What teaching with Uprising Yoga in Central Juvenile Hall has taught me about non-violence and truthfulness. “My name is Jessica. I feel excited.” As part of the structure of an Uprising Yoga class, we start with a check-in and end with a check-out of all the kids and the staff in the unit in which […]

A few months ago, I was at a yoga event where I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for quite some time. We had an extremely short exchange. I said, ‘hello, how’s it going’. They responded, “so busy. I’m really busy teaching. Just really busy”. In about 1 minute, they were able to sum up […]

I used to teach at a yoga studio that advertised their classes as being heated to “90-95 degrees,” but where in reality the unspoken protocol was to have the room be at least 100, if not 101-102 degrees, with more than 50 percent humidity.  I’ve honestly had a love/hate relationship with super hot yoga during […]

I am mentally Ill person. It’s hard for me to say that because the term “mentally ill” denotes images of drooling crazies, banging their heads against an asylum wall. And although I drool (in my sleep) and sometimes feel like banging my head against the wall, that’s not me. In our society there is a stigma against people […]

I started practicing yoga, because my life was pretty broken. My daughter had just been diagnosed with autism – and my personal demons were louder than ever.   Tired of seeking out therapists and relying on my vices of food and red wine – I knew that I had to seek out healing – and I […]

There’s an especially elegant and uplifting yoga pose that, in my opinion, has a rather unfortunate name. It’s a backbend commonly referred to as “rockstar,” and while it’s one of my favorite poses to practice and teach, its name is just one small part of a long list of things that seem to perpetuate an […]