Blog

Welcome to the yoga of the microbiota. We are not only one but also many. Many organisms and ecosystems, what some are describing as our “second genome” or “inner space,” compose us. We are billions of beings, now featured in this month’s Smithsonian Magazine: We tend to think that we are exclusively a product of [...]

Last week found me in an isolated area of Northern California, with 30 yogis who were completing a training process of many years, in preparation to teach Mindful Yoga. The chance to live— even for a day, weekend, or a week— in an isolated, natural setting is so essential for us city dwellers. The trees, [...]

As some of you know, my wife ran the 2013 Boston Marathon last week. It was her first one, and I was there with friends and family to cheer her on. The pre-race days before were filled with… fun and anticipation! The race expo. Driving the course. Dinner with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Marathon Challengers. [...]

I have a cool new anatomy app that shows the nervous system. I keep peeling away virtual layers and looking at the vagus nerve, a paired ribbon of nerve threading together brain, heart, stomach, lungs, and gut. (What happens in vagus doesn’t stay in vagus… sorry, couldn’t resist. Vagus means “wandering”!) We’re networked for sensitivity. [...]

With President Obama’s pledge this week of $100 million to the BRAIN Initiative to study the human mind, I have to wonder how the mind is defined. That may seem like a strange response but, as a meditator and embodiment practitioner, I tend toward noticing that the mind extends beyond the brain. And this week [...]

Despite all the evils they wished to crush me with/I remain as steady as the three-legged cauldron. (M. Wittig) This month there’s a lot happening in the realm of freedom, rebirth and liberation: it’s the beginning of spring, this week it’s Passover and Easter, and the US Supremes are hearing arguments on Prop 8 and [...]