Connect

Yoga has the power to connect. So does music. So does dance. So do poetry and the grace of social service. So too does the loving witness of another in their reflective presence to your pain and joy. I have never met a person who wasn’t holding a seed of sincerity in their hand. Looking […]

Yoga nidra has been one of my main offerings both in yoga retreats and studio classes for over a decade. As a teacher and psychologist, I can’t talk enough about the incredible benefits of this technique. In this article, I would like to share with you what’s going on in your brain while you are […]

Please let me be unbound But create for me a haven Where I am always welcome After roaming the plains of my own wilderness. Show me that you are not afraid of the Depth of my Love. That you embrace my adoration for you Not as a sign that you have to live up to […]

I had some routine bloodwork done recently. Now you’d think someone who watched a documentary about Theranos and listened to all 6 hours of a podcast about Theranos would be coolcoolcool with a simple visit to the lab. But deep down I’m also still that little kid who heard you had to get shots to […]

French philosopher Simone Weil defined prayer as “absolutely unmixed attention.” Such attention allows for multiple foci of awareness, as practiced during pranayama. It is somatically empowering to know how to hold space for more than one thing occurring simultaneously. This is useful practice for situations that are alarming. One goal is to stay inside of […]

At moments along my journey, just like all of us, I have had moments of discouragement and despair. And when I bottom out, I hear the phrase “Remember who you are.” That phrase acts as a life raft and, when I hold onto it, it brings me back to where I need to be. I […]

In 2018, I had my “come to God” moment. Suddenly, my husband left. In the first few months, I was utterly convinced my life was over. And then, one day, after months of fog, I realized it was quite the opposite. We tend to lean negative. We get stuck in traffic and are irritated, certain […]

Breath practice is a listening practice. We live in a visual culture, but we are part of a sonic community. You can close your eyes, but never your ears: hearing is just too precious for survival. There are animals who live and listen deep in the sea or underground with no need for eyes. Observe […]

I’ll be honest. My gratitude practice has been a scanty one. It’s only when things get really bad that I focus on what I’m grateful for, just enough to keep my head above water to take a deep, gasping breath before a wave crashes down on my head. I’ve been working from home more often […]

One of my favorite yoga instructors back in California used to always start his classes off by saying, ”Follow the Wisdom of your Heart.” I loved the imagery that would then ensue in my head. Bright blue skies, birds chirping and me sitting inside a beautiful garden. My eyes are closed and my face is […]

The morning light falls across the room like a familiar voice, echoing thoughts of “that week” so distinctly. The week my son’s rare, noncancerous brain mass hit his hypothalamus, his body temperature hit 105.6, and the word impossible hit everyone’s lips. One year later, Hospice still whispers in hushed shock that surviving was supposed to […]

We may try to ignore it but deep within we can sense it. I feel it. I hear it. I experience it beyond the level of the physical body, And I know that ignoring it is not longer an option. The unfolding of a new path. The discovery of a greater sense of purpose. The […]

The political is personal. The personal is practical. The practical is related to embodied daily life: it is reflected in how you carry out your life and acts. Many of us go about our lives in a disembodied/dissociated way, feeling that our bodies are somehow split from our minds. We exist at different locations on […]

My birthday is always a time of reflection, honoring the emotions that arise and exploring how I can embrace a more balanced energy. As I begin my 42nd year around the Sun, I know that the scars of my traumatic childhood will always be there. Part of me will always be fearful, anxious and a […]

When giving adjustments, I don’t tell people to smile. Why would I ask someone to perform in a yoga class? My goal in giving an adjustment is to support a student in going where they don’t usually go and helping them draw insight from a new experience. I don’t request an external facial expression in […]

The physical limb of yoga, asana, was initially performed by ancient Indian yogis with the intention of physically preparing the body for seated meditation. But I’d argue that in the 21st century, our minds need as much preparation as our bodies do! The idea of sitting still and simply being runs counter to the cultural […]

Please remember. When it gets dark and scary and it feels like everybody left. When it gets real and the safety net is pulled from under your feet. When you can’t see your own shadow because everything around you is a shadow. When you have no choice but to rise because you’ve been falling forever. […]

A few years ago, I was challenged by a wise teacher to consider the belief that we are all doing the best we can. It seemed simple enough to think of the glass as half full, to perceive people as kind and to see that light is brighter than darkness. Then the unimaginable happens- a […]

Yesterday, I gratefully accepted an unexpected offer of a ride across town. Conversation unfolded as we traveled tree lined streets. We shared delight in the rich hues of leaves gracing branches and sidewalks. My kind companion said she had been walking in Gatineau Park the day before and I asked if the colours were at […]

This morning I was contemplating the reason for our pervasive and persistent infatuation with physical beauty. Here’s what I came up with: our attraction to those people and things that are most aesthetically pleasing, is intuitive and natural. I would like you to imagine a person – someone you find to be extremely beautiful, magnetic, […]

How do we define embodiment? In the beautiful words of French philosopher Merleau-Ponty, “To be a consciousness or rather to be an experience is to hold inner communication with the world, the body, and other people, to be with them instead of being beside them.” These days I call myself more of an embodiment teacher […]

Human love relationships have forever been characterized by the dualities this material world is subject to; joy one day, suffering the next; trust then betrayal; selflessness then selfishness; happiness then sadness; passion then burn out. This is why so many people experience similar patterns of disappointment in one relationship after another. If we can see […]

Come back to your heart noble one, trained one, ancient one pumping the richest life you’ve come to know and love come back to your heart no matter what the circumstance ask her what she feels, what you should do she will answer let her tell you the truth let her reclaim stories when you […]

I’m a yoga instructor. It’s what I’ve been calling myself since I was given my own time slot, my own class description on a web page, my own class and my own place to take up space. I was trained at an Ashtanga-inspired studio in a very traditional fashion. I am the teacher. I’m there […]

Today, almost everyone spends hours hunching over their phones and sitting in front of computers and laptops. These repetitive patterns can cause shoulder and neck strain. By doing the following yoga sequence, a person can reduce these adverse effects and support the healthy movement of the shoulders and other body parts, relieve pain, and remove […]

Inner sensing is the practice of recognizing the boundaries that exist inside the body, within the skin bag. We recognize the internal environment by use of the nervous system. The fascia system, or interstitium, is the structural component that makes up the internal boundaries of the body. Our inner sensing ability consists of our skill […]

When we harness our inner sensing abilities and marry them to our curiosity, we engage in a practice of deep listening to the body. We carry a wealth of unlocked potential within our bodies. In many ways, we have lost contact with important parts of ourselves. We are awakening to practices in order to recognize […]

Meditation is a practice that unites all parts of the self. Influence your students to move beyond the usual outer layers of being into the interior with these practice tips. 1. Engage the Body by Activating the Deep Core Muscles – As the inhale moves in and down filling the lungs, the pelvic floor responds […]

Things I resented the most right after my two and half year old son Tommy died? Babies. Glowing pregnant mothers. Little boys in general. Happiness in general. People with normal ungrateful boring lives in general. The world kept on turning and I kept shouting but no sound came out. So I started writing (thank you, […]

I was laying there, blissed out in Savasana, my body drenched in sweat and my mind empty. Friday night classes at my studio in New York are usually packed and filled with transformative energy. We leave the whirlwind of the week behind and try to ground ourselves, in order to approach the weekend with optimism […]

I remember the way I felt when I left my teacher training. After a month spent learning about yoga, teaching, meditation and the yogic life, I was so connected to myself & my thoughts. I was keeping track of my ideas and I couldn’t believe that I’d have the honor of guiding people through their […]

The space was the desert in the south of Tunisia. Camp Mars to be precise. The practice was an early morning walk, the air still cool as the sun rose up above the mountains of sand. The community were the people I loved who were faraway yet very present in my heart during that early […]

“You still have weeks to go” a woman said to me as we stood in line at the market. I had been practicing how to lovingly receive uninvited advice since I began to show signs of a baby growing inside. I kindly smiled at her, then felt the sensation of a labor contraction, one of […]

The past three years have seen me moving house a lot. The most recent move was back to Tunisia on a one way ticket. The last time I moved here, I arrived with a cold that lasted a month. I was anxious and fearful, my digestive system was up and down; basically I was your […]

Notice when you’re effort-ing…it might resemble strain or force. Follow the direction of ease; it might feel more like peace. Notice when you’re attached or fixed to an outcome…it might seem like grasping or clinging. Follow the direction of your heart-center; it might feel more like surrender. When you come up against resistance, notice the […]

Everyone has an angle. Each of us are only able to teach from our own subjectivity. While you may see common threads in student’s weaves or similar foibles in their forms, try not to universalize. You too are always only seeing things from your point of view. One of the reasons we practice in a […]

Self care is deeply altruistic. When I am able to attend to my life with focus and attention, I am less likely to go seek out what I might need in others. More specifically, when a person is feeling good and grounded in themselves, a seemingly natural empathy and curiosity about others tends to present […]

Many of us feel overwhelmed in our busy lives. We yearn for quiet, for stillness and for the space to reflect. Breathing practices can be very practical and very sneaky, as they can be done anywhere and for any amount of time. We train in class and then, with practice, many techniques can become so […]

The maiden; she is pure in heart and often found dancing in the sunlight (or the rain) for the simple delight and experience. She inspires the continued dance of the Universe and her joy is limitless. She is memorizing with her playfulness and unabashed with her curiosity to discover more. Pure. Joyful. Creative. Playful. We […]

For me, a yoga practice is technical, durational and alchemical. The myriad experiences and distractions of daily life can leave me feeling scattered and disorganized. I turn towards structural habits to protect and potentiate myself. Many seek ways to define or describe yoga. I understand yoga to be a very broad category for many types […]

Pretend that yoga is a planet. A perfect planet with balance on a normal orbital pattern, moving around the sun. The approach of another planet enters with an equal, perfect orbital pattern. During parts of your day, the orbital pattern of the second planet blocks out the sun. The world, for a moment, has come […]

Highly Sensitive People have sensitive nervous systems. They pick up on more things in their environment and they process them more deeply than others. High sensitivity is a superpower but it does have its challenges, as sensitives are likely to reach overwhelm and burn out more quickly than their non-sensitive friends. While Highly Sensitive People […]

Yoga philosophy tells us to connect with our breath, settle our minds, and move with purpose. Nowhere in the yoga texts does it say we need to do any of that within the parameters of a 24” X 68” rectangle. Despite that, yoga lovers are extremely committed to that rectangle. We pamper our mats, we […]

While negotiating with one of my kids about peas and carrots, my husband said something to me that scared me more than anything has since the time of monsters and ghosts: No salary this month. This, on top of the fact of my smallest child’s fever, on top of my own sickness coming on, on […]

Many people talk about a company’s leadership as the senior-most executives in the organization. Leadership actually has nothing to do with titles, whether you have a corner office, or where you sit at the conference table. Inherently, leadership means understanding yourself from an inward perspective as well as translating your own tendencies, strengths, and approaches […]

I do yoga while my son naps my mind split between being present and listening for moving around. His feet hit the floor, the bedroom door is flung open. This is the push and pull of my days. My longing for a steadier temper, a calmer mind. My reality of struggling to not yell at […]

The other day, I consciously carved out time to be alone outside. My mind was spinning with thoughts that needed discernment in quiet ground. I chose to walk through the woods in frigid cold with the intention of getting fired up. It is in nature where my magic happens, where my mind settles enough to […]

I discovered a secret that’s not really a secret at all. It’s loud and clear. It’s true and pure. It’s felt, known and present. The secret? Go inside. Go there and listen. Go there and trust. Your Truth is inside of you. You were given it to guide you. The world will try to trick […]

Learning to trust and surrender to your intuition can be a rocky road filled with ups and downs; hopes and fears; inspiration and doubt. I’ve been there. Coming home to my inner voice rocked my world. It tested me in ways that I wasn’t expecting. It lead me to the healing that my soul knew […]

What if this hardship is love in disguise? What if its purpose is not to cause you lasting pain, but to point you toward lasting healing? What if it’s breaking you down so you can sift through what’s true and rebuild something new? What if it’s molding you into the person you came here to […]

Six months ago, I was accidentally hit in the head during my summer vacation and I experienced a concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). After returning home, I made several attempts at teaching my regular yoga classes, all of which resulted in a major upswing in my symptoms. I recently decided […]

I met Elena about 6 years ago during a serendipitous encounter at a hotel in Santa Monica. Truth be told, I didn’t recognize her and I definitely had no idea that she would change my life. I had been teaching yoga for several years and at the time was practicing shiatsu. After meeting Elena during […]

“Gods become demons when you use them to keep yourself in that room with the doors and windows closed.” – A Guide to Compassionate Living by Pema Chodron. I cooked my Nana’s recipes for Thanksgiving this year. By that I mean I cooked my Nana’s recipes, because my mother and my other Gram don’t have […]

I ain’t gonna study war no more These days all my lessons are the same. Every teaching brings me back to the same well, and I do not mind one bit. A reversal of the highest order, and I am so HERE for it—meaning, it is WHY I am here. The essential teaching resonates in […]

S E E the teacher in all things the light and the dark the ebb and the flow P R A C T I C E reminds us that there is a steady, constant light of grace behind the natural shift of the external experience pure awareness P R E S E N C E […]

When art makes you cry On a day that you chose To wear eye make up. Make up for what? My eyes without Colouring in Are not good enough? Sad thing is That today it’s only Me that will see My eyes in disguise; Natural masks natural I did it for me? To present my […]

As a yoga student, yoga teacher and therapist I have had many thoughts and discussions on the topic of time. When this poem came to mind last week I decided to share, in order to perhaps stimulate reflection on timekeeping in the world of yoga. It is not meant to point fingers, unless at myself, […]

Today’s world is offering many challenges to our children and families. Challenges that our society and its pivotal structures are ill-equipped to effectively support. One need only to look through a critical lens and see that we are attempting to raise our children in an outdated paradigm of rules, regulations, demanding structures, and very little […]

I was on a spiritual high as I said goodbye to my dear friends in India. Feeling grateful and blessed for 3 magical weeks of teachings, temples, prayer and devotion. Hugging, promising to be back soon, I heard something hit the floor. I looked down and saw half of my Cartier Love bracelet on the […]

The world will give you many opportunities to not love yourself to believe there is something that needs fixing that you are broken fragmented unlovable and unworthy your ego will give you many thoughts that say how pathetic how much of a failure how insignificant and inconsequential you are there will be more than enough […]

I wonder who I will be when it’s no longer you and me but rather me and me and you and you one day, maybe soon, it will be you and her me and him I can’t help but wonder how much we shaped each other’s being carved our names into each other’s hearts and […]

Be here fully now, she says, dive in with your senses with your thoughts and your words immerse yourself completely commit to presence and I answer every time I choose to lean in I answer every time I align to love I answer when I embody sobriety because there is nothing to escape anymore there […]

As someone who started yoga at the age of 17, I’ve always seen yoga and yoga practices as life-changing, transformative and something that anyone can benefit from. Being a young and enthusiastic yogi, I assumed that yoga had the capacity to prevent and cure all disease. You can imagine my total shock when at 42, […]

Do not confuse your personality with your soul or the small mind with the universal cosmic mind the little self with the big Self your body with who you truly are because when you feel like you don’t belong when you live in comparison when you can’t see yourself when the world seems dark and […]

Dear Yoga Teacher, I’ve got something I need to say to you and I’m going to sound like a party pooper. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I can’t remember reading anywhere in the Bhagavad Gita that a fine glass of Merlot goes down well after a challenging Vinyasa class and I don’t think […]

God. A white man with a long white beard who lives on a cloud? Some presence to be feared, that is always checking up on you? Growing up, I was drawn to Church. I liked the idea of something bigger than me on which I could rely to guide me in my life. Each time […]

Recently, here in Northern California, fires tore through cities and burned thousands of homes and businesses to the ground. Lives were lost, and many of us were left stunned, breathing in people’s and animals’ lost lives and dreams, and hearing stories of those who lost everything. These fires came on the heels of hurricanes that […]

Who Am I? Sat Nam. Truth is my name, truth is my identity. I AM. What does that mean? Sometimes it means everything. Sometimes it can explain anything. Sometimes it requires further inquiry. Who AM I? What is my IDENTITY? Am I a Writer, Yogi, Director, Teacher, Mentor? Yes. And no. These are all things […]

The spider web glistened by the light of the sun. Larger than my hand, radiating from each shiny thread, it appeared untethered to any physical structure at first glance. As I nudged closer for a better look, I could see strands that stretched out from the web to a bench on one side and a […]

I always knew I’d give birth for a second time. It was just something my husband and I knew we wanted. When my oldest child was two, I decided to jump in head first and sign up for my 200 hour teacher training. It would be ten months long, and I had hoped I would […]

Rural places want and need yoga. The task for a rural yoga teacher is to create a sacred space in public places. For the past two years, I have been teaching yoga in towns of 4,000 or fewer. In Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, I opened Simple, Joyful Yoga, a studio based in my living room. […]

I used to smoke. And run marathons. Not at the same time but I would light up on the drive home. My knees would hurt so I’d take seven Advil, so I could keep running, keep working out, terrified that I’d “get fat” if I missed a day. I drank most nights Taking only one […]

Vulnerability. Does it make you uncomfortable? Fearful? Do you cringe a little bit? I do. A little voice within goes “Eeeek!!! No way!” Then I realize: whatever situation is bringing this up in me, is something I should probably lean into. First, what does it mean, to be vulnerable? It is defined as “being capable […]

Recently I read a post from Seane Corn: “Trust your process, let it open your soul and allow for a new awakening to occur that can bring you closer to your highest self in love. Always remember ‘just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly’.” The analogy struck a chord […]

Wrapping up this journey, I view my whole being from the Katonah Magic Square perspective. I access my implicit third nature through my explicit first and second nature. In Nevine’s glyph, the right profile of 2,7 and 6 shows 2 as the vision of reflection, 7 as the hand of skill and 6 as the […]

When it comes to matters of the heart, there is a core relationship that proceeds all others. The relationship between Fear and Love. The fateful crossfire we eventually come to before entering a union with another, or when we give birth to someone or something that, in it’s essence, becomes a part of our heart. […]

I hold beautiful memories from childhood of my brother and I sitting on surfboards in the ocean. We would wait for what we deemed the perfect wave and elatedly surf toward the sandy beach. The goal in the moment was to experience the thrilling ride, and I can recall some memorable trips to shore. Yet, […]

Why do you practice Yoga? Exploring this theme in my own practice in the wake of so many natural disasters, I find that consistency brings hope and clarity in times of uncertainty. My Yoga looks more restorative and less structured than ever before as I explore movement with ease. How can we approach practice with […]

Half way through my 40th year, I am finally beginning to feel the inner connection I had as a child. There is a playfulness to how I approach my time alone, which is creating a deep sense of renewed joy that is rippling through the rest of my life. Taking extended periods of time for […]

They say there’s a silver lining to every cloud. They say we have two choices: the easy wrong and the hard right. But sometimes, we choose not to believe them. I believe, for months, that there is no silver lining to this particular cloud. It hangs ominously over the hard right path, so naturally, I […]

“Having a higher vision is to see the big picture, know the terrain and discern choices. When you have options, you become powerful! Show up at the right place at the right time and find joy.” – Nevine Michaan Rooms 2, 9 and 4 is shown in the glyph above with its fractals: From the […]

When you think of loss, you may recall moments in your life when someone passed away, or a heartache from a romantic break up. But facing loss can mean a number of different things that we may encounter on our paths throughout our life’s journey. I have had a very difficult year with respect to […]

I am governed By no man- No land, System, Or belief. I stand A sovereign State Of Being- Anchoring The freedom Of Light In me. A life lived in constriction is obsolete, archaic, and unnatural. Attachments to circumstances that do not serve hijack the senses and perpetuate long-standing stories of lack. This does not have […]

I’m feeling flighty, aggravated, and not good enough. I want to teach more. I want to write more. I want to eat better, look better, be better. I want the world to appreciate me and think I’m special, unique, and most certainly one of a kind. I want to be remembered long after I die. […]

I recently went to a yoga workshop, thinking it would be about cultivating community. It was only when I rolled my mat out and looked around me that I realised I was alone. And worse than that, I was alone in a room with a bunch of shiny happy yoga people! They all seemed to […]

The traditional method of learning yoga was through an apprenticeship or extended study with one’s teacher. I was blessed to study for several years under some of my first teachers, Desi Springer and Shannon Paige. Both of these amazing women taught me how to teach yoga as a healing practice, to hold space for my […]

I often think about the many ways in which the practice of yoga has transformed my life over the past ten years. I love moving with the flow of my breath. I savor the process of getting still. I love the philosophy, the discipline, the artistry. And while I love the asana practice for all […]

This morning I picked a healing card from Elena’s cards as I do every morning. However today I didn’t like the one I chose. As I looked at it, I thought I’ve picked this one recently, it must be a mistake, I don’t have anything to learn about this right now. I wanted a new […]

I never wanted china when I married; I’m not a fancy gal and it seemed like a waste. But when my mom scored 12 settings of white plates with silver rims at her church rummage sale, I was thrilled- they were just my simple style. We used the tableware for holidays; hauling it out of […]

Settling into my seat, reading the class energy, I assessed what best to teach the group. They didn’t need to say anything. It was all there. Looking tired, but eager to get moving. Bodies running on empty, minds running on overdrive, enthusiasm and inspiration dulled like smoldering wet wood on a fire. A typical state […]

When I began practicing yoga, it was never a given that it would lead to teaching career. Most teachers were selected amongst a group of practitioners that were involved in a dedicated practice involving not only classroom study but what eventually would evolve into crafted disciplines, hand-picked assistants and dedicated initiations. At that time, as […]

Do you love to run headlong at life? Do you feel guilty if you don’t put 100% into everything that you do? Do you have to be the best at everything? I know I do, it’s the only way to get results right? Well, not exactly. In fact running headlong into life, full steam ahead […]

“When faced with a challenging task or circumstance, the difference between joy and terror is technique. Skilled surfers celebrate a giant wave; novices are stricken with fear!” – Nevine Michaan. 7 is my right hand, my instrument to accomplish and explore the explicit. It is my hand of skill and training. A well-developed hand can […]

Today I poured a full bottle of vodka down the drain. Mid-yoga practice. I had drank the night before I wasn’t hungover, but I wasn’t clear I’ve done this for years now, slowly taking moments of my morning away. Even the option of alcohol, the knowing it was in the house, was too much. It’s […]

What’s a spiritual goal on your bucket list? Currently I feel like I’m equally knee-deep in motherhood as I am head-high-in-the-clouds yearning for spiritually enlightening experiences. My daily mothering practice looks like this (take a deep breath to read it super fast): 6 kilos of groceries to buy, carry, and put away, 3 nutritious meals […]

18 years ago today I had surgery to fix my broken heart. It was a terrifying time, I went in for tests for something completely unrelated and within a day my chest was being sawed open. When I woke up from that surgery, even before they had pulled the breathing tube out I knew instinctively […]

Winter is dark, destitute, deep and almost unforgiving. Winter is hard, but when one harmonizes with winter there is a deep inner stillness and unwavering contentment that simmers through this cold. In winter all animals go under and this descent below the surface of things is to enter the realm of the unseen. It is […]

Autumn begins its descent down the back of the body as the leaves of autumn reflect the potentials of spring. After everything shoots up, heavy on the vine and full of summer’s ripened bounty, the seasons flip, and all things being their descent earthward. This is a preparation dialogue and autumn is a time of […]

We all gather around the light calling in the spirits calling in the ancestors calling in our hearts— hoping that they hear our sincerity wrapped up in our prayers tangled with our hopes riding along the edges of our dreams. We all gather around the light hoping that we’ll be saved from the recoil imposed […]

Late summer is the lingering heat, the flip, and the cusp of rotation in polarity made spherical. Before the cold winds of autumn and the lush expansion of summer, we have a silent pause before the wheel turns. Late summer is the warmth and the lethargy that the heat of summer has induced. It is […]