Project 2013 – Virginia Park Tree PlantingRead More
Spring Cleaning: Digestion & Detoxification
This week my intention for our yoga classes here at The Yoga Room was to revitalize the major organs and systems in the body that aid in the detoxification process. Those major detox players are the lymph, blood, liver, kidneys, colon and parasympathetic nervous system. Lymph and blood deliver waste products to the liver, kidneys …
Spring Cleaning: Kapha
In Ayurveda, health is defined as the dynamic state of balance between mind, body, and environment. It is possible for each of us to achieve and maintain a vibrant and joyful state of health by identifying our mind-body type and then creating a lifestyle that sustains and nurtures our unique nature. There are 3 different …
Spring Cleaning: Apana
The tradition of Spring Cleaning can be extended to yoga practice on a multitude of levels. Physically, it is important to recognize the body’s energy systems, and how they respond to seasonal cycles. Our lower bodies are the location of waste energy, or apana. Other ways to describe apana are a heaviness, dullness, or lethargy. …
Spring Cleaning: Tapas & Agni
This post was edited March 2022 to add more content. Sorry, no, I’m not talking about spanish food! The tapas I am referring to here is the discipline, effort, challenge or sometimes even hardship that we go through for the sake of change, growth or to move forward. It is a fiery resolve, pointed strength, …
The 8th Chakra: The Aura
While it is generally acknowledged that there are only 7 chakras, I once took a Kundalini yoga class where the teacher talked about an 8th chakra, the aura. Ever since then I have included the aura in my annual Chakra session. My thinking is that, once we have balanced the 7 chakras located within the …
The 7th Chakra: Sahasrara
The Sanskrit name of the seventh chakra is Sahasrara, which means “thousandfold.” Although this chakra is represented by a thousand-petaled lotus, the number 1000 is not meant literally; instead, it implies the infinite nature of this chakra, which provides us with our most direct connection with the Divine. Although some associate this chakra with the color …
The Sixth Chakra: Ajna
Can you recall last night’s dream? Can you imagine how you would like your body to feel tomorrow? These imaginative abilities–visualizing the past, creating positive pictures of the future, and fantasizing–are all aspects of Ajna chakra, whose Sanskrit name means both ‘the perception center’ and ‘the command center.’ Associated with the color indigo, the 6th …