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Yoga for Shoulders & Neck
When I check in with my yoga class to see what they want to work on, the request is often for neck and shoulder stretches. Here are a few sets of class notes, in case you want to do some stretches, too.
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4 minute life story
Fridays in Satoyama Yoga classes are for community reflection and conversation. We practice half an hour of movement, then sit together and talk. It’s one of my favorite days, and not because I lead only 30 minutes of asanas. Today, we had a special assignment: tell your life story in 4 minutes. I gave a…
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Tokyo Bay Meditation
Find calm depths even as the waves crash around you. This 12 minute guided meditation takes you on a tour of Tokyo Bay and your emotional landscape.
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Repurposing illustrations
I have a few clients who come back to me regularly(ish) for illustration and design work. I was excited yesterday to get a mail from one of them, asking if I had time right away to do some work on a short deadline for a corporate video animation. When we were discussing the details of…
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Creative Business Struggles
I love being a creative person doing work for clients. But balancing my artistic temperament with business skills is a challenge. It has taken me many years to get mostly right, and I’m still working on it. Here are a couple of struggles I’ve faced, that you might feel, too. 1. Pride. I work hard…
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Partner yoga
One of my favorite yoga sessions to lead is partner yoga. A mix of assisted stretching, paired poses, and acroyoga is always fun and challenging for everyone. It’s a lighthearted way for our community to build trust, support, and compassion. Thank you, Toshiko, for grabbing these screenshots on your non-partnered side of the Zoom call.
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Everyday warmup
Follow along with our gentle, seated spinal movements to warm up your body for more yoga. This Kundalini-inspired sequence is the beginning of almost every Satoyama Yoga class.
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112 Meditation Techniques
The Vigyan Bhairav Tantra specifies 112 ways to find reality through meditation. These are the answers that the god Shiva gave to his wife, Shakti, when she asked: O Shiva, what is your reality? What is this wonder-filled universe? What constitutes seed? Who centers the universal wheel? What is this life beyond form pervading forms? How may…
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9 points of dristhi
Drishti is focal point that enhances concentration when you are performing asanas, pranayama and meditation. The nine points are sky, thumbs, third eye, nose, hand, navel, toes, left, and right. While some yoga styles have a fixed or “correct” drishti for each pose, I prefer to let myself choose in the moment. For example, in seated…
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History of Asanas
Asana comes from the Sanskrit for “sitting” and around 500 BCE the first writing about asanas described them as a comfortable and stable seated pose for meditation.In the 10th century, a yogi stated that there were 84 asanas that came from the god Shiva. But they weren’t listed or described until 700 years later. In…
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