yama

• June 14, 2024

  Less is More — Why?

  As a writer I’ve heard the advice Less is More all my life. But why? What does less offer that’s greater than more? Here’s a literary example: The luxuriant, soft, red, gold and brown coat of my athletic old farm dog shimmered and gleamed in the bright warm sunshine as he investigated his surroundings with…

• May 23, 2024

  Non-violence — Really?!?

  I don’t remember where I first heard this old teaching story, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. It goes something like this: Once, there was a terrible band of robbers. The chief bandit was known for his violence and recklessness. He grew rich from raiding the local villages, and the whole countryside…

• March 7, 2024

  Can We Talk About God?

  Last week, I wrote about the last niyama which is also the third and final act of yoga: ishvara pranidhana. I translated it as surrender and suggested (a little counter-intuitively) that it was THE necessary skill for practicing accountability, which is important if we are trying to change habits. A more complete translation of ishvara…

• February 24, 2024

  I leave my clothes in a wad on the floor and other failures

  Why don’t I always stand up straight? Why do I eat chocolate late at night? And then more chocolate? Why don’t I close the cupboards when I’m done? Why do I lose my temper when I’m frustrated? WHY DON’T I DO WHAT I KNOW I SHOULD DO? I’ve practiced yoga a long time and learned…

• January 11, 2024

  How Not To Be a Tool

  The other day, I and several other shoppers waited about ten minutes while the clerk made sure it was okay to sell me alcohol. The clerk had my identification. And I’m sixty-five years old. The problem was that the electronic reader was having trouble with the barcode on my license. About forty person-minutes were spent…