I would like to share with you a little story about a turtle & a fox. One day, a fox was walking in the forest when they spotted a turtle. The fox thought to themself, "I'm going to have a great dinner tonight." The turtle thought to themself, "I'm scared. Should I run? No, I'm much too slow to outrun the fox." So, the turtle went inside their shell. The fox paced around the turtle all day, but eventually was tired of waiting & left. Why is this story important & what does it teach us about mindfulness? Imagine the fox is whatever plagues you - negative people, pain, stress, an ..read more

We just finished up our September Back to Class challenge & the final week was different types of meditation. This is just a break down of my favorite ways to meditate, & resources I use for my at home meditation practice. Let me begin by saying meditation is hard. Sometimes, I think it’s harder than physical, asana practice. To calm the waves of the mind seems difficult, even on my best days. However, nothing feels better than coming out of a well received meditation. I prefer mindfulness meditation. I think you can do it anywhere, if you allow yourself to release. Mindfulness me ..read more

Hey Monona Yogis! Enjoy this guest blog post from one of our dedicated Ashtanga Students, Curtis Cunningham. When I was in Miami at conference with Sharath Jois, he made the statement that you need to, "research yourself". There is a lot of independent scientific research being produced stating how to become stronger, how to lose weight, how to be the best at this or how to be the best at that. While this research has scientific merit, it is missing the most important thing, it does not include you. All the outside research is not done on your mind, your body, your life experiences, your fear ..read more

I'm sure most of us have heard the phrase, "OM," at least once or twice. I want to briefly explain why we chant this word & why everyone can find resonance with it. First things first, OM & AUM are one & the same. OM is usually used in shorter chanting or used at the beginning of a longer mantra. Whereas AUM is used for extended chanting, making AUM a mantra all on its own. Each letter in the word AUM is its own syllable & has its own meaning. "A" meaning the conscious. "U" meaning the dream state. "M" meaning the dreamless sleep state. They also respectively represent gende ..read more

I recently sat in on a book club meeting at Monona Yoga Center. The book being discussed was A Way From Darkness by Taylor Hunt. It details his personal journey from addiction to healing through his Ashtanga Yoga practice. For the club meeting, the author himself Skyped in to share in the discussion and answer questions. It was an inspirational afternoon. One thing in particular that Taylor said resonated deeply and has stuck with me. When asked how to remain disciplined in practice, how to continue to get up every morning, get on the mat, give energy to this practice, he answered that you hav ..read more