For the last two months, I’ve been slowly working through a Pranayama Immersion with Melissa Shah (@findyourbreath). She’s an amazing South Asian teacher I’ve also been taking mantra chanting sessions with. I highly recommend following, learning from her and checking out her offerings.

Since yoga asana is usually the most popular form of practice, the study and teachings of the subtle body, prana and pranayama often get skimmed over in 200 (and even 300) hour teacher trainings. It’s been really amazing to dedicate more time to learning about that area of yoga the last 4 years and deepening my own knowledge for teaching and my own practice. It’s so fascinating and such a beautiful school to see the body and it’s functions through.

Prana is a Sanskrit term that can be translated to mean life force or vital energy. You’ve heard it in my classes and probably in others. And probably all over the internet now. But honestly, when we’re in a yoga class - especially an asana practice that focuses on the physical body, postures and Western anatomy (which is a lot of them), it’s so easy to forget or even altogether miss the deeper intention, purpose and design of the practice.

Pranayama, as most of you might already know, is the yogic practice that focuses on the breath. We usually hear it referred to as breath work or we hear of things like breath work that are disassociated from yoga. Pranayama specifically is all about working with the breath to influence and guide prana in particular ways. We go to the breath directly to turn the unconscious activity of breathing into a conscious practice where we utilize anything from simple awareness to all sorts of different techniques of control.

During the immersion every time we dove a little bit deeper Melissa would raise the question: “what’s the point?”

Whether it’s in the practice of pranayama or asana, meditation, studying the philosophy, or maybe in the practice of integrating yogic concepts into our daily lives, it can be really grounding to come back to that question. As both a student and a teacher, that question was like a light shining on some shadowy corners of the way yoga is generally perceived, taught and on what tends to be missing from the class. Guidance toward the point. It’s hard to do when you only have an hour and the classes are centered on asana. But the mainstream model of yoga has also plugged yoga into the fitness industry which has further contributed to the loss of its true essence when it’s taught.

We may all approach yoga with our own intentions which we can hope to manifest. But ultimately, the humbling truth of the point of yoga, is that we are embarking on a journey through a path that is there to support us toward an unknown outcome or result. This was a major reminder and takeaway from the immersion. We influence prana, that animating life force, so that it can flow as freely as possible in the direction it’s already going. We don’t actually know to what end or what that looks like. But, we do know that what we’re doing influences so much more than the physical. We do know that the point is not just the physical. Nor is it just the metaphysical. We are influencing a network of systems that all already function and operate naturally, symbiotically. Prana animates the systems that the body rely on to function. But we can’t force it to go anywhere or do anything. We are simply cultivating a conscious relationship with that truth about ourselves and supporting the flow. The “true nature” often referred to in yoga is the fact that there is a world within us that is already alive and that is brought to life by the same energy that animates and enlivens the world, the Universe, around us. That’s always the (brilliant) point, no matter what our personal intentions or motivations are.

The yoga practice is vast and is far more specific than it might seem. There are so many ways to influence prana on a beautifully particular level depending on where you are at any given moment, the state of your mind, the situation you may be going through, or something that your body may be experiencing. One pose or breathing technique influences prana one way, while others will influence it another. And we may not always be able to notice or feel the shifts. It’s such an exploration. It’s a living body of knowledge and a moving practice. And, in my opinion, a great opportunity to refine our awareness and relationship to self and all else.

That’s been a big part of my shifting - no, expanding - what and how I teach the last several years. I hope to help bridge the gap between how yoga is perceived and what it is at its core. I hope to offer more of what yoga is about and share more of the plethora of practices that are there to support the variety of things we might experience. And that’s always been what gravitates me to yoga. There’s always more. I haven’t been able to stop studying, practicing or teaching since I began and I just keep wanting to learn more! It’s truly the longest (and healthiest) relationship I’ve ever had.

As you practice, I encourage you to continue asking that question. What’s the point? Or, what is my relationship with the practice?

Continue practicing and continue exploring the practice. Continue tuning into where you are and how you your life shift. As you change and evolve as a person and student of the practice and life changes around you, you can find different elements and limbs of the practice to support your ever-changing reality.

We can sit back and enjoy the blissful experiences we gain from each and every practice while also connecting more deeply to the practice itself by grounding in its intention and purpose.

We often don’t realize how lucky we are to have our most powerful resource available to us at all times.  Our breath! In the yoga practice one of the major disciplines is pranayama.  Pranayama is a Sanskrit term we can understand to mean "breath control". Today we commonly call this practice breath work.  It is the practice of connecting to the breath consciously and applying varying techniques to exercise our breathing and regulate or shift the state of our mind and body. On a deeper level, it’s a gateway to experiencing our Nature of inter-connectedness, oneness with all of life, oneness with the Divine.

One of the major benefits of conscious breath work - pranayama - practice is reducing stress!  We can use our breath as a tool to create balance in our nervous system by shifting from the sympathetic nervous system (our stress response) to the parasympathetic nervous system (relaxation). Using our breath as a regulation tool can help us lower our cortisol levels, lower blood pressure, and reduce muscular tension in minutes. Doing this regularly over time gradually helps us keep things flowing nicely and “spiritually prepared” for the things that really shake things up.

Here are a few breathing tips that you can practice from just about anywhere, any time to keep your practice going and manage your stress levels:

1. Become Aware Of Your Breath - simply becoming aware of our breath automatically slows it down and puts us more in control of the rhythm of your breath.

2. Practice Breathing Through Your Nose - our nose is our body’s natural air filter, air conditioner and pacer.  Mouth breathing, however unintentional, stresses the systems of the body.  Nostril breathing immediately brings us back into more balance!

3. Slow It Down - our breath and our heart are directly connected.  When our breath is fast, our heart rate tends to be faster.  When we breathe slower our heart rate tends to be slower.  Slower breathing initiates calm. 

4. Lengthen Your Inhales and Exhales - lengthening our breaths helps us slow it down while also increasing its depth.  Studies find that the average person doesn’t use their lungs to their full capacity!  With longer inhales and exhales we increase lung and diaphragm function.  This means breaths that are more full and balanced.

5. Check Your Posture - an upright posture with a long spine helps our breath flow more fully and freely!  It’s common for us to hunch forward.  Especially if we find ourselves sitting a lot.  Try sitting or standing “tall”.  Move the shoulders back and down.  Gently lift and widen the chest.  It takes a bit more work if we’re not used to it, but this can quickly make breathing easier and better! (Also, long, full breaths also help us posture up)

These basic tips support our overall health and well-being no matter how much stress you are experiencing.  Like drinking water or eating nutritious food, good breathing will always nourish and support a healthier, freer and more agile mind, body and spirit.  To maximize the benefits, practice these regularly.  Try dedicating even just a few minutes a day to create a habit of better breathing and a more regularly balanced state! 

I’m sitting at one of my favorite local restaurants in between zoom calls and just kind of sitting in a reflection of how much things have changed.

Last year around this time I jumped at an opportunity to teach yoga for the Food For Life program at a local non profit organization called Grow Good: a unique organization and urban farm whose mission is to serve the Salvation Army Bell shelter across the street. The farm itself sends their fresh, organic harvested produced directly to the shelter kitchen. In the Food For Life program, we teach yoga & holistic wellness in weekly workshop style classes designed to support the shelter participants - our students mainly made up of folks in recovery and veterans - in cultivating healthy living habits that support their physical, emotional, and mental well-being. We hold classes outside in a garden space, in a circle, under a huge tree. We take walks through the farm and pick fresh fruit and vegetables. “We observe and connect with the patterns, processes, and relationships among the natural world” to restore and reconnect a broken bond we tweet human and spirit.

This is some form of a “dream job”. I used to think I had a dream job. Teaching yoga and having the privilege somehow to offer a sacred practice I’ve come to adopt and benefit from has seriously been a dream. Getting to apply that vision to a purpose & cause much bigger than myself is an even bigger dream that materialized while starting to spend time getting clearer on what direction I wanted to go in and how I wanted to continue on the path as a yoga teacher and being of service. And it’s a beautiful beast that is taking me in a direction that I recognize and also couldn’t imagine. That part I love. I love moving into the un-imaginable, the un-foreseeable.

So I said I’d never take a “desk job” again but here I am. At a table sitting. I do this for hours a day now. Connecting with people in the community to get a little support for the unhoused community, which has been so stigmatized and marginalized.

For the last month, I’ve been managing the Food For Life program. It was a totally unplanned thing that is now one of the easiest jobs I’ve ever had. Running a program I really love and believe in makes it easy. Wanting it to grow is natural. I can feel the foundation underneath me that was built years and years ago. At that time I wasn’t ready to stand and work on that, but now it’s holding me up. Our past, however behind us it is, often has elements that we use as ground.

I’ve been here before. Years ago I did research and advocacy work with this very same community. It was a different project and a very different time and place in my life. Returning to this field of work in this time feels different. I’m bringing a different version of myself into it all. And yoga is still a very large part of it - if not a major component.

I guess it took a pandemic for me to pivot and redirect to find myself doing a thing I said I’d never do (again). How many things have I said I’d “never” do and wound up doing them? So many.

Maybe there are things that are a firm no and remain that way for as long as we live. But I continue to find that embodying the practice of openness and surrender to life means that change is all there ever is. And that who we are today may find that what was a no before is a yes now. When we surrender to the flow of life and the sequence that we co-create, we stop limiting ourselves to only what we think is or isn’t possible. This is a reflection for the moment and every moment. Even despite having declared “I’d never”, I am. We ebb and we flow and move with the realization that life is mostly out of our control.

We never know where we’ll end up, what will happen, or how all of the moments in our lives will mold us. Things we have left behind always have the potential to pop up again. And personally, I believe that the things that really mean something to us don’t go anywhere. Our passions, creative inspirations and pursuits- these are things that gravitationally pull at our being. Maybe we ignore or suppress them. Maybe the timing isn’t right. The process and unfolding of our journeys is a wild mystery. But I think we all have moments that take place, maybe further down the line, that give us the feeling that the parts have come together, the moments and experiences are all connected and have some purpose. They feel like they led to where you are now. And perhaps they did.

I may work at a desk more than I’m teaching classes now, but it’s not the end of a dream. I see this as the application of all I have to offer, and a passion that’s been practiced for years, being put toward a bigger, evolved version of this dream.

I’m still very much a yoga teacher and I know that I always will be. Even if I also find other ways to be of service to you and this great big world we live in.

the way we’ve evolved to avoid or attempt at all costs to get rid of pain as if it isn’t an incredible, necessary part of our design meant to inform us of a deeper issue residing somewhere within us that - when given attention and curiosity - could be worked through and resolved is mind-boggling...

and most of us don’t realize we’re doing it!

pain is a messenger we are lucky to have

both over stimulation + numbing make it more difficult to tolerate pain, intuitively connect to what the pain may be stemming from, and distract us from the roots of issues and dis-ease we experience. Like if we can’t feel it anymore it must be better.

But it’s not.

we can even develop comfort levels and attachment to pain that can make it hard to disassociate from

where there’s pain, there’s information and tough as it is to face it, that information is key to finding solutions and growth from whatever is causing it

feel to heal. yes even the pain.

and remember there’s freedom on the other end