While the popularization of yoga is, generally, a positive thing, in many cases the meaning of yoga and the reason for practice may be lost or obscured. When yoga is practiced without understanding or the correct intention, it can lead you away from the yogic state rather than toward the bliss that is promised.

Ultimately, the word yoga refers to the union of the personal self (soul) with the Universal Self, also known as Paramātman or Brahman, considered as the highest form of God. While yoga is an experience, the practice is the vehicle used to bring about the conditions for this union to arise. It is this one state of unity, singular in nature, that many different methods of yoga practice aim to achieve. In order for yoga practices to be successful, however, it is necessary to understand not only what is yoga, but also to develop a state of mind conducive to fostering the ideal environment for this unity to arise.

The Sanskrit word bhāvanā is used to describe this mindset. From the Sanskrit root bhū, or “to be,” bhāvanā means the cultivation of a proper intention. In this context, it refers to creating the mental conditions and focus supportive of success in yoga. It also infers a feeling of faith and devotion in the process. Nurturing yogic bhāvanā from the outset is crucial for the practice to lead toward the final goal of yoga, that is, ‘to be’ or ‘to reside’ in the Self.

There are many sources of inspiration and knowledge for the cultivation of yogic bhāvanā. First, and foremost, is the direct connection to a teacher who has progressed on the path of yoga and attained sufficient experiential knowledge of the system while following an unbroken paramparā, or lineage. The direct connection and devotion to such a teacher has the potential to bring one’s practice to a new level of understanding. In some cases, this may be sufficient, however, for most students, further study of yoga texts and related materials is an important foundation in developing bhāvanā.

While Śrī K Pattabhi Jois, or Guruji, was often quoted as saying, “Yoga is 99 percent practice and 1 percent theory,” he did not mean that we should practice blindly and ignore the underlying philosophy of yoga explained in the śastras, the ancient texts that contain the authoritative teachings of yoga. He simply meant that we should understand and apply the theory of yoga through constant effort—both on and off the mat—incorporating those philosophies into our lives instead of just talking about them. Furthermore, he felt that we should study philosophy as much as possible to try to gain necessary insights into yoga.

Related: Sharath Jois On the Systematic Nature of Aṣṭāṅga Yoga

But how can we gain an understanding of what the yogic state entails without having experienced it directly? Guruji often explained that the method he taught was the Aṣṭāṅga Yoga of Patanjali and Patanjali’s text, The Yoga Sutras, are key to understanding both the method of practice and the state of yoga. Patanjali describes the different stages of yoga in great depth, including the objectives and outcomes of practice as well as the obstacles to practice and those things that are favorable to progression in yoga. It is the foundational text for Aṣṭāṅga yoga and is essential reading for all serious students of this method, though it can be very difficult to penetrate for the beginner, especially without the presence of a qualified teacher to explain it.

As an alternative to The Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita is a rich and descriptive literature that’s far more accessible, offering great insights into yoga, the yogic state, and the fruits of practice. In fact, when asked about The Yoga Sutras, Guruji felt that they were, initially, quite difficult for many of his Western students to comprehend and would often recommended they first read the Gita, as most call it.

The Gita is an ancient text that gives a much broader overview and understanding of the discipline of yoga. It approaches yoga from several different perspectives such as karma, bhakti and jñāna yoga, offering alternative views and approaches to yoga practice. It is an excellent preparation for understanding The Yoga Sutras. Despite its association with Hinduism, it is considered by many to be approachable from a secular standpoint as it outlines a yogic understanding that can be applied to all aspects of life without any ties to religion.

The Upanishads, like the Gita, give little direct instruction on the practical techniques of yoga, but lay the foundations for an understanding of the yogic state through an examination of the relationship between the personal and Universal Self, the union of which is the ultimate goal of yoga practice. The Upanishads often present their teachings through the enquiry of an enlightened teacher by a student in a way that is descriptive and easily digested.

Other texts such as the Bhagavata Purana and Ramayana contain descriptions of the lives and actions of great sages and characters who have attained the highest states of yoga. It is through their examples that we are able to gain a deeper understanding of our own path. The Yoga Sutras contain a sutra in relation to this. Sutra 1:37 states “Vītarāga viṣayaṃ vā cittam” – “or [fixing] the mind on a person who has abandoned attraction” (offered as a way to overcome obstacles in yoga). The character of Hanuman in the Ramayana is an excellent example of this. He has obtained perfect control of his senses and exhibits all the characteristics of a very great yogi. By reading his story and fixing the mind on his character, the reader may be able to able to internalize those characteristics, helping to overcome obstacles on the yogic path.

Although it is something that is difficult to quantify empirically, reading about Hanuman, Buddha, Christ, or modern enlightened saints, such as Ramana Maharshi and Ramakrishna, brings an innate understanding of the yogic state through the examples of their lives. Indeed, comprehending the essence of these great masters is particularly profound in informing yogic bhāvanā and, thus, steers practice in the desired direction. Similarly, being in the presence of a living teacher who has brought their mind and senses to a state of quietude—a level of control that all practitioners are striving toward—is extremely beneficial.

Lastly, bhāvanā infers a high level of faith and devotion in the yoga path. These are two elements that provide enormous resilience and determination to continue when progress seems difficult. When combined with an understanding of authentic yoga philosophy, dedication to practice and the connection to a great teacher or yogic role model, you will begin to feel the goal of yoga is finally possible.

The post The Importance of Bhāvanā in Attaining the Purpose of Yoga appeared first on Sonima.

This is a time of great suffering, and no matter which issue weighs on you the most, you can practice opening your heart in the midst of it in the hopes of realizing that this heart is vast and can accommodate anything.

There is an ancient practice in the Buddhist tradition known as loving-kindness. It stems from the Sanskrit word maitri, which can also be translated as “friendliness” or “friendship.” It is a way of befriending all of who we are, those we feel an affinity for, people we don’t know very well, and even folks we find to be incredibly difficult. Ultimately, we extend this sense of love and kindness to all beings.

Yet, when we are struck by a tragedy, like the senseless shooting in Las Vegas this week, we have to acknowledge where meditation is and is not helpful. All too often, in the wake of a tragedy like this, people send their “thoughts and prayers.” The practice of loving-kindness is aspirational in that we are wishing well for other beings. But it is, essentially, the training ground for action.

Related: How Mindfulness Can Ease the Fear of Death and Dying

Think of this practice not as the solution to the world’s suffering, but as the long training sequence in a Rocky movie, where we do the work that will enable us to, eventually, get into the ring and be most effective. We train in loving-kindness so that our hearts are strong enough to lean into and directly address the suffering around us that we see in ourselves, our loved ones, the difficult people in our lives and the vast number of people we do not necessarily know. We train in loving-kindness so that we don’t shut anyone out of our hearts. Rising from the meditation seat, we take action in ways we find personally meaningful.

Here, I am applying the traditional steps of loving-kindness to the Las Vegas shooting. I truly believe these steps can be adapted for any tragedy our country suffers in the months and years to come.

1. Take a Seat

First, take a relaxed, but uplifted posture. Tune into the natural cycle of your breath. Allow your attention to simply rest with however you are breathing right now. When the mind wanders, bring it back to the in-breath or out-breath that exists. Practice this for three to five minutes to ground you in your body and the present moment.

2. Offer Loving-Kindness to Yourself

Bring to mind an image of yourself. It can be you as you saw yourself in the mirror this morning, you in your favorite outfit, or even you as you appeared when you were a young child. Hold this image in your mind and see if you can soften your heart for a moment. Then, either in your own head or softly out loud make these aspirational phrases:

May I be happy
May I be healthy
May I feel safe
May I feel peaceful

As Buddhism spread from one country to another, these phrases have shifted over time. In my tradition, for example, we might even use the phrase “May you enjoy happiness and be free from suffering.” The intent is similar, but the verbiage is very different. If you do not connect with either of these two options, I recommend working with the four phrases above and substituting one or two for others, such as “May I feel loved” or “May I feel calm.” It’s best not to stray too far from these phrases. We’re not trying to aspire to “May I get a new car.” Each phrase is about qualities we already have within us.

Recite these phrases for three minutes or longer. As you do it, you may notice a mixed bag of emotions arising. You may feel powerless in the face of great suffering. Or you may want to cry because the news cycle has broken your heart. That is fine. The only thing you should avoid is judging yourself. Feel how you feel, but don’t beat yourself up over it. After these few minutes, dissolve the visualization of your own image.

3. Offer Loving-Kindness to a Loved One

In some traditions, the next step is to imagine someone who has been very kind to you, shown you great love, or has served as a benefactor in some way. With regards to current events, take a moment to bring to mind someone who you feel an affinity for, who has been affected by this tragedy. Maybe you know this person or maybe you have only seen them on TV.

Often, when I read an article about these tragedies, my heart opens when I learn about personal experiences. In the recent Las Vegas shooting, I read about a young woman who was attending the music festival with her mother. In the hopes of protecting her daughter, her mother threw her on the ground and covered her body with her own. Then, realizing that they might get trampled, she lifted her up and ran with her so they could escape. I do not know these people, but I understand and connect with that impulse to protect a loved one. For me, I attempt to bring the image of that woman to mind. For you, it might be someone else you feel a connection with. While holding their image in your mind, silently or softly say the following aspirational phrases:

May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you feel safe
May you feel peaceful

Similar to before, see if you can remain open-hearted in wishing this person well. We may not know them to the extent that we perfectly visualize them and we may not know what would make them happy, but we can imagine that they have the basic desires we would, such as to feel calm and supported in the aftermath of such a tragedy. After a few minutes of recitation, dissolve the visualization of this person.

4. Offer Loving-Kindness to a Stranger

The next step in traditional loving-kindness practice is to offer these heartfelt aspirations to someone we don’t know very well. When doing this practice after a national tragedy, I often think of those people we don’t read about or see on the news. For example, we might read about a school teacher who was killed in Las Vegas. Instead of practicing for this person (even though I don’t know her), for this stage I think about her family, her best friend or a romantic partner who might be suffering a fair amount right now. These are people whom we may never know, but, if even for a moment, we can consider and open our heart to. Bringing this being to your mind, you can repeat the same aspirational phrases or use the ones that feel most genuine to you.

May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you feel safe
May you feel peaceful

See if you can hold this person in your heart for a minute or two, reciting these phrases. Then we let go of your understanding of this person and move on to…

5. Offer Loving-Kindness to a Difficult Person

This is where I’m going to get controversial. It is easy to dehumanize the perpetrators of great suffering. When there is a foreign terrorist attack or a U.S. citizen killing others, we likely want to close our hearts to them. Yet, in loving-kindness practice, we consider the difficult people in our lives, too.

When it comes to the Las Vegas attack, this man, who killed more than 50 people, was suffering. He must have been suffering so greatly to think that killing others was a good idea. I do not know him and Buddha knows I do not have love in my heart for him at this time. But I can make the aspiration that wherever he is, he not suffer as much as he had been before. Bringing this person to mind, or another difficult person related to this tragedy, see if you can soften your heart even for a second and make the aspiration:

May you be happy
May you be healthy
May you feel safe
May you feel peaceful

At the very least, take a moment to recognize that this person was deeply confused and wish them peace. We could even say, “May you no longer feel confusion,” for example. This is hard for me, and I imagine it will be hard for you, so offering even a sense of loving-kindness in a way that feels meaningful to you is more important than using all the “right” words here. After a minute or two, let that person’s image dissolve.

6. Offer Loving-Kindness for All Beings

The next step is where our heart really gets a work out. We can begin by bringing to mind everyone we have contemplated thus far: ourselves, someone we feel an affinity for, someone we don’t know at all, and even this very difficult person, and make the aspiration:

May we be happy
May we be healthy
May we feel safe
May we feel peaceful

Then, we get bigger with our aspiration. We can contemplate everyone who lives in our town or city, everyone who lives in our state, in our country, and, ultimately, all beings around the world, continuing to recite these aspirational phrases as our vision expands.

After a few minutes, let the phrases fall away and see how you feel: Any openness, tenderness, or love that may exist, just let it exist. Radiate it out to all beings. This is more offering a feeling of love than any words or phrases. Let your love manifest. Then rest your mind once more on the breath, letting it ground you back in your body and in the present moment.

The more we train in this practice, the more we grow our capacity for love and kindness. We realize we don’t have to segment our lives so much into “I like you,” “I definitely don’t like you” and “I don’t care about you because I don’t know you.” After doing this practice consistently for some time, we might notice that we are connecting more with all types of people in our sphere, giving them a break and trying to be compassionate and helpful to them.

Even doing this practice once may inspire you to take skillful action and support efforts so that this suffering does not occur in the same way again. In this case, that might mean talking to your neighbors more about gun control, voting for candidates who support your values, or protesting in ways that you feel are beneficial. At some point, your aspirational practices can and will give way to actions that are based in your deep well of love and kindness that you have developed.

The post A Loving-Kindness Practice for the Victims of Tragedy appeared first on Sonima.

LAMA ROD OWENS

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Why he’s wonderful: To the best of my knowledge, he is one of the few African-American, queer, Tibetan Buddhist lamas out there. I first met Lama Rod at a panel hosted by New York University and was so touched by his rare blend of strength and vulnerability in sharing his open heart. Like so many of the new generation of teachers whom I’ve met so far, he doesn’t sit and lecture when he teaches. He poses questions and offers his own experiences as a way to cultivate difficult conversations so that people might realize their own truth and wisdom.
Lineage: Lama Rod is a Vajrayana teacher and graduate of Lama Norlha Rinpoche’s three-year silent retreat program.
A book of his I’d recommend: Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation
You would love him if: You’ve been itching to enter into a dialogue with a Buddhist teacher around certain topics that are sometimes considered taboo, including sex, monogamy, race, gender identity, and social action.
His website: http://www.lamarod.com/

JONNI POLLARD

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Why he’s wonderful: One visit to Pollard’s page and you’ll be instantly greeted with this message: “Love is our nature.” If you’ve ever met Pollard, you know he isn’t just being cute. He really means it. Pollard is the co-founder of 1 Giant Mind, one of the few meditation apps that makes the Vedic stream of teachings truly accessible to a wide audience.
Lineage: He is a Vedic teacher who studied under Thom Knoles.
You would love him if: You appreciate a straight-shooter. Pollard may overwhelm you with his authenticity at first. Everyone I know who has met Pollard is bowled over by his commitment to doing whatever he can to empower others to express their true nature.
His website: http://www.jonnipollard.com/

KATE JOHNSON

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Why she’s wonderful: In a 2015 article for Tricycle Magazine, Johnson wrote, “It is through the day-to-day, moment-to-moment interactions in my spiritual friendships that I have learned to give and receive unconditional love in a way I could only dream of experiencing in a romantic or sexual relationship.” To know Johnson as a teacher is to know a true spiritual friend. She is one of those teachers who emphasizes that your individual liberation is not individual after all; we all rise or fall together.
Lineage: She is a teacher in both the Spirit Rock and the Interdependence Project communities.
A book of hers I’d recommend: Friendship as Freedom: Mindful Practices for Resisting Oppression and Building Community (April 2018)
You would love her if: You need an honest-to-goodness spiritual friend. Johnson will go to bat for you, lift you up when you’re down, and call you on your bullshit. She is the sort of teacher who will tell you about the truth of suffering and say it with a smile.
Her website: https://www.katejohnson.com/

Related: Sign Up for Sonima’s 9-Week Mindfulness Meditation Series!

YAEL SHY

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Why she’s wonderful: Twenty pages into reading an advanced copy of Shy’s new book (see below), I did something that I’ve never done before: I requested to write the foreword. It was an honor to be the opening act to a book this good. Shy is no stranger to high praise: In 2010, the Jewish Week newspaper named her one of the “36 Under 36” change-makers, transforming the Jewish world, largely at NYU where she is the senior director of the NYU Global Spiritual Life Center, and ‘Of Many’ Institute for Multifaith Leadership. She is also the founder and director of MindfulNYU, an award-winning, campus-wide initiative that hosts yoga, meditation, and large-scale events for students, faculty, and staff.
Lineage: She was raised Jewish, but has practiced and studied Zen from a young age.
A book of hers I’d recommend: What Now? Meditation for Your Twenties and Beyond (November 2017)
You would love her if: You want to explore Judaism, Zen, or both; she can speak to all of it in a way that makes these ancient traditions relevant for our modern world. Better yet, to see Yael is to know kindness. She just embodies it in her teaching style.
Her website: https://www.yaelshy.com/

ADREANNA LIMBACH

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Why she’s wonderful: You may be hard-pressed to find a better Buddhist newsletter than Limbach’s. One recent comment on her website called her “a young Pema Chodron,” which is, basically, the highest compliment that I can think of. A head teacher at MNDFL’s Upper East Side location and a student of Venerable Robina Courtin, Limbach specializes in coaching women to help them develop clarity and confidence so that they can expand their freedom in business and life.
Lineage: She practices in Tibetan Buddhist communities and received her teacher training through the Interdependence Project.
A book of hers I’d recommend: Tea and Cake with Demons: A Buddhist Guide to Feeling Worthy (2018)
You would love her if: You need a hug. Limbach’s approachable teaching style feels just like a warm embrace, which is why she’s a fan-favorite at MNDFL. Still, it’s important to know that she is not going to sugarcoat Buddhist teachings. Her honesty is refreshing and respected, and I’m sure will be on full display in her forthcoming book about self-acceptance and self-worth.
Her website: http://www.adreannalimbach.com/

CHARLIE MORLEY

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Why he’s wonderful: Morley and I are spiritual cousins in the Karma Kagyu lineage of Tibetan Buddhism. When I first met him in London years ago, it really did feel like reuniting with a long-lost family member. His teachings often explore the mindfulness of dream and sleep in a deeply esoteric, yet accessible way. He is one of the few people (and definitely the best hip-hop dancer) in my generation who I can truly trust to guide me in lucid dreaming and shadow work.
Lineage: He received authorization to teach in 2008 by his Tibetan Buddhist teacher and has spent the last 9 years leading workshops in more than 20 countries.
A book of his I’d recommend: Dreaming Through Darkness: Shine Light Into The Shadow To Live The Life Of Your Dreams (May 2017)
You would love him if: You want to learn how to befriend who you truly are, which is the focus of his third and latest book.
His website: http://www.charliemorley.com/

Related: A 6-Minute Meditation to Build Recollection Awareness

ALLY BOGARD

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Why she’s wonderful: Bogard is a fairy queen goddess. I’m not the type of person who commonly uses terms like these to describe anyone, but this is how best to sum up her presence. When Bogard teaches, she commands the room and people often feel like she is talking only to them, which is what makes her so magical. As co-founder of the Gaiatri Yoga Teacher Training program and co-creator of SoundMind Meditation, Bogard has spent the last decade traveling the globe leading yoga and meditation workshops and retreats.
Lineage: She first studied and trained to teach meditation through the Kriya and Tantric Yoga lineages.
You would love her if: You are ready to face your own reflection. Consider Bogard your mirror. She not only sees you, but shows you who you are while offering sage advice. Trust me, you want to meet this wonder woman in person.
Her website: http://allybogard.com/

RALPH DE LA ROSA

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Why he’s wonderful: Both a psychotherapist and meditation teacher, De La Rosa specializes in bringing matters of the brain, attachment theory, and trauma-work to the meditation cushion in a way that feels seamless and joyful.
Lineage: A student of both the Dharma Ocean and Shambhala lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, De La Rosa is also a yoga instructor. He is trained in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT), plus Breathwork and Reiki.
A book of his I’d recommend: The Monkey is a Messenger: What Your Busy Mind is Trying to Tell You (2018)
You would love him if: You want to dive deep into psychoanalysis—his specialty. One of his many talents is helping people navigate the depths of their emotional lives to work directly to resolve major life issues.
His website: https://ralphdelarosa.com/

The post The Next Generation of Meditation Teachers appeared first on Sonima.

According to Chinese medicine, each season is associated with different elements and foods that will strengthen your health. For example, fall is linked to the element metal as well as the lungs, respiration, and skin. As the cooler weather sets in, we are more susceptible to dryness―dry throats, noses, and chapped lips. To keep our bodies from becoming too dry, the Chinese advocate eating more sour flavors, which include apples, grapefruit, and lemons. They also encourage eating more cooked foods after the September equinox. Many of us naturally make this transition from salads to soups and stews, although we may not realize that it’s to help support the immune system and fend off colds and flu.

Not only does eating according to the calendar strengthen our bodies, but also, the Chinese believe, we’re better equip to digest these foods at this time. Seasonal foods, they add, may also help us be more in harmony with nature. It may sound a little out there, but I have watched people eat for 25 years, and I think there is truth to this. Eating locally and seasonally makes for healthier living. One reason why is that they generally carry more nutrients than out-of-season supermarket foods.

Related: 50 Healthy Foods to Add to Your Grocery List

After a food is harvested, as each day passes, the levels of many nutrients diminish. For example, spinach loses 75 percent of its vitamin C and 13 percent of its thiamine (Vitamin B1) when stored at an average fridge temperature for seven days, according to a review published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The scientists also reported that carrots lose 10 percent of their vitamin C during that time. So think about that spinach at your supermarket that’s traveled who knows how far for how many days. It’s not going to be as nutritious as the local, fresh spinach you can buy.

To help prevent foods from losing heat- and light-sensitive nutrients during transit, some companies harvest food unripened and then use artificial agents to rapidly mature the food. Some are questioning the safety of these ripening agents, including researchers who put together this review published in Agriculture & Food Security last May. For now, U.S. legislature “recommends the use of ethylene [a hormone naturally occurring in fruit] for post-harvest ripening of tropical fruits and de-greening of citrus.” Though the agent is considered non-toxic, further studies are needed to investigate its long-term effects on humans. In the meantime, consider this another reason to favor untouched organic and seasonal produce.

As an added bonus, eating according to the seasons tastes better and is cheaper, too. If you pick fresh berries in the summer, for example, they are sweeter and more vibrant right off the bush. But if you store them in the fridge for a week, those same berries will not be as nice and will lose vitality, or “qi” as the Chinese call it. The same thing happens when produce is harvested and then shipped in refrigerated trucks over miles to reach your store. An orange, flavorless tomato in December cannot compare in anyway to a fresh heirloom tomato in the summer.

When it comes to costs, out-of-season foods are most expensive because there is the additional expense to store and distribute produce from across the country or the world. Local produce at your grocery store, farmers’ market, CSA, or you-pick-it farm or orchard spends less time and fewer miles going from farm to table, making it kinder on your wallet.

Another benefit to seasonal eating is how aids the planet. According to some estimates, eating seasonally and locally can reduce the carbon footprint of your food by up to 10 percent.

So as you can see, although everything is available to us at the grocery store, it’s much better to eat what’s growing right now around you. When you visit your farmers’ market or grocery store, ask what is in season and what is local, purchase those foods, and enjoy the fabulous flavors of fall, such as this side dish recipe.

Roasted Rosemary Root Vegetables

Ingredients

1 pound beets, cut in 1/2″ pieces
1 pound carrots cut in 1/2″ pieces
1 pound any fall squash (such as kombucha or acorn), cut in 1/2″ pieces (optional)
1/8-1/4 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and spread evenly in a roasting pan. Roast for 35 minutes, until tender.

Yield

6 servings

The post Why You Should Change Your Diet With the Season appeared first on Sonima.

Dear John,

My friend’s self-destructive behavior—specifically, sleeping with married men—is making me lose respect for her. What can I do to save our friendship, and most importantly, my lost friend?

M.P.

Dear M.P.,

Friends can bring us so much joy and, sometimes, pain, and everything in between. It warms my heart that you care for your friendship so much that you were inspired to seek a path toward saving it. I can offer you suggestions on how to work through this challenging situation using the traditions of mindfulness and non-violent communication.

It is clear that there is a call from your own heart for you to get honest and truthful with your friend. It will be important to do this from a place of empathy, compassion, and authenticity. You can connect to these qualities by taking space to remember what nearly all humans are seeking: To be loved, held with kindness, and accepted.

We all want to believe that deep within the heart, all beings are inherently good. It will be key for you to both honor how you are feeling in the relationship, and be open to the possibility that your friend—through her behavior—is seeking these deeply human needs. You may be able to access empathy for her by taking a bit of time to reflect on what might be happening at the root of her behavior.

Related: How to Know When You Need to End a Friendship

An essential action in this process will be for you to lend a listening ear to her. Perhaps this deep listening will allow her to develop her own insights. Your feedback, if requested, may also help her to understand the impact of her actions. To move her toward insight will take intentional communication. This is where I think we can learn from the work of Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (NVC), which can be broken down into the following three steps.

1. Spare her your judgement.

Do your best to embody a nonjudgmental approach with your friend. Maintaining an open-mind when you feel strongly about her behavior may be tricky. In light of this challenge, you will have to hold the intention to set aside feelings of disapproval or disappointment that may arise so that you can listen clearly.

2. Name specific observed behaviors.

When it feels like the right moment, try to offer her precise and objective descriptions of her behaviors that are challenging you. (It sounds like sleeping with married men is the big ticket item.) After sharing your observations with her, it is your turn to listen with deep empathy. Aim to understand her experience. It may open up an opportunity for you to offer her nourishment and sustenance in a way that you have not previously. Remember to maintain a stance of openness and curiosity in the conversation. You may benefit from planning a bit and rehearsing your words with someone else to pick up on any implicit biases that you may not be able to see yourself. This process may also reveal a hidden desire you may have to blame and bestow punishment upon her. Do your best to steer clear of these traps.

3. Make requests, not demands.

The last step is to tell your friend what you need from her. Do you need her verbal feedback? Do you need to know what she is feeling? Is there a call to action? Read more about this step here.

The NVC tradition emphasizes that the change we hope to inspire must come willingly from the other. It must not stem from them feeling pressured or threatened by you. This process fundamentally requires compassionate engagement between you and your friend. I also recommend preparing yourself for the reality that there are no guaranteed outcomes. You can do everything “by the book”, but she may still be unwilling to change. You must be OK with that and know when to let go. Try to stay open and fight the urge to argue. In my view, it is better to end a conversation gone sour than battle it out.

Mindfulness practice is a good way to ground yourself and be prepared for whatever outcome. Specifically, mindfulness can help you uncover what your needs, values, wishes, wants and desires are. You need this knowledge to communicate them to her. Mindfulness can also help you stay steady and composed in the face of adversity.

The practice does not have to be epic. It can be simple: Take a few minutes to breath deeply, feel your feet rooted to the ground, place your hands on your heart and ask yourself to remain open. Let your heart be the source of your words. For more support with this, I invite you to try the accompanying audio meditation (feature video). It is designed to help you connect to your heart and stay open to compassion in the presence of intensity. It is always advisable to spend time journaling after a contemplative practice.

Remember, no one knows what is in your heart better than you. Trust that your heart has all of the wisdom needed to move forward. I wish the best for you, your friend, and your friendship.

Many blessings,
John

The post Help Me Save This Friendship appeared first on Sonima.

What was the innocent, yet detrimental act? Putting on shoes.

“Optimum foot development occurs in the barefoot environment,” wrote Lynn T. Staheli, MD, in the article “Shoes for Children: A Review” published in Pediatrics. This was back in 1991, long before tales of Tarahumara runners and research from Harvard’s professor of human evolutionary biology, Daniel Lieberman, PhD, helped spur the barefoot running movement.

Staheli, who also wrote several books on pediatric orthopedics (including the diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal problems in kids) explained in the paper that “stiff and compressive footwear may cause deformity, weakness, and loss of mobility,” and that “shoe selection for children should be based on the barefoot model.”

You probably didn’t grown up wearing Vibram’s so-called “toe shoes,” especially considering that those kicks weren’t available until 2005. It’s also unlikely that you spent much time digging your toes in sand or grass either. That’s not your parents’ fault. Most pathways are not exactly foot-friendly, especially urban sidewalks covered in all kinds of debris (broken glass, sharp sticks and pebbles, animal feces, etc.). While it’s true, your soles need the protection, wearing shoes too often—even before you could walk—can affect you adversely in unexpected ways.

“We’re interrupting the development without allowing our children to develop the way nature intended them to – through crawling,” explains Sonima alignment expert Pete Egoscue. “People think that the sooner their kids walk, the smarter they are, but nothing could be further from the truth. The arches of the foot need all of that crawling. And then we put them in these little hard shoes that disrupt them even further.”

Related: The Crazy Thing That Can Happen to Your Feet

“When parents put these clunky shoes on kids at a young age, they are impeding foot and ankle activation. The kids rely on the crutch of a pair of shoes rather than the muscles around their feet, ankles and toes, which need to be developed,” agrees Joel Seedman, a Ph.D. in kinesiology and athlete trainer based near Atlanta, Georgia. “It’s probably one of the biggest mistakes you can make for a kid. And it’s going to affect them the rest of their lives.”

Seedman sees the results firsthand in the clients he coaches, and says the issues are far-reaching. “It’s going to affect their movement patterns, their posture, and how injury-prone they are. It’s also going to mess with their coordination and reaction time. Foot and ankle strength plays a huge role in your movement patterns.”

The effects aren’t just neuromuscular. “Take the lymphatic system,” Egoscue says. “It’s everywhere in your body. It’s just as pervasive as the circulatory system. And like the circulatory system, it has to pump against gravity. It drains upward, just like the veins. The structures act like little elevators to return waste back up your legs. They can’t do it without help. And what helps? Muscular contraction.”

The robust muscle action that takes place when your bare foot touches the ground helps the lymph nodes drain to their interlinking vessels. Egoscue says that’s just one example of how what’s going on with your feet impacts the rest of your body. Some others? “Balance, digestion, absorption, elimination and bowel movements—everything, really. The body is a unit,” Egoscue says.

One of the more worrisome effects of wearing shoes too often is a condition known as “toe crowding.” People with it appear to have very little space between their toes—or in some cases, the toes overlap. While this can be the result of a structural deformity, muscle weakness is also a main culprit. “It’s actually a common sign of aging,” Seedman says. “But we’re starting to see it in populations as young as 10 years old now.”

Shocking as this sounds, it also makes sense when you take a closer look at the shoes most people wear. By and large, shoes are tapered, coming to a point near the toes. “Most shoes constrict the toes together,” Seedman says, which, he adds, is the opposite of how the foot is supposed to work. “We need those toes to splay. Having that room in the toe-box is critical.”

Seedman’s advice? “Throughout the day, I tell athletes to work on lifting and spreading their toes—especially the big toe. You want to lift it medially or out.”

Try lifting and spreading your toes as Seedman describes, and hold the position for 30 seconds to a minute. The exercise will help you develop the toe flexors—the little muscles that help you lift the toes toward the shins. The strength of these muscles is a surprisingly good indicator of your overall health, recent studies show. Perform that movement as often as you’d like throughout the day.

Also, consider implementing this simple rule from Egoscue to improve the performance of your feet and ankles: “When you’re indoors, no shoes and no socks,” he says. “That’s where you start.” If doing this daily is not an option, try “Barefoot Saturday” or spending one day (any) a week without shoes. It’s a practice that Kelly Starrett, a physical therapist best known for his work with CrossFit, and other movement experts have also encouraged.

Let’s be clear that this does not mean you should never wear shoes. Shoes protect the feet from wear and tear. There are many instances where you absolutely should be wearing shoes. In fact, your ability to continue to operate in society probably requires you to wear shoes most of the time, lest you think your boss would be cool with you roaming the office halls with your pedicured toes al fresco.

If you’re looking to add minimalist footwear to your shoe collection, ease into it, especially if you’ve only worn traditional shoes til now. “Once you’re comfortable walking around the house without shoes, buy a straight-lasted shoe,” Egoscue recommends. A straight-lasted shoe is one that does not have an elevated heel. “Most athletic shoes lift your heel above your toes, which puts your foot at a mechanical advantage for running faster,” he says. “Shoes that keep your heels level with your toes are sometimes called ‘zero-drop’ shoes. Then work your way toward barefoot-style shoes.”

The post The Case for Going Barefoot More Often appeared first on Sonima.

Abductor hallucis is the phrase you’re looking for. You were just about to say that, right? You can group it in with a larger formation of muscles known as the plantar intrinsics, a not-particularly-well-understood group that both begin and end within the confines of the foot.

Only recently, researchers have been able to take a detailed look at what, exactly, these muscles do. Among those leading the charge is Luke A. Kelly, PhD, a biomechanics research fellow at the University of Queensland in Australia. His work over the past five years has shown that the plantar intrinsics play a crucial role in maintaining balance, especially when you are standing on one leg.

Why is this important? One of the biggest risks you’ll face during your life is falling. In fact, falls are the number one cause of injuries and death among older Americans. Whether you’re a senior or a millennial (or somewhere in between), those tiny-but-crucial muscles in your foot that keep you upright are getting weaker by the moment. A recent study released in March 2017 examined toe flexor (part of the plantar intrinsics) strength in more than 1,400 men and found it was a good indicator of one’s body composition and metabolic health. It also showed that an age-related decline in strength developed earlier in the toe flexors than it did the grip (another effective predictor of a long, healthy life), and that strength dropped more sharply.

All of which is to say that the little muscles in your feet are a bigger deal than you think, and not just because weak plantar intrinsics have been linked to bunions, plantar fasciitis, and shin splints (although all of this is true). The strength of your feet and toes is reflective of your strength overall.

Related: An Active Alignment Sequence for Feet and Femurs to Improve Posture

“The body is a unit,” says Sonima’s pain and anatomy advisor Pete Egoscue. “No matter what our brilliant minds do to treat a specific symptom, the entire body is impacted. The body treats itself globally.” Which means you can strengthen your feet, and it will improve posture and balance throughout your entire body. It also means that some of the exercises you’ll use to improve your foot strength involve more than just those two things you’re standing on.

Here are five foot-strengthening exercises—including four from Egoscue’s book Pain Free—that help counteract the dysfunctional loading of our feet, restore them to their proper alignment, and strengthen the muscles helping to keep you upright.

1. Foot Circles and Point Flexes

Lie flat on your back. Bend one knee toward your chest while leaving the other leg flat on the floor, toes pointing straight up at the ceiling. Interlace your fingers behind your elevated knee, then circle the foot of your bent leg in a clockwise direction. Do 30 rotations, then do the same number counterclockwise. Switch legs and repeat.

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 2. Supine Calf/Hamstring Stretch

Stay on your back but this time bend one knee so that your foot can rest flat against the floor. Lift your opposite leg and wrap a strap or stretch band around the ball of your foot. Use the strap to help guide the leg toward your face until it forms about a 45-degree angle with your body (or until you feel a stretch sensation in your calf – you don’t want to push it like crazy here). Hold the stretch for 30 to 45 seconds. Then repeat with the other leg lifted.

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The Hamstring Stretch is the same as the calf stretch for the most part. The main difference is that the strap should wrap around your arch (mid-foot), rather then the ball of your foot. Lift your leg until it forms about a 90-degree angle with your torso or until you feel sensation in your hamstrings (again: don’t try to be a hero here). Keep both sides of your butt pressed flat against the floor and hold for 30 seconds.

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3. Static Extension

Kneel on a block or chair with your hands on the floor, directly under your shoulders. Relax your head and back toward the floor and let your shoulder blades come toward one another. Your back should be arched with your belly toward the floor. Keeping your elbows locked, slide your hips forward six to eight inches so that they are in front of, and not aligned overtop of, your knees. Hold the stretch for one to two minutes.

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 4. Wall Sit (or “Air Bench”)

Stand with your back against a wall. Press the small of your back against the wall as you walk your feet forward and slide down into a sitting position. Stop when both your knees and your hips are bent 90 degrees. If the sensation on your knees is too intense, lift your body up to relieve the pressure. Hold for one to three minutes.

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5. Janda’s “Shortfoot”

This exercise dates back to one of the forefathers of biomechanics, Vladimir Janda. A 2016 study showed it effectively activated the plantar intrinsic muscles. To do the exercise, stand with one foot about two foot-lengths in front of the other, then raise and lower the toes of the forward foot 20 to 30 times. Switch legs and repeat.

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The post The Crazy Thing That Can Happen to Your Feet appeared first on Sonima.

Eating out most, if not all, meals is one of the lures of travel whether you’re roaming the planet for business or pleasure. A 2012 survey from TripAdvisor of more than 1,400 U.S. travelers found that 65 percent were more likely to overindulge in food while on vacation, and another 49 percent are likely to binge-drink. Nearly a third claimed to always or often pack on pounds during a trip. Here’s where frequent fliers may have a leg-up on vacationers. Having most likely learned the hard way, they know how crucial is is to do some exercise while on the road to burn off extra calories before they end up with excess baggage (not kind that fits in the overhead bin).

Next time you’re away, try to sneak in a quick workout each morning or evening when you’re winding down from a long day. This is especially important if you’re enjoying feasts daily and not doing any form of activity, like hiking, biking, swimming, etc. Don’t worry, it doesn’t need to be an intense sweat-fest. This 20-minute workout video designed by Pete Egoscue, Sonima.com’s alignment expert and author of multiple books including Pain Free, features a series of easy and effective exercises you can do right in your hotel room—no gym equipment, workout clothes, or sneakers needed.

Related: Simple Airplane Stretches for a Long Flight

The post 20-Minute Hotel Room Workout for Busy Travelers appeared first on Sonima.

Having read literally hundreds of books about meditation in the last 20 years, here are my top recommendations. I’ve chosen eight that are accessible, inspirational, and will provide basic instruction as well as guidance for how to launch a consistent practice.

How to Meditate by Pema Chodron

I’ll just come out and say it: Pema Chodron may have done more for making the Buddhist meditation teachings accessible than anyone in the 21st century. While some of her books, such as When Things Fall Apart, may be better known, this is the recently published go-to guide to learn the ins and outs of calm-abiding meditation. This book includes sections on working with strong emotions and how to accommodate everyone in your life with an open heart; if that’s something you’re angling for, this is the book for you.

Zen Mind Beginners Mind by Suzuki Roshi

This book came out in 1970 but remains the most accessible Zen meditation manual I have ever seen. It opens with chapters on the appropriate posture for meditation and how to connect to the breath but then goes on to include many aspects of how to hold the mind, all according to the Zen tradition. This is the type of book you can visit and then revisit a year later and get completely different things from it. While the words don’t change, we do in between, and the meaning of this timeless classic gets ever more subtle.

Start Here Now by Susan Piver

Having written a number of other books, Susan founded the Open Heart Project in 2012 and has become very well-known for making complicated Buddhist teachings accessible. In her latest book she strikes a beautiful chord between confident wisdom and vulnerability; reading it is like sitting in the room with a good friend coaching you in the meditation practice. This book not only gives introductory meditation instruction, but also includes tips for every aspect on maintaining a consistent practice, ranging from how to set up your meditation space, to how meditation affects our creativity, to how to do a self-guided retreat.

Loving Kindness by Sharon Salzberg

This New York Times bestseller came out 20 years ago and remains a mainstay in the Insight Buddhist meditation tradition (and around the globe) for how to engage maitri, or loving-kindness practice. Chock-full of practical exercises, this book is for anyone who struggles with love, either for themselves or for others. It highlights the clear benefits of loving-kindness practice, showcases the obstacles to getting going, and talks about how our compassionate heart can accommodate anything.

Turning the Mind into an Ally by Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

The head of the Shambhala Buddhist lineage wrote this, his first book, in 2003. It provides a thorough overview of calm-abiding meditation, as well as a road map to navigate all the obstacles that come up when you begin practice. There are chapters on the various types of thoughts that arise when you meditate, how to motivate yourself to practice when you’re feeling lazy, too busy, or disheartened, and how to make sure you don’t fall into the dangers of being too tight or too loose with your practice. If you want to befriend yourself through the act of meditation, this is the book for you.

There’s No Right Way to Meditate (And Other Lessons) by Yumi Sakugawa

Yes, this is a book of cartoons. But it does a brilliant job of introducing why one should meditate. It’s the book that even the most cynical hater will pick up, chuckle within a few pages, and soften to the practice of meditation. While other books may provide more of the technical know-how to launch a practice, this book will make the practice accessible to that grumpy uncle who thinks meditation is solely for hippies.

Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh is one of those crucial members of the generation that has deeply shaped how Buddhism has infiltrated the Western mind. While all of his books contain his eloquence and compassion, this one is perfect for the beginner who yearns to understand how to live peace. He beautifully weaves in poems and fables alongside traditional teachings on how to work with feelings and everyday perceptions, which allows you not only to meditate, but also integrate the practice with your daily life.

Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana

This book is ideal for anyone who is interested in mindfulness, period. This is a solid deep dive into the Theravadin Buddhist tradition’s explanation of how to meditate. It includes incredibly clear and, at times, humorous descriptions of how to work with distraction as it (inevitably) arises during meditation and answers questions like, “Meditation: Why Bother?”

The post 8 Essential Books About Meditation and Mindfulness appeared first on Sonima.

The following list highlights the top 100 influential yoga teachers in America, who have dedicated their lives to spreading the practices of yoga, and in doing so, have impacted millions of new yogis around the globe. We measured influence based on a variety of factors, such as depth of study, community impact, social media following, and contributions to yoga’s many aspects, from philosophy to physiology, tradition to innovation. These teachers each play a profound role in the dissemination of the practice from its roots, and the perpetuation of modern day parampara, the acceleration of lineage and teachings passed down from teacher to student over time.

RELATED: The Simplest Change You Can Make for Better Health

While this feature is extensive, it is by no means exhaustive—yoga’s landscape is vast and more multifaceted than ever, and there are more inspiring teachers doing good work than we can name here. But by highlighting the following influencers and innovators we hope to guide you toward people and perspectives that may deepen your practice in whatever direction you choose. We also hope to provide some contextual understanding of individual experiences in studios from coast to coast. The manner in which we all practice has been molded by the following individuals, through contributions both sweeping and subtle. Read on and let them show you the ways.

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Rodney Yee

Sag Harbor, NY

In the early ‘90s thousands of Americans started practicing yoga because of Rodney Yee. His yoga DVDs, produced by Gaiam, continue to be some of the most popular ever made. Yee has been practicing yoga for almost 40 years and teaching for almost 30. Yee is a certified Iyengar yoga teacher who first studied with the lineage’s namesake founder, B.K.S. Iyengar, in 1987. Yee has since developed his own teaching style that incorporates a hawk-like attention to alignment, intense verbal cues, and elegant, flowing movements influenced by his study of ballet. Yee travels around the world to teach both on his own and with his wife, Colleen Saidman, with whom he co-directs the Yoga Shanti schools in New York. Yee also serves as yoga director with Saidman for the Urban Zen Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Donna Karan that seeks to bring complementary practices, including yoga and meditation, into the mainstream healthcare system.

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Sharon Gannon

Woodstock, NY

Author of five books and co-author of another three, Sharon Gannon is a prolific creator. In 1984 Gannon co-founded with David Life the Jivamukti yoga method, a system that sprung out of the Ashtanga lineage, and pivots on five main tenets, including shastra (scripture), bhakti (devotion), ahimsa (non-harming), nada (the yoga of sound and vibration), and dhyana (meditation). The method has been informed by Gannon and Life’s study with their gurus Swami Nirmalanda, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati. Presently there are 14 Jivamukti Centers in New York, New Jersey, London, Germany, Australia, Mexico, Spain, and Russia, and 34 affiliated studios across the world. Gannon is an activist for animal rights, an avid vegan, and a spiritual leader to thousands of yogis around the globe. Gannon’s most recent book Simple Recipes for Joy, is a vegan cookbook, with playful photos of her life and kitchen in Woodstock, New York. Gannon is often seen wearing all white, and she is a highly devotional leader, who is drawn in to the yoga practice through chanting, scripture, and proper alignment of the body through breath and movement.

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Sri Dharma Mittra

New York, NY

You’ve probably seen a photo of Sri Dharma Mittra at some point during your yoga practice and didn’t know it. The Brazilian-born yoga teacher, who founded the Dharma Yoga New York Center in 1975, is best known for creating the “Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures” poster, featuring 1,350 photographs of postures (300+ were his own invention!), as a gift to his beloved guru, Yogi Gupta, some 30 years ago. It has since become a crucial teaching tool in yoga communities around the globe. Mittra also wrote the book Asanas: 608 Yoga Poses, and launched the DVD series “Maha Sadhana: The Great Practice” (levels 1 and 2). He has dedicated more than five decades of his life to teaching spiritually grounded yoga—specifically classical Hatha and Raja—and it shows. The jovial, kind-hearted, silver-haired man doesn’t look a day over 50 even though he turned 76 last year. Attend one of his weekly classes (yes, he still teaches!) to see for yourself. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll catch him performing his world-famous handless headstand.

Related: Ritual Inspiration: Sri Dharma Mittra

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Ana Forrest

Orcas Island, WA

Most people speak about Ana Forrest as if she were a force of nature or a mystical goddess from some lost world. In 1982 she founded the Forrest Yoga method, a system based on Hatha yoga that is intensely physical while incredibly subtle and encourages the practitioner toward an ethos of self-healing through an exploration of the feelings and traumas stored in the body. Forrest leads teacher trainings and retreats all around the world, and has influenced the style and teaching of thousands. In addition to being one of the leading minds in the world of yoga and yogic philosophy, Forrest is also a practitioner of Native American medicine, a Reiki master, and a certified regression therapist (a mode of therapy focused on discovery of problems in present and past lives). She released her first book, Fierce Medicine: Breakthrough Practices to Heal the Body and Ignite the Spirit, in May 2011. Forrest advocates eating and living in such a way that ahimsa, non-harming, applies not only to the outside world, but also to the self. She talks extensively about the morality of engaging with our human-animal selves.

Related: How to Be a Conscious and Responsible Omnivore

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Maty Ezraty

Los Angeles, CA

Co-founder of YogaWorks with Chuck Miller and Alan Finger, and an internationally celebrated yoga teacher, Maty Ezraty has been teaching for more than 30 years. A student of Ashtanga yoga creator, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Ezraty was one of the first women to practice third and fourth series. (Ashtanga has six series of postures and very few people in the world advance beyond the third.) After traveling to Mysore for many years to study with Jois, Ezraty has more recently become interested in the Iyengar yoga method, traveling to Pune, India, to study with Geeta Iyengar, the eldest daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar. Founded in 1987 in Santa Monica, California, YogaWorks now has over 40 locations and was one of the first organizations to offer standardized teacher training integrating many different styles of yoga. Many of today’s yoga celebrities, such as Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Rod Stryker, and Kathryn Budig, were all students of Ezraty’s. In 2004, Ezraty sold YogaWorks, but she continues to be one of the most innovative and beloved teachers in the world.

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Alan Finger

New York, NY

Co-founder of YogaWorks, and a yoga instructor for more than 50 years, Alan Finger, also known as Kavi Yogiraj (master of masters), is one of the most celebrated teachers in America. The South African native learned yoga at age 16 from his father Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger, whose teachers were Indian gurus Yogananda and Swami Sivananda. Finger and his father created ISHTA Yoga (Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda) in the 1960s and it now has a home base in two New York City studio locations he co-founded with his wife Sarah Finger, and Bruce and Julie Wilcox. ISHTA aims to teach students how to integrate aspects from various yoga styles to best suit an individual’s practice. Finger has authored multiple books and DVDs, and also founded the Yoga Tantra Institute in Los Angeles, as well as Yoga Zone studios and a TV show of the same name in the early 1990s. Finger is known as a teacher’s teacher, and his lineage continues to spread all over the world.

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Richard Freeman

Boulder, CO

Richard Freeman has been studying yoga for almost 50 years. Founder of Yoga Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, which opened its doors in 1987, Freeman was one of the very first teachers to be certified to teach Ashtanga yoga by Sri K. Patabbhi Jois. His style of teaching is called Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, and it has been influenced by his study of Iyengar yoga, which he began in 1974. In addition to running his studio in Boulder, Freeman teaches globally, leading workshops, and continuing his study of Vipassana Buddhist meditation. Freeman is the author of The Mirror of Yoga and numerous yoga DVDs, and he is also a teacher on YogaGlo. Though his practice and his teaching are very physical, as it is rooted in Ashtanga, Freeman is one of the most well versed teachers on yogic philosophy, including the field of devotional chanting.

Related: How to Get Started with Meditation

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David Life

Woodstock, NY

In 1984, David Life founded Jivamukti yoga with Sharon Gannon. Originally from Michigan, and a lifelong poet-artist, Life has studied under some of the greatest yoga masters, most notably Shri Brahmananda Sarasvati, Shri Swami Nirmalananda, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Life was certified to teach yoga with Pattabhi Jois in 1984, spent several years as a renunciate monk, and received Kalachakra and Bodhisattva initiation from His Holiness the 14^th Dalai Lama. Life is a world-renowned spiritual teacher, and the Jivamukti trainings he leads with Gannon are considered some of the best in the world. Along with Gannon, Life is an animal rights advocate, and a longtime member of PETA. The two of them live in a 76-acre wildlife forest sanctuary near Woodstock, New York.

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Nevine Michaan

Katonah, NY

“We are not medical bodies, we are mystical bodies,” says Michaan. Petite in form, yet expansive in presence, and with bright blue eyes of telling wisdom, Michaan has been practicing yoga for 40 years and teaching for over 30. Creator of the Katonah yoga method, which integrates Daoism, mathematics, and an eclectic fusion of yoga and spirituality and owner of two New York studios by the same name, Michaan draws inspiration from Taoist thought, geometry, and her own evolving practice. Michaan has become renowned not only for her poetic metaphors and knowledge of yoga, but also for her keen ability to “read” people’s bodies almost instantaneously upon meeting them. When she’s not teaching yoga, she’s reading Goethe and Spinoza, refining her own practices for longevity, and sharing her infectious sense of joy with those around her.

Related: How to Surrender the Ego Through Practice

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Gabriel Halpern

Chicago, IL

Halpern is often referred to as “The Godfather” in the Chicago yoga world where he’s been teaching for the past 30 years, and where he’s influenced nearly every single major teacher at Chicago’s yogic strongholds, Moksha Yoga and Yogaview, where Halpern regularly leads workshops. Halpern holds degrees in philosophy and health psychology and was trained under the Iyengar yoga method in both San Francisco, and Pune, India. He founded his River North studio, Yoga Circle, in 1985, and he teaches there and around the world, focusing on yoga therapeutics. His methodology for therapeutic classes are modeled on Iyengar’s techniques, wherein he begins with first giving relief to get a person out of pain and then correcting their anatomy, which sometimes takes years.

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Alison West

New York, NY

Alison West has not only studied in almost every major yogic lineage, but she is also adored and respected across traditions. She began teaching in the late 1980s with Sivananda and Jivamukti, and opened the premier New York City yoga studio, Yoga Union, in 1996, which offers classes that hinge on West’s techniques for alignment, back care, and posture. West has studied in both Pune, India, with the Iyengars, and in Mysore, India, with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. She founded and is sole director of Yoga Union and the Yoga Union Backcare and Scoliosis Center, and continues to study kinesiology and anatomy with master teachers Irene Dowd, Tom Myers, and Gil Hedley. West leads demanding annual 200-hour and  500-hour TT programs, and she also runs the only 100-Hour Backcare and Scoliosis Certification Program in the world. West also travels around the world teaching workshops and master classes.

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Rod Stryker

Boulder, CO

Rod Stryker started practicing yoga at 18 years old, and has been teaching around the world for the past 35 years. He is the founder of a method called ParaYoga, which he defines from Sanskrit as meaning “the highest result possible when we put in effort.” His methodology involves deep study of tantra, Ayurveda, and yogic philosophy. Stryker was first a student of Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger and his son, Alan Finger, and since 1999 has studied with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ph.D., the spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy. Stryker travels around the world lecturing about and instructing meditation and yoga. His book, The Four Desires: Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom, was published in 2011 and has been widely celebrated in the yoga world for encouraging inner fulfillment and complete joy through a look into our innate human desires as outlined by the yogic tradition.

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Tim Miller

Carlsbad, CA

Ashtanga yoga master Tim Miller was the first westerner to be certified to teach by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and has been credited as one of the first people to bring yoga to America. Miller began practicing in Encinitas, California, at the Ashtanga Yoga Nilayam in 1978, and six months after he began practicing, he met Pattabhi Jois, at which point he went to India and began studying in Mysore. He returned to California, and in 1981 took over leadership of the Ashtanga Yoga Nilayam, which has since moved locations and is called the Ashtanga Yoga Center of Carlsbad.

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Shiva Rea

Los Angeles, CA

For the past 25 years, Shiva Rea has been a celebrated Vinyasa yoga teacher in America and around the world. Founder of her own method, called Prana Vinyasa, Rea’s system of yoga is influenced by many traditions and aims to serve as “an effective, creative system of progressing on the path, bringing greater vitality, fluidity, longevity, satisfaction in the soul, passion and compassion in the heart.” Rea started out practicing Ashtanga as a teenager, and was studying in the lineage of Krishnamacharya when she transitioned to focus more on tantra and Ayurveda. Her teaching integrates all the lineages she’s been exposed to, including her evolution as a mother. She appears in many yoga DVDs and CDs, and published her first book, Tending the Heart Fire: Living in Flow with the Pulse of Life, last year. She is a self-identifying mystic and the founder of Samudra Global School for Living Yoga, an online yoga school, as well as the founder of several different activism initiatives in the yoga world and beyond.

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David Swenson

Houston, TX

Known as one of the world’s most prominent Ashtanga Yoga teachers, David Swenson started practicing in 1973 under the guidance of David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff in Encinitas, California. Swenson made his first trip to Mysore in 1977, where he learned the full system from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He began teaching shortly thereafter, and has released dozens DVDs and audio tapes, and is also the author of the popular book, Ashtanga Yoga: The Practice Manual, which was released in 1999 and to date remains one of the most thorough guides to the Ashtanga yoga system. Swenson is recognized as one of the most advanced practitioners in the world, and he teaches workshops in America and abroad.

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Patricia Walden

Cambridge, MA

For 40 years, Patricia Walden has made annual pilgrimages to Pune, India to study with her teacher, B.K.S. Iyengar, and his daughter Geeta, after his death. Walden has been hugely influential in bringing Iyengar yoga to America, and has served as a member of the national certification committee (the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States, or IYNAUS), for almost 25 years. Walden has co-authored three books and dozens of DVDs, including “Yoga for Beginners,” which was one of the first and most important in popularizing yoga in the West. She now teaches at Down Under Yoga in Brookline, Massachusetts, and leads yoga workshops, retreats, and trainings around the world.

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Cyndi Lee

Lynchburg, VA

Cyndi Lee first tried yoga in college in 1971 and over the course of the next 20 years she deepened her practice, studying multiple traditions, including Sivananda, Kundalini, Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Jivamukti. Lee taught in New York City part time while pursuing a successful dance career until 1994 when she started teaching yoga full time at various studios throughout the city. Lee is the first female teacher to fully integrate yoga asana and Tibetan Buddhism in her practice and teachings. In 1998 Lee founded the OM Yoga Center in New York City, which she ran for almost 15 years and was widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive studios in the world. Many of the teachers on this list, including Elena Brower, Amy Ippoliti, Margi Young, and Annie Piper were early teachers and teacher trainees with Lee at OM Yoga. Lee currently resides in Virginia where she founded Yoga Goodness Studio, which offers alignment-based Vinyasa yoga, grounded in the meditation practices of mindfulness and compassion. Lee continues to lead teacher trainings (at the 200-, 300-, and 500-hour level), retreats, and workshops around the world.

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Eddie Stern

New York, NY

Eddie Stern first met Sri K. Pattabhi Jois 26 years ago. Since then, Stern has become one of the most famous and most beloved Ashtanga yoga teachers in the world. He opened the Broome Street Temple in New York City in 2001 with his wife and fellow Ashtanga yoga teacher Jocelyne Stern, which was the first and only Vedically consecrated Ganesha temple in Manhattan, and which also housed their Ashtanga yoga school for 14 years, up until its closing this past summer. In addition to being a renowned teacher, whose school is now based in Brooklyn, New York, Stern is a scholar and avid devotee of the Hindu tradition. Stern co-authored a book on Pattabhi Jois with fellow Ashtanga Yoga teacher Guy Donahuye, entitled Guruji, and recently collaborated with Michael O’Neil on his new book of photography On Yoga. Stern is a major advocate of spreading yoga broadly and works tirelessly to bring yoga to at-risk youth.

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Elena Brower

New York, NY

For almost 20 years, Elena Brower has been a primary fixture of the New York City yoga scene. Brower, whose teaching is influenced by Kundalini, Katonah, and ParaYoga, is able to exist in many worlds with total authenticity. She has taught in front of the Eiffel Tower, on the Great Lawn of Central Park, and has led retreats all over the world—from Nepal to California to London. She is the founder of teach.yoga, an online content platform for teachers, author of award-winning book Art of Attention, and former owner of one of New York City’s most sought-after yoga studios, Vira Yoga. Brower is a mother, and has recently become equally known for her meditation teaching as her work in yoga. She studied with Thom Knoles and teaches Vedic-style meditation.

Related: A Yoga Practice For Elevating Peace with Elena Brower

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Dana Trixie Flynn

New York, NY

With yoga pants as colorful and vibrant as her tattoos and her ever-changing, eclectic hairstyle, and yoga studios predicated on “moving like you”—Dana Trixie Flynn is one of the most fiery, fierce, and playful teachers around. She opened the Laughing Lotus Yoga in New York City with her partner Jasmine Tarkeshi in 1997, and has led the premier studio ever since, most recently expanding Lotus to open a second location in Brooklyn. Flynn travels around the world teaching yoga and leading teacher trainings with an approach that blends ecstatic movement practice with her love of poetry, dance, music, and philosophy. Flynn, along with Tarkeshi, created the Lotus Flow sequencing which was an offshoot of her own study with Jivamukti founder Sharon Gannon, combined with tools gleaned from her own practice and other movement methodologies. Flynn can be seen riding up and down the streets of New York on her orange and purple Vespa.

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Manouso Manos

San Francisco, CA

There are only two people in the world who have been granted Advanced Senior certificates by B.K.S. Iyengar, and Manouso Manos is one of them. Part of the very selective second tier of Iyengar teachers in America, tasked with ensuring its authentic transmission, alongside Patricia Walden, Manos has been teaching yoga for nearly four decades. He began his study with Iyengar in 1976, and served as chairperson of the First International Iyengar Yoga Convention in 1984. As one of the most senior Iyengar teachers in the world Manouso is known for not only for his precise and refined knowledge of the physical postures, but also for his sense of humor and dynamism. He was featured in four Iyengar instructional videos, most of which are only in VHS and no longer available today. Manos hosts workshops around the world and teaches classes regularly at The Abode of Iyengar Yoga in San Francisco.

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Kino MacGregor

Miami, FL

With a highly advanced physical practice and a strong connection to Mysore and the Ashtanga yoga lineage, Kino MacGregor is one of the most popular and well-respected Ashtanga yoga teachers in the world. At 19, Macgregor began practicing Ashtanga yoga, and began making yearly trips to study with her guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. At 29, she received certification to teach. MacGregor continues to travel annually to Mysore to study with her teacher Sharath Jois, grandson of Pattabhi Jois. With her roots in Miami, Macgregor co-owns the Miami Life Center with her husband Tim Feldmann, while also traveling and teaching all over the world. Macgregor is the author of three books and six yoga DVDs as well as the owner of a YouTube channel featuring yoga classes and tutorials with a subscriber base of 320,000. MacGregor has also developed one of the largest social media followings of any yoga teacher, offering advice and teachings on poses as well as frequent Instagram challenges for her nearly 1 million followers.

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David Williams

Maui, HI

Certified to teach Ashtanga Yoga by in 1974, after three years of committed study under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ son, Manju Jois, Williams was the first non-Indian to be taught the whole of the Ashtanga system in Mysore directly from Pattabhi Jois. Williams has been devoted to his daily practice for 45 years, and he has been a teacher to some of the world’s most influential teachers, including David Swenson, Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, Bryan Kest, and more. Williams continues to teach on Maui, where he has lived since 1976.

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Abbie Galvin

New York, NY

A senior teacher at Katonah Yoga, Abbie Galvin has been teaching yoga for more than 25 years. Deeply influenced by her work as a filmmaker, psychoanalytic training, and Daoism, Galvin’s style of teaching is unlike any common class you might walk into at a gym or yoga studio. Her classes are focused on aligning the body and opening it so that the organs, the bones, and the breath can function freely.

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Genevive Kapuler

New York, NY

Genevieve “Genny” Kapuler’s New York City classes are a rare and special experience. She teaches Iyengar yoga out of her loft studio apartment in SoHo, and has been a major influence on New York’s greatest yoga teachers across lineages. Kapuler has taught Iyengar yoga for 36 years, and first started practicing in 1976 with the late Mary Dunn, a pioneer of Iyengar yoga in the West. Before taking up yoga, Kapuler was a modern dancer; she is certified in the Alexander technique and is a practitioner of Body-Mind Centering, a method of applied movement to aid in self-discovery and developmental repatterning through the body-mind relationship. 

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David Miliotis

Newport Beach, CA

David Miliotis has been a dedicated student of Ashtanga yoga since 1989. David was authorized to teach by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and has studied extensively with Richard Freeman and Sharath Jois. Miliotis was the principal instructor of the Mysore program at Jois Yoga in Encinitas until 2014, and now teaches in Newport Beach and Laguna Beach in Southern California. In addition to his study of Ashtanga, Miliotis is a Sanskrit scholar, teaching bi-weekly online courses, and hosting gatherings for chanting and discussion. He is the author of Sanskrit and Chanting: A Workbook for Yoga Practitioners. In addition to his regular teaching, Miliotis is devoted to bringing yoga to at-risk youth in Santa Barbara County through his non-profit organization, the Tapas Project.

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Alex Auder

Philadelphia, PA

Alex Auder is a New York native who first started practicing in the late 1980s at the original Jivamukti Yoga School in East Village. Auder began teaching in New York City at Jivamukti, and then in the Hudson Valley, where she opened her own school, called Magu Yoga. When she moved back to Manhattan, Auder opened a small boutique studio in her home in the West Village, and began teaching at the Kula Yoga Project, where she still teaches master classes today. Last year she opened up Magu Yoga in Philadelphia. Her teaching is influenced by the system of structural alignment and integration as taught by the Iyengar method, and Kula Yoga, as well as her studies with Nevine Michaan, and her life-long study of  Vedanta.

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Richard Rosen

Berkeley, CA

A yoga practitioner for more than 35 years, Richard Rosen has been one of the leading Iyengar yoga teachers in the world since the 1980s. In 1987 he co-founded the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, California, with Claire Finn and Rodney Yee, which was one of the first local yoga studios in the East Bay, and formalized teaching of Hatha, Iyengar, and restorative yoga. Rosen serves on the board of the Yoga Dana Foundation, which helps bring yoga teachers into underserved communities in Northern California. Rosen is also the author of three books, The Yoga of Breath: A Step-by-Step Guide to Pranayama (2002), Pranayama: Beyond the Fundamentals (2006), and Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga (2012), all published through Shambhala Publications.

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Colleen Saidman Yee

Sag Harbor, NY

Colleen Saidman is the founder and co-owner of New York’s two Yoga Shanti studios, alongside her husband and prominent yoga teacher, Rodney Yee. First trained in the Jivamukti method, Saidman’s teaching is also deeply influenced by Iyengar technique and therapeutic methodology for aligning the body safely. Saidman is a highly devotional teacher who is studied in meditation and a lover of music. Saidman teaches all around the world both on her own and in partnership with Yee, and also appears in a variety of videos and DVDs produced with Gaiam and oneoeight.tv. In 2015 Saidman released her first book Yoga for Life: A Journey to Inner Peace and Freedom, a radically honest personal account of how yoga has informed her decisions and growth over the course of her life, along with practical applications of yoga sequences for everyday issues, such as depression, stress, and energy boosting.

Related: A Meditation on Silence by Colleen Saidman Yee

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Tiffany Cruikshank

Santa Monica, CA

Tiffany Cruikshank has spent the past 20 years crafting a system for teaching, which understands yoga as medicine. A holistic health practitioner, acupuncturist, and advanced yoga teacher and practitioner with a specialty in sports medicine, Cruikshank has been one of the foremost voices in successfully fusing Eastern and Western medicine within the yoga world. Founder of Yoga Medicine, Cruikshank has trained hundreds of students. Based in Los Angeles, Cruikshank teaches regularly for YogaGlo, and travels extensively around the world. She is also the author of the book Optimal Health for a Vibrant Life. She is an animal rights advocate, a strong voice for women’s empowerment, and the ambassador for Kira Grace yoga gear.

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Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa

Los Angeles, CA

Almost every Sunday night Khalsa teaches a yoga class to 100 eager yogis at Golden Bridge Yoga Center, the Kundalini yoga studio she co-founded with her husband Gurushabd in Santa Monica. Khalsa later opened a New York City location and today Golden Bridge is considered the premier center for studying Kundalini. Khalsa studied with Yogi Bhajan, the man who introduced Kundalini yoga to the United States, and was one of his first students to consider the method as it pertained to pre-natal practitioners. She has authored two books, The Eight Human Talents: The Yogic Way to Restoring the Natural Balance of Serenity Within You, and Bountiful, Beautiful, Blissful: Experience the Natural Power of Pregnancy and Birth with Kundalini Yoga and Meditation. Gurmukh travels around the world teaching both Kundalini and pre- and post-natal yoga. Khalsa is also a Zen Buddhist practitioner. 

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Nancy Gilgoff

Maui, HI

Nancy Gilgoff has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga for over 40 years. Though Gilgoff was one of the very first teachers to be certified to teach by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and she has been a major influence on the dissemination of Ashtanga yoga and its associated practices and dharma in the West, she has also done studies outside of the tradition. She started off as an Ashtangi in Encinitas alongside her boyfriend at the time, David Williams, and the two traveled to Mysore together in 1974 to study with Pattabhi Jois. She has studied with Baba Hari Dass, a silent monk and master yogi known for his interpretations of yoga scripture and philosophy, and several senior Iyengar teachers. Gilgoff is based in Maui, but she travels around the world teaching workshops and trainings, spreading her love of the practice, to which she has been lovingly bound for most of her adult life.

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Erich Schiffman

Los Angeles, CA

Erich Schiffman has been a student of yoga for more than 40 years, during which time he has studied with some of the greatest teachers to ever live. He began his studies with Jiddu Krishnamurti, the Theosophist thinker, and then at age 18 was accepted to study—at Krishnamurti’s urging—with T.K.V. Desikachar, the son and student of Krishnamacharya, the “Father of Modern Yoga.” In 1976 he studied with the Iyengar family in India, as well as senior teacher Dona Holleman, and Vanda Scaravelli. He has had a massive influence on American yoga in spite of his very laid-back, low-key approach. He teaches two weekly classes in Los Angeles, one monthly workshop, and a couple of teacher trainings around the world every year. He’s taught at every major yoga conference, studio, and has trained many of today’s most prominent teachers. He is the author of Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness, and has appeared in the award-winning DVD “Yoga Mind & Body,” with Ali MacGraw.

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Chuck Miller

Maui, HI

In 1988, after eight years of practicing with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and 14 years of studying yoga, Chuck Miller was certified to teach Ashtanga yoga. He spent the next 17 years teaching Ashtanga at YogaWorks in Santa Monica, California, which he co-founded with Maty Ezraty, before moving to Hawaii. Miller has studied under many traditions, and has been a huge influence on some of the greatest modern yoga teachers in America.

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Seane Corn

Topanga, CA

Seane Corn is an internationally renowned yoga teacher, known for her tremendous work in social activism. Corn was first exposed to yoga working as a waitress at a café that David Life and Sharon Gannon owned in the East Village of New York in the 1980s. She went on to study at YogaWorks and did her first teacher training with Erich Schiffman in 1994, Bryan Kest in 1995, Maty Ezraty in 1995, and Lisa Walford in 1996, during which time she also studied in Mysore with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and was influenced by the teachings of Amma, the Hindu spiritual leader who is revered as a saint by her followers. Corn has been teaching Vinyasa yoga for more than 20 years, leading workshops and teacher training around the world, and inspiring her students to give back to their communities through radical self-transformation. To date she has been featured on more than 20 magazine covers, a dozen DVDs, and she also teaches on Gaia.com.

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Schuyler Grant

New York City, NY

Founder and director of Kula Yoga Project in New York City, one of the most popular yoga schools in the region which combines the Iyengar and Ashtanga lineages, co-creator of Wanderlust international yoga festival, and director of the Wanderlust Teacher Training, Schuyler Grant is a powerful instructor who has touched thousands of yogis around the world through her work. Her practice and her style of teaching is heavily influenced by Ashtanga, Iyengar and her own practice and study with anatomical master Alison West. Grant is currently on sabbatical from New York, teaching and working in Los Angeles at Wanderlust Hollywood. 

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Raghunath Cappo

East Chatham, NY

Punk rocker-turned monk-turned yogi and father of five, Raghunath Cappo is a beloved voice in the yoga world. He began yoga in 1987 as a student of Sri Dharma Mittra and Swami Sivananada, and continued his studies as a Krishna Bhakti monk in India. He now leads yoga teacher trainings in America and India, focusing on inversions and devotional bhakti, chanting, yogic philosophy, and Sanskrit. This past year Cappo opened a center with his wife, Bridget, called Super Soul Farm, on his property in upstate New York. It functions as a community center, yoga studio and teaching facility, farm, and ashram. Learn more about Cappo’s fascinating personal story here.

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Tim Feldmann

Miami, FL

Co-owner of Miami Life Center, with his wife and fellow Ashtanga yoga teacher, Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann is one of the foremost Ashtanga instructors in the world. Originally trained as a dancer, Feldmann began practicing at the original Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City in the 1990s. Upon returning to his birthplace, Denmark, Feldmann began his Ashtanga practice with Lino Miele, and eventually made his way to Mysore. He began teaching nearly 25 years ago, and continues to teach in Miami and around the world today. He is known for his sweet, easy-going attitude, and his simultaneous deep caring for the physical and philosophical elements of the practice. Learn more about Feldmann’s experience with yoga here.

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Lisa Walford

Los Angeles, CA

Lisa Walford has been teaching yoga since 1982. She holds an Intermediate Senior Iyengar teaching certificate, and continues to make annual trips to India to study with the Iyengar family. Up until 2006, Walford directed the curriculum for all Yoga Works teacher trainings, and was one of the most celebrated teachers on faculty. Walford’s classes powerfully meld the subtle and the physical, and she has trained some of the foremost yoga teachers in the world, including Annie Carpenter and Seane Corn. She is also the co-author of The Longevity Diet, and sits on the board for Iyengar Yoga Therapeutics, a collaboration of yoga teachers dedicated to improving the quality of life of those who live with health conditions and disease, and the Iyengar Yoga Association of Los Angeles, which serves Southern California with daily classes and teacher training.

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Nikki Costello

New York City, NY

Nikki Costello is a profoundly intelligent advanced yoga teacher who teaches Iyengar yoga. She began teaching over 22 years ago in New York City and has extensive knowledge in yoga, Sanskrit and the scriptures. Her teaching is influenced by over 12 trips to India where she has lived and studied. Costello is a rare breed senior teacher who teaches in New York at Kula Yoga Project in Tribeca and Williamsburg and Yoga Shanti in New York City. She also travels the world extensively bringing her unique approach to The Practice, including mentoring teachers, sutra study, meditation and retreat.

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Kathryn Budig

Charleston, SC

Though Kathryn Budig is relatively young (she’s only been teaching for 10 years), she is known and celebrated around the world for her accessible and joyous approach, and her strong voice in the body-positive movement. Trained by YogaWorks’ Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty, Budig has a very advanced physical practice that has garnered her a place as an Under Armour Women—sponsored athlete. Budig is a stalwart presenter for Yoga Journal conferences around the world, and is part of a new wave of traveling yoga teachers. Budig is playful, vivacious, and relatable, sharing her joie de vivre with her hundreds of thousands of social media followers. Budig is the author of The Women’s Health Big Book of Yoga, and has a new book, Aim True, coming out in March 2016. 

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Baron Baptiste

Brookline, MA

A teacher for more than 25 years, Baron Baptiste’s teaching and his organization, the Baptiste Institute of Power Yoga, have reached millions of yogis around the world. Born to yogi parents who opened the very first yoga school in San Francisco in 1955, Baptiste was brought up around the practice. He’s studied various methods including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Raja, and Bikram, and he has described his proprietary method as “20 % mechanics and 80 % spiritual psychology.” Baptiste is the author of five books of yoga, with his sixth book coming out this May entitled, Perfectly Imperfect: The Art and Soul of Yoga. Baptiste continues to teach workshops, retreats, and teacher trainings around the world.

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Judith Hanson Lasater

San Francisco, CA

Judith Lasater, Ph.D., best known for co-founding Yoga Journal magazine, was one of the earliest disciples of B.K.S. Iyengar in America. Teaching now for more than 45 years, Lasater leads workshops and trainings around the world. A celebrated author eight books, and many more articles, Lasater is a physical therapist and has a doctorate in East-West psychology, and she is recognized for popularizing restorative yoga. In addition to her work as an author, editor, and teacher, Lasater co-founded the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, where she still teaches to this day.

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Yogeswari

New York, NY, and Switzerland

Trained by Sharon Gannon and David Life, Yogeswari is the traveling ambassador of Jivamukti Yoga. Every year she leads retreats and trainings all over the world—one week in Ubud, the next in Berlin, and then off to India before circling back to New York. As one of the most senior Jivamukti teachers, Yogeswari is responsible for having trained and mentored hundreds of students around the world. With a background in dance and choreography, Yogeswari’s classes are methodical and flowing. In addition to her work with Jivamukti over the past 16 years, Yogeswari is the founder of the AZAHAR Foundation, an international non-profit organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding and non-violent conflict resolution through yoga and the arts.

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Carrie Owerko

New York, NY

An authorized Senior Intermediate Iyengar teacher, Carrie Owerko walks around with a warm and playful smile on her face. Trained formally as a dancer and versed in many movement styles, Owerko has participated in and co-choreographed multiple yoga demonstrations throughout her career. Owerko continues to study in Pune, India with the Iyengar family, and teaches Iyengar yoga around the world. Owerko has also brought yoga, movement, and mindfulness teaching into schools and to Rikers Island, a complex of ten jails located outside of New York City. Owerko is deeply versed in yogic philosophy as well as the science of the body and has been a mentor and teacher to some of the most influential yoga teachers in the world.

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Tias Little

Santa Fe, NM

Founder and director of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Tias Little has integrated his scholarly work in Eastern Philosophy and his study with both B.K.S. Iyengar and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to create a powerful, flowing practice. Little is also a massage therapist with a background in cranial-sacral therapy, and has been heavily influenced by the work of Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, and Thomas Hanna. In addition to his extensive background and understanding of the physical body, Little has studied both Tibetan Buddhism and Zen meditation. Little currently teaches online for YogaGlo, and is the author of three books: The Thread of Breath, Meditations on a Dewdrop and The Yoga of the Subtle Body.

Related: Let Go, Let God

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Jasmine Tarkeshi

San Francisco, CA

In 1997, Jasmine Tarkeshi, co-created Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in New York City with her partner Dana Flynn. The two went on to open another Laughing Lotus in San Francisco, which Tarkeshi currently directs. She leads teacher trainings and workshops globally, inspiring her students through mythology, storytelling, and Eastern philosophy. Tarkeshi has been teaching for over 20 years, and has made many trips to India. She was raised with the Tibetan Buddhist teachings of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and has been influenced by many traditions including Iyengar, Integral, Jivamukti, Sivananda, and her own practice. In addition to teaching yoga, Tarkeshi has led bhakti retreats with Baba Bhagavan Das, and is highly committed to bringing yoga to all beings everywhere. An activist and a mystic, Tarkeshi is a member of numerous human rights and animal rights organizations.

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Bryan Kest

Santa Monica, CA

A practitioner since 1979, Bryan Kest has been teaching yoga for more than 30 years. He has received incredible fame around the world for coming up with his distinctive style of yoga, Power Yoga. As a teenager he studied Ashtanga yoga with David Williams in Hawaii, and in 1983 he traveled to India to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. For the past 20 years Kest has been teaching Power Yoga around the world, training teachers, helping to start studios, and most recently, creating an online platform to stream classes.

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Leslie Howard

San Francisco, CA

Leslie Howard has been teaching yoga for over 20 years, and has accumulated 3,000 hours of yoga study. Howard is most closely associated with the Iyengar school, having studied with such master teachers as Patricia Walden, Tony Briggs, and Manouso Manos. Her main area of focus, however, has been around women and the pelvic floor. She travels the world giving workshops, trainings, and talks, on anatomy, physiology, and breath work to help relieve pelvic floor issues, through the prism of the yoga practice as a therapeutic modality.

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Annie Carpenter

San Francisco, CA

It’s no secret that yoga attracts dancers thanks to a shared appreciation of body movement, which is one reason why Annie Carpenter found herself on the mat. As a performer and instructor at the Martha Graham Studio in New York, Carpenter turned to Iyengar yoga as a refuge from the intense New York dance scene. Inspired by her practice, she took a career-changing sabbatical from dance in 1995 to study Ashtanga with Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, founders of YogaWorks, where she received teacher-training with Lisa Walford and Ezraty. For the next 15 years, Carpenter taught at YogaWorks and developed her own method called SmartFLOW, a yoga sequence that focuses on mindful movement and alignment. Today, the light and joyful teacher continues to evolve SmartFLOW while offering her trademark 200- and 300-hour SmartFLOW teacher trainings at Exhale Center for Sacred Movement in Venice, California. She also teaches at the Yoga Tree in San Francisco and regularly contributes to Yoga Journal.

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Guy Donahaye

New York, NY

Guy Donahaye has been teaching Ashtanga yoga since 1993, and is one of the few teachers to receive certification to teach from Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. He co-authored a book on his teacher with fellow New York City Ashtanga yoga teacher, Eddie Stern, entitled Guruji, and has been devoted to sharing his knowledge of the practice and of his teacher’s wisdom with his students in New York City at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala, and around the world. He is known for his deep study of the ancient yogic texts and his art of hands-on assists.

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Nikki Villela

Brooklyn, NY

Nikki Vilella, co-owner of Kula Yoga Project, Williamsburg, with Schuyler Grant, has trained hundreds of teachers, since she first started teaching yoga more than 10 years ago. Her classes are highly specific, with precise attunement to anatomy and physical form. Her teaching draws upon a comprehensive study of the bandhas, or body locks in physical practice, and the body’s most internal workings—making her classes incredibly physically and intellectually demanding and uplifting.

Related: Unlocking the Secrets of Spiritual and Physical Flight

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Zoë Slatoff-Ponte

New York, NY

A student of yoga since age 15, Zoë Slatoff Ponte, has been teaching Ashtanga yoga since 2002 when she was first granted the blessing to teach from her guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. An authorized level-two teacher, Slatoff-Ponte runs an Ashtanga Yoga Shala on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, alongside her fellow Ashtanga teacher and husband Ben Ponte. In addition to her accomplished teaching, Slatoff-Ponte is also a scholar of Asian Languages and culture who recently released a book called Yogavataranam, a Sanskrit textbook for yoga students that integrates traditional and academic methods of learning, teaching grammar and reading through classical yoga texts. 

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Rima Rani Rabbath

New York, NY

Born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, Rima Rabbath is one of the leading teachers of the Jivamukti yoga method in New York City and is known for her practical and loving integration of ancient wisdom into a modern life. A student of Jivamukti for over 15 years, and a teacher for 10, Rabbath helps facilitate their teacher trainings around the world. Rabbath has been deeply influenced by the study of Ashtanga yoga, most notably through Rolf and Marci Naujokat, in Goa, India. Rabbath’s main teachers are Sharon Gannon and David Life, and she also studies with Pema Chodron, the renowned American Tibetan Buddhist nun, teacher, and author. Learn more about Rabbath’s personal sources of inspiration here.

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David Regelin

New York, NY

David Regelin has one of the most beautiful advanced yoga practices in the world. A student of Katonah Yoga founder Nevine Michaan, his teaching focuses on sacred geometry and body origami—the notion that the body, when it is properly aligned, fits and folds perfectly into itself. Regelin has been teaching for more than 15 years at various studios around New York City including Kula Yoga, Katonah Yoga, and The Shala, and leads intensives and trainings around the world.

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Tony Briggs

Petaluma, CA 

Tony Briggs has been teaching Iyengar yoga since 1978, and is one of the most senior teachers in the lineage to this day. He has trained some of the most influential teachers in the modern yoga world, and has written extensively for Yoga Journal and other online publications on the methodology of hands-on assists and alignment of various yoga postures. His teaching is influenced by his study of shadow yoga, a style of Hatha yoga that incorporates three “preludes” of non-traditional poses to prepare the body for asana practice, and Qi Gong, as well as his own practice of seeking to find more space in the body.

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Kevin Courtney

New York, NY

Kevin Courtney, a senior teacher at New York City’s Kula Yoga Project, has taught yoga for nearly 20 years, and in recent months he has been widely recognized for his beautiful and audacious new project called The Bridge Practice, a unique three-hour class merging vigorous yoga, meditation, and Qi Gong, an ancient Chinese practice for cultivating health and vitality, which he co-teaches with Qi Gong teacher Thomas Droge. Courtney’s approach to yoga integrates his understanding of the subtle body, yoga therapeutics, Kundalini, Sankhya philosophy, and Qi Gong. He has been a regular teacher at Wanderlust and Kripalu, and now curates the yoga program at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee.

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Gary Kraftsow

Oakland, CA

Gary Kraftsow, who has been teaching for more than 30 years, is the director and senior teacher of the American Viniyoga Institute. Beginning his studies in 1974 with T.K.V. Deskichar in India, Kraftsow is now one of the most prominent and trusted voices in yoga therapeutics and has published numerous articles on chronic pain and treatment through the yoga practice. Additionally, he is the author of the books, Yoga for Wellness and Yoga for Transformation, as well as several DVDs that examine the methodology through which Viniyoga can help treat ailments, anxiety, and pain. He teaches trainings and workshops in America and around the world. 

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John Campbell

Charlottesville, VA

John Campbell, Ph.D., has been teaching yoga for more than 20 years in the lineage of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Campbell has been one of a few Ashtanga yoga teachers to meld his study of the practice with advanced scholarship. Campbell now serves as an assistant professor of religious studies at University of Virginia, and is a founding member of the university’s Contemplative Sciences Center. He helped start the Mysore program at UVA—one of the most robust college-level yoga programs, and teaches regularly on the integration of yogic philosophy and meditation. Campbell also serves as an advisor on yoga to Sonima.com.

Related: A Beginner’s Guide to Essential Sanskrit Mantras

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Noah Mazé

Los Angeles, CA

Noah Mazé, founder of Noah Mazé Yoga, has been practicing since he was 14 years old. He began his study with Richard Freeman in Boulder, Colorado, and went on to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in India, senior Iyengar teacher Manouso Manos, and did his first teacher training in Anusara. His teaching is also heavily influenced by his study with Douglas Brooks, the scholar of Hinduism, south Asian languages, and the comparative study of religions. Mazé’s school of yoga, which he founded in 2003, emphasizes postural alignment, progressive sequencing, and dynamic movement. Mazé teaches weekly classes at his home studio YOGAMAZÉ in Los Angeles, on YogaGlo, and in workshops and trainings all over the world.

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Alison Cramer

New York, NY

An Ayurvedic expert, who has taken several trips to India for Panchakarma, an intense healing and cleansing Ayurvedic program, Ali Cramer has been teaching yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda for nearly 15 years. Cramer was first trained at Laughing Lotus in New York City, where she now serves as creative director and host of teacher trainings. She is one of the foremost minds in combining Ayurveda and yoga in New York City, and is invited to studios in the greater metropolitan area to teach workshops and trainings. Cramer has trained hundreds of students around the world. A Lululemon ambassador and a writer for various yoga publications, Cramer is also a resident teacher at the annual Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Tennessee.

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Kia Miller

Venice, CA

Practicing since she was 15 years old, Kia Miller is a seasoned teacher who has established her own brand of yoga, called Radiant Body, a system that offers a combination of physical posture, breath work, kriya, meditation, and chanting. Her style of teaching draws on her years of practice under Ashtanga yoga with such teachers as Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. She also draws great influence from Kundalini yoga, and other subtle body practices. She teaches at YogaWorks in Los Angeles, and leads trainings and retreats around the world. She is also a regular contributor for YogaGlo.

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Devorah Sacks

San Francisco, CA

Devorah Sacks began studying yoga when she was 18 years old and met her teacher, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, when she was only 23. By the time she was 27, she had been blessed to teach the Ashtanga yoga method ( she is an authorized level 2 Mysore teacher with the KPJAYI), and she went on to study tantra and yoga nidra. She also holds a master’s degree in somatic psychology, a method to help patients suffering from psychological trauma cope and recover. Now the owner of Mission Ashtanga in San Francisco, Sacks combines her teaching and study of Ashtanga yoga with her experience as a therapist in her teaching and practice.

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Sianna Sherman

Los Angeles, CA

Sianna Sherman says she once thought she was destined to help people through medicine, but a meditation campaign to free Nelson Mandela in 1989 inspired her to change course and pursue yoga instead as a means to care for others. Fast-forward to 2008, Yoga Journal named her one of 21 young teachers influencing the future of yoga. Sherman is the creator of Mythic Yoga Flow, an alignment-focused sequence that combines traditional practices (yoga asana, mantra, and meditation) with expressive insight and captivating storytelling (she’s a lover of myths and magic) to help students establish an everyday transformative practice. She also founded the Goddess Project, a month-long yoga course designed to deepen your connection to your inner deity through mantra, mudra, meditation, pranayama, and asana. The internationally respected yogi travels the world offering 200- to 300-hour Fearless Heart Teacher Trainings and speaking passionately at workshops, retreats and festivals about embracing the fullness of life.

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Amy Ippoliti

Boulder, CO

Amy Ippoliti started practicing yoga when she was 14 years old. She did her first teacher certification with Cyndi Lee in 1997, and soon after was teaching at some of the best new yoga schools in New York City. Since leaving New York, Ippoliti has become a leading authority on yoga, teaching in Colorado, on YogaGlo, and around the world. Ippoliti co-founded 90Monkeys.com, an online professional development school for yoga teachers. She is on faculty at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Omega Institute, and Esalen Institute, and is an advocate of animal rights and human rights.

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Briohny Smyth

Los Angeles, CA

Many people—yogis and non-yogis alike—might recognize Briohny Smyth from the gravity defying, seamlessly stunning, and viral yoga video produced by Equinox about five years ago. In it, Smith is shown practicing some of the most advanced yoga postures with complete grace, while her husband, and co-teacher, Dice Ida Klein, sleeps in the background. The two of them are the founders of Bryce Yoga, an internationally recognized and celebrated school of yoga, which runs its own trainings and workshops in Los Angeles and beyond. Smyth, originally from Thailand, got her yoga teaching certification at YogaWorks, and was mentored by Annie Carpenter and Lisa Walford.

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Sharmila Desai

New York, NY

Desai’s first trip to Mysore, India, was in 1997. Since then, Desai has hardly skipped a day of practice. With a background in Indian dance, Desai has deep familial roots in the traditions of yoga. Certified by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois to teach, Desai has brought the practice to some incredibly high-profile influencers, such as Sting and his wife Trudie Styler. Desai is the author of two books, the most recent of which, Yoga Sadhana for Mothers, is a text on practicing yoga from pregnancy through post-partum. Desai has taught all over the world, assisting Sharath Jois, and serving as an ambassador and a leader for the teachings of Ashtanga yoga. Learn more about Desai’s experience and inspiration for her teachings here.

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Vinnie Marino

Los Angeles, CA

Vinnie Marino has been a fixture of the Los Angeles yoga scene for more than 20 years. A veteran YogaWorks teacher, Marino was one of the first teachers to encourage music in class. Influenced by both Iyengar and Ashtanga traditions, Marino was mentored by Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller and continues to teach Vinyasa flow classes at YogaWorks in Los Angeles. Today Marino travels around the world leading retreats and workshops, and is a featured model in the health section of the Los Angeles Times. 

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John Bultman

Charlottesville, VA

John Bultman is an authorized level-two Ashtanga yoga teacher at the University of Virginia, where he leads a Mysore program for students. Bultman is authorized to teach by Sharath Jois, the grandson of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, who holds the lineage in the Ashtanga tradition, and he has taught for six years and practiced Ashtanga for about 10. He travels to Mysore, India, every year, and in addition to his yoga teaching, Bultman is an artist, writer, and scientist.

 Bo Forbes

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Cambridge, MA

A regular presenter and contributor for Yoga Journal, and involved in some of the most innovative work happening at the Mind and Life Institute, the non-profit organization dedicated to exploring the intersection of science and Buddhism, Bo Forbes is a truly unique teacher in today’s world. A clinical psychologist, mindfulness teacher, and scholar, Forbes is focused on integrating neuroscience and connective tissue research with psychology and yoga. Forbes writes frequently for some of the world’s leading magazines, and is the author of Yoga for Emotional Balance: Simple Practices to Help Relieve Anxiety and Depression. Forbes is also the founder of Embodied Awareness, an online education company geared towards embodied education. Forbes leads workshops, intensives, and trainings in yoga therapeutics in Boston and around the world.

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Hari Kaur Khalsa

New York, NY

Hari Kaur Khalsa is a renowned spiritual teacher and global Kundalini representative. For 10 years, Khalsa traveled around the world with Yogi Bhajan, the master teacher who brought Kundalini yoga to the West, and she directed his teacher training programs. Khalsa still directs and teaches Kundalini classes and training internationally. She is known for her incredible work empowering women of all ages and life stages, and has published two books on the topic, A Woman’s Book of Meditation: Discovering the Power of a Peaceful Mind, and A Woman’s Book of Yoga: Embracing Our Natural Life Cycles. Khalsa has also done groundbreaking workshops with her musician husband, Dave Frank, in combining music, meditation, Qi Gong, and Kundalini yoga.

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Rusty Wells

San Francisco, CA

Rusty Wells began practicing yoga in 1998 and describes himself as a “yogic messenger.” The owner of the Vinyasa-inspired Urban Flow Yoga studio, founded in 2010, specializes in Bhakti Flow, a practice that celebrates “devotion to the wonder of life.” His freestyle twist on this traditional practice has been known to spark an array of emotions—happiness, sadness and even catharsis—in just one class, which is why many students quickly find themselves obsessed. When not at his donation-based studio, Wells travels the world leading teacher trainings, retreats, and workshops. He is also the author of the new book Bhakti Flow Yoga, A Training Guide for Practice and Life, which came out last fall.

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Jason Crandell

San Francisco, CA

The former hockey player and skateboarder is not your typical yogi, which makes him so relatable. The Ohio native trained in Vinyasa yoga under the legendary Rodney Yee, who had him practice 20-minute headstands  as part of his rites of passage into the yoga community some 15 years ago. Yee has said, “[Crandell] is taking the art of teaching yoga to its next level. ” Crandell has taken his contagious passion for the education of this practice on the road, leading teacher trainings and workshops, primarily in Asia and Europe. He also regularly contributes to Yoga Journal, writing articles and creating DVDs, like “The Complete Beginner’s Guide to Yoga.”

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Sara Ivanhoe

Los Angeles, CA

Sara Ivanhoe is the instructor behind several popular yoga DVDs, including the “Weight Watchers Yoga Starter Kit,” the “Yoga for Dummies” series, the “Crunch Yoga” series , and “Yoga Live” in collaboration with Russell Simmons—all of which have sold millions of copies worldwide . The YogaWorks-trained star has also appeared on VH1’s “Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab” and was featured on the Titans of Yoga , a 2010 critically acclaimed documentary about 25 of the most prominent figures who practice and teach yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. Ivanhoe began practicing yoga at age 14. After graduating from New York University in 1995, she started teaching Vinyasa yoga and she later became certified to teach Yoga and Ecology by the Green Yoga Association and was awarded a certification in yoga philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, where she is getting her master’s degree in the same subject.

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Tara Stiles

New York, NY

The tank-top slogan “Who made the rules?” found on Tara Stiles ‘ first-ever yoga lifestyle line in collaboration with Reebok in 2013 perfectly sums up this model-turned-yogi’s MO. The former model from Illinois, who founded Strala Yoga  in New York City, has been described as a “yoga rebel” by The New York Times  for her chilled-out, totally accessible approach that focuses more on the physical rather than spiritual aspects of yoga. Since opening Strala in 2008, Stiles has expanded her brand to 15 countries, where 1,000 “guides,” as the yoga teachers are called, lead thousands in partner studios, gyms, and clubs. Among her most famous students are Jane Fonda and Deepak Chopra. She has written several top-selling books including Slim Calm Sexy Yoga, Yoga Cures, Make Your Own Rules Diet, and Make Your Own Rules Cookbook. (See a day in Tara Stiles’ diet here.) She continues to team up with Reebok to design the cool girl’s yoga apparel, where you’ll find anything but another pair of black yoga pants. 

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Rolf Gates

Santa Cruz, CA

Rolf Gates is the descendent of six generations of ministers, and is one of the most eclectic and passionate voices in modern yoga. Gates leads Vinyasa workshops, intensives, and teacher trainings around the world, and is an author of one of the more accessible and acclaimed books on yoga philosophy, Meditations from the Mat: Daily Reflections on the Path of Yoga. Gates has done a considerable amount of social service work, the most notable of which has been in working with the U.S. military to bring yoga and other sustainable care to troops and their families.

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Les Leventhal

San Francisco, CA, and Bali

For over 15 years, Les Leventhal has been one of the most sought-after yoga teachers in the Bay Area (now based in Bali). His first yoga teacher training was with Ana Forrest, for whom he subsequently assisted at many of her own workshops and trainings around the world. A longtime student of Tias Little, Leventhal seeks to merge “Eightfold Path with the Eight Limbs in a way that feels all-inclusive.” Leventhal is also the author of one book, Two Lifestyles, One Lifetime: An Inspiring Journey From Rock-Bottom Hopelessness to Wildly Extravagant Possibility.

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Faith Hunter

New York, NY

A yoga practitioner and teacher for over 20 years, Faith Hunter teaches her own style of yoga called Spiritually Fly, which merges Vinyasa, Ashtanga and Kundalini. Owner of Washington, D.C.- based studio Embrace DC, Hunter serves as director of teacher training. Hunter has traveled around the world teaching yoga, and has been featured numerous times in the world’s leading yoga magazines, both on the covers and as an expert source. Hunter has participated in several online yoga courses, including a partnership with Gaia.

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Dominic Corigliano

Fieldbrook, CA      

Dominic Corigliano was among the very first westerners to study Ashtanga Yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in the 1970s. Teaching for over 30 years, Corigliano travels around the world teaching workshops and intensives, and has been a mentor to dozens of influential yoga teachers from San Diego to Malaysia.

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Jessica Walden

Encinitas, CA

For nearly 15 years, Jessica Walden has been teaching Ashtanga yoga. After five years of rigorous work in organic agriculture, Walden began a yoga practice, beginning with David and Simi Roche in 1994, and then began practicing with Tim Miller before heading to Mysore to study with the Jois family. Today, Walden is one of the most advanced Ashtanga yoga practitioners in the world, sharing her teachings around the globe. Walden also serves as a yoga advisor for Sonima.com.

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Margi Young

San Francisco, CA

Trained by Cyndi Lee in 2001, Margi Young has been a beloved yoga teacher on both the East and West Coasts for more than 15 years. With a background in dance and choreography, Young first came to yoga through the Jivamukti method, and was drawn in by Lee’s OM yoga studio, which emphasized the integration of alignment, flow, and Buddhist mediation principles. Young has also done training with Judith Lasater in restorative yoga. Young now teaches in the Bay Area, and leads retreats and workshops around the world.

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Aliya Weise

San Diego, CA

An authorized level-two Ashtanga yoga teacher, Aliya Weise has been a student of Sharath Jois for over 10 years. In addition to sharing his teachings around the world, Weise is a Ph.D. candidate at George Washington University with a focus on American literature, critical theory, and posthumanism. He currently teaches at Ashtanga Yoga San Diego.

Annie Piper

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New York, NY

For over 20 years Annie Piper has been teaching yoga in and around New York City. Initially trained at Cyndi Lee’s OM Yoga, Piper went on to study with David Regelin at Katonah Yoga. Deeply influenced by Qi Gong and other subtle body practices like Reiki, Piper also teaches yoga to actors at the NYU Tisch School for Acting and the Yale School of Drama, using the integration of all of these practices for intelligent sequencing and conscious embodiment. Piper specializes and teaches advanced trainings in understanding how trauma is stored and expressed in the body. In these trainings, her yoga sequencing yoga is designed to support those with high levels of anxiety or have experienced trauma.

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Noah Williams

Los Angeles, CA

Noah Williams has been teaching Ashtanga yoga for over 20 years. With a background in Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Tang Soo Do, a Korean martial art, Williams first began practicing Ashtanga with Tim Miller in 1993. He studied annually with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, and received his certification to teach in 2001. Since then, Williams has continued his studies both in yoga and in Sanskrit, and now runs a daily Mysore program in Los Angeles.

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Janet Stone

San Francisco, CA

Janet Stone, a self-identifying “global yoga warrior” and “servant to the breath”, is a world-renowned yoga instructor who has been teaching and practicing for 20 years. Stone has been featured in national yoga magazines and appears as an instructor on Gaia.com. In addition to her popular weekly classes in San Francisco, Stone travels around the world leading retreats and trainings that hinge on asana, mythology, and chanting. Stone has mentored hundreds of teachers around the world.

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Joyce Englander Levy

New York City, NY

After eight years of consistent and dedicated practice and six years of teaching in both Miami and Chicago, Joyce Englander Levy moved to New York City to study Ashtanga Yoga with Eddie Stern. As Levy was cultivating her Ashtanga practice, she was growing a large following in New York City, and assisting the teacher training at YogaWorks. After completing the Yoga Shanti teacher training with Colleen Saidman and Rodney Yee, Levy began to teach with them at their Sag Harbor location, and about two years ago opened the studio’s New York City location in partnership with Saidman and Yee. Levy now serves as co-owner and head of teacher training. Levy teaches weekly classes and is known for smart alignment cues and her ability to distill complex postures and teach them as accessible building blocks for yogis of all backgrounds.

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Goldie Graham

San Diego, CA

Up until last year, Goldie Graham was touted as one of Boston’s best yoga teachers. Based now in Southern California, Graham travels around the world leading workshops, intensives, and teacher trainings. Mentored by Les Leventhal and Janet Stone, Graham teaches Vinyasa flow with an emphasis on alignment. Graham is also an active member in The November Project, a free fitness program founded by her husband in Boston. 

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Desiree Rumbaugh

Southern California

Desiree Rumbaugh is proof that yoga heals. After tragically losing her 20-year-old son in 2003 , the then Phoenix-based yogi turned to her practice, which she began in 1987, to help her cope with the deepest grief of a bereaved parent. Certified in both Iyengar and Anusara yoga, Rumbaugh began traveling the world teaching yoga workshops and retreats. In the process, she found an inner strength that allowed her “not only to survive, but thrive,” as she writes on her website. “My spiritual journey had officially begun and after almost two years, and thousands of frequent flyer miles, landing into the open hearts of friends and strangers, I realized my son’s death could renew my own life and purpose.”  Rumbaugh is the creator of “Yoga to the Rescue ,” a DVD series designed for people who lack flexibility and fitness and/or live with chronic pain (i.e., neck, shoulder, and back pain). She is also a regular contributor to Yoga Journal.

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Lauren Walker

Whitefish, MT

Lauren Walker is a writer, a teacher, and a scholar who has pioneered integrating the worlds of energy work, yoga, and modern medicine. A practitioner of yoga since 1996, Walker has been teaching yoga for nearly 20 years. Originally trained at Integral Yoga Institute New York City, Walker’s method today is called Energy Medicine Yoga, and she has published a book by the same name. Walker teaches workshops and classes around the world, and is a regular presenter at Yoga Journal conferences. Additionally, Walker has been published in The New York Times, The Jerusalem Post, and Salon.com.

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Baxter Bell

Oakland, CA

Science and religion don’t usually go mix, but for Baxter Bell, M.D. , studying the human anatomy was as important as understanding the human spirit. Pre-med and religious texts bookended his college life. Five years after joining a busy family practice, Bell took up yoga to continue his spiritual pursuit without being tied to a specific religion. In 2000, he signed up for an 18-month advanced studies program at the Piedmont Yoga Studio and simultaneously worked on becoming a medical acupuncturist at the Helms Institute in Berkeley. Bell has studied under Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, and Erich Schiffmann. As a yoga teacher, who focuses on a healing, nurturing style of Hatha yoga, and a medical acupuncturist, Bell leads teacher trainings across the country that integrate the therapeutic applications of yoga with Western medicine. Bell has appeared in Yoga Journal’s DVD, “Yoga for Stress ,” and blogs on “Yoga for Healthy Aging .”

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Kristin McGee

New York, NY

Kristin McGee first started practicing yoga in the early 1990s as a student at NYU Tisch School for the Arts. She began teaching nearly 20 years ago at small gyms in NYC, and is now a celebrity yoga and Pilates instructor, with clients like Steve Martin and Tina Fey. McGee is the author of dozens of yoga and Pilates DVDs, and has appeared in countless YouTube tutorials and online courses. McGee travels around the world teaching classes, workshops, and retreat, and teaches weekly classes at Equinox in New York City.

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Anna Guest-Jelley

Nashville, TN

Founder of Curvy Yoga, a training and inspiration platform for yoga students and teachers of all sizes, Anna Guest-Jelley has filled a massive gap in the yoga space, championing and celebrating yoga for every body type. Guest-Jelley’s message for women’s empowerment has reached hundreds of teachers and thousands more students world-wide. Through her work at Curvy Yoga, Guest-Jelley leads teacher trainings to help instructors understand how to best serve larger-bodied practitioners. In addition to her incredible work on the mat and in yoga studios, Guest-Jelley is a writer, who’s been featured in Vogue, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and national yoga publications. Additionally, she is the co-editor of the book Yoga and Body Image: 25 Personal Stories About Beauty, Bravery & Loving Your Body.

Related: 34 Inspirational Photos That Dispel the “Yoga Body” Myth

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Russell Case

Stanford, CA

Russell Case has been practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga for more than 20 years. A certified teacher through Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Case is one of the most seasoned Asthanga teachers in the world. A humble and refined teacher, Case is known for his joking spirit, and his perpetual eye toward social justice work. He is the western region program director for the Sonima Foundation, a non-profit program started by Sonima.com founder Sonia Jones, which brings yoga-based exercises and mindfulness into schools. Case is a yoga director for Stanford University, and also serves as a yoga advisor to Sonima.com.

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Monica Jaggi

New York, NY

Born in New Dehli, India, Monica Jaggi is a New York-based advanced certified Jivamukti yoga instructor. A student of Sharon Gannon, David Life and Sri Brahmananda Sarasvati through Joan Suval, and a dedicated mentor herself, Jaggi is responsible for training dozens of influential teachers across America and beyond.

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Patrick Beach

Seattle, WA

With over 275,000 Instagram followers, Patrick Beach’s gravity defying handstands, adventurous spirit and nearly Olympian physique precede him. Trained by Annie Carpenter and Brock and Krista Cahill, Beach teaches a rigorous Vinyasa flow class with an emphasis on strength, alignment, and inversions. Based in Seattle, Beach travels around the world teaching workshops, intensives and trainings, and presenting at conferences. Beach has been featured in top yoga magazines and websites, and is in the process of creating a men’s yoga apparel line launching in April 2016.

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Marco Rojas

New York, NY

Marco Rojas has been teaching Vinyasa yoga for 13 years. First trained by Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty, Rojas’ classes pull from both Ashtanga and Vinyasa, as well as principles from the Viniyoga methodology. Rojas is considered one of the most influential teachers in New York City, where he teaches at several premier studios. Rojas also leads retreats around the world.

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Andrew Hillam

Encinitas, CA

Andrew Hillam started a daily Ashtanga yoga practice in 1994 while studying at the University of Adelaide in South Australia. Since 2001 he has made frequent trips to Mysore, India, to study with the Jois family, and has been granted an advanced certification to teach Ashtanga Yoga. Hillam has continued to study and teach yoga, while also pursuing studies in Vedic chanting and philosophy. For the past six years, Hillam has been leading the Mysore program at Jois Yoga Encinitas, and also serves as an expert yoga advisor for Sonima.com.

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Alex Schatzberg

New York, NY

Young and humble, Alex Schatzberg has been teaching yoga in New York City for 10 years. Initially a student of Jivamukti and other Vinyasa systems, and a teacher at some of the most premier yoga centers in New York City, Schatzberg found Ashtanga yoga and mentored with Guy Donahye for five years. Last year, Schaztberg opened his own yoga school, New Vibe Yoga, which hosts an esteemed Mysore program. Schatzberg offers guidance and powerful hands-on assists to the many advanced teachers who come to study with him.

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Ally Bogard

New York, NY

Known for her elegant charisma and thoughtful charm, Ally Bogard has been teaching Vinyasa yoga workshops and trainings around the world for over 10 years. A mentor and a teacher based in New York City, Bogard leads weekly yoga and meditation classes for several of New York’s most premier studios and collectives, and she’s the director of Gaitri, a Canadian school of yoga. Bogard also teaches meditation classes for The Path in New York City.

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Ashley Turner

Marina Del Rey, CA

Ashley Turner has been one of the more powerful and influential women in nearly every sector of health and wellness for the past five years. A yoga and meditation instructor, as well as a psychotherapist, counselor, and initiated priestess, Turner leads workshops and trainings around the world. A student of spiritual leader Ram Dass and many of the world’s leading yoga teachers including Sharon Gannon, David Life, Mark Whitwell, and Seane Corn, Turner now shares the dynamic mix of teachings and her own expertise with her students all over the world.

The post 100 Most Influential Yoga Teachers in America appeared first on Sonima.

Intrigued by the possibility of mindfulness regulating appetitive behaviors, social psychology professor and expert in dieting and goal-related behavior at Utrecht University, Esther K. Papies, Ph.D., led a three-part study on the initial effects of mindful attention on behavioral responses to two common appetitive stimuli: food and sex appeal.

When resolving to change our behaviors related to food and sex, much of the battle occurs in the mind before the tasty dish is even in our hands. Among a number of mechanisms, the act of simply looking at food or even just reading appetizing words can stimulate gustatory and pleasure centers in the brain, suggesting that the viewer processes a food cue as if actually eating it. Such mental “reward simulations” are also seen in processing visual sexual stimuli. Among many functions, the amygdala is thought to process appetitive and aversive stimuli as well as emotional arousal, inciting a sexual response in the hypothalamus. Looking at sexually attractive photos has been shown to stimulate activity in the amygdala and hypothalamus in the limbic region of the brain in both genders, and more so in men. If simply looking at and imagining the delight of consumption triggers us, how can we develop self-control and manage acting upon temptation?

Related: Is Meditation the Key to Successful Weight Loss?

In a 2015 publication in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Papies’ research team hypothesized that by learning to view one’s thoughts as mere passing events through a practice known as “mindful attention,” one can reduce mental reward simulation from viewing appealing food and sexually attractive people, a simulation that typically triggers conscious and unconscious appetitive behaviors.

In the first of three experiments, Papies’ team conjectured that learning to view pleasure-related thoughts as merely fleeting using mindful attention would lead to lower levels of perceived attractiveness of other people, therefore informing choice of partner. Given previous findings that people who are more interested in casual sex tend to have vivid reward simulations of sex and heightened attraction to potential partners, participants’ levels of sexual motivation were taken into account using the Sociosexual Orientation Inventory.

In this first experiment, one group of heterosexual participants received previously developed mindful attention training: in 12 minutes, participants were advised to simply observe their thoughts as transient mental events upon computer presentation of photos of people. In a control group training, participants viewed the same photos but were asked to immerse themselves deeply in the pictures. Following the training phase, both groups were shown 40 novel photos of the opposite sex and asked to indicate at the press of a yes or no key whether they would be desired partners (a one-second response window promoted intuitive answers). Both groups were shown the 40 photos once again, this time asked to indicate level of attractiveness on a scale from one to 100.

Results revealed that in contrast to the control group, the mindful attention group’s level of sexual motivation no longer predicted perceived attractiveness of others. In the control condition, sexual motivation boosted attractiveness perception and partner judgment. These results suggest that mindful attention could mediate how we perceive sexual attractiveness of others and therefore, may regulate how we choose partners.

The second experiment nearly replicated the first, this time evaluating effects of mindful attention on food attractiveness and choice. Typically, being in a state of hunger boosts attractiveness of food, particularly unhealthy food. Papies’ team therefore predicted that mindful attention practice would be associated with reduced attraction toward choice of unhealthy foods, accounting for level of hunger. Different from Experiment 1, control group participants were no longer asked to immerse themselves in the images and instead advised to observe photos closely but in a natural, relaxed way.

Both the mindful attention group and control groups were randomly presented sumptuous food images high in sugar and fats and healthier food images and asked to indicate whether they would like to eat the food in that moment. Results revealed that level of hunger strongly predicted unhealthy food choice in the control condition but not the mindful attention condition, suggesting that mindful attention may not curb appetite, but may lead to healthier food impulses even while in a state of hunger.

In a follow-up third experiment, Papies’ team extended beyond a laboratory setting and into the real world. At University College Utrecht in the Netherlands, over 100 volunteer undergraduates were randomly assigned to a mindful attention training, control training, and no-intervention group as they entered the campus cafeteria. After seemingly completing their involvement in the study before entering the lunchroom, researchers then reviewed participants’ subsequent food choices in the cafeteria. While level of hunger was associated with higher caloric intake across all groups, 76% of mindful attention participants chose salads in comparison to 49% of no-intervention participants and 56% of control participants. Mindful attention participants took in fewer calories than control conditions and were less likely to consume unhealthy foods overall.

Related: A Meditation to Help Manage Food Cravings

Papies’ initial findings across all three experiments suggest that 12 minutes of mindful attention can modulate the effects of sexual motivation and hunger state on perceived attractiveness of food and people as well as response to temptation. More research is needed to account for gaps in procedure and isolate any neurological shifts that might underlie observed behavior changes, but these findings indicate mindfulness may be a useful tool for anyone aiming to resist temptation and implement positive life changes.

How Can You Practice Mindful Attention?

Mindful attention is simply the awareness of thought and feeling in response to a stimulus. The following practice is adapted from mindfulness tradition and Papies’ research, and can be done in just a few minutes.

1. Bring to view or mind an attractive image. This might be a type of food, person, or activity. As an example, we’ll use the activity of engaging in social media.

2. Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings. Remember, mindful attention is the act of accepting any thoughts and feelings as normal and impermanent. Start by simply acknowledging what arises. You may experience reactionary thoughts like, “I like social media,” or “I really wish I could check my social media page right now.” You might experience feelings, or wordless sensations, like churning in your stomach or ache in your body. You may notice no particular feeling or thought at all.

3. Let your thoughts and feelings fall away. Allow your emotions and thoughts to move through you. To add a pinch of humor to the experience, as your thoughts continue to arise, imagine yourself waving goodbye to them as they move across the screen of your mind. You might silently say to yourself, “I allow this thought/feeling to pass.”

Similar to any kind of practice, your experience with mindful attention will likely offer transformation over time.

Mindful attention might only seem like a way to detach, though it could offer quite the contrary; practicing mindful attention can support us in actively deciding when to engage and when not to engage, and therefore shape our lives to resemble what we want. By simply observing and allowing appetitive pull to pass, more self-control is in our hands than we might think.

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I turned to Rolfing hoping to find relief, not knowing much about the practice, except that the process might be as emotionally painful as it would be physically. For nearly two hours, Teah Field, a longtime Rolfer and Acro Yoga practitioner, used hands-on techniques I’d never felt before to work out terribly uncomfortable kinks in my calves and back—many of which I had no knowledge of prior to her touch. Surprisingly, she didn’t even contact my hip. She did, however, make me cry. And two days later, my hip felt better than it had in years; apparently stored trauma in my calves and feet from my dance days was affecting my hips, and pain continued to emanate from there.

Rolfing is a bodywork modality created between the 1940s and 70s, by Ida Rolf, a groundbreaking biochemist who devoted her life to understanding one fundamental question: “What conditions must be fulfilled in order for the human body-structure to be organized and integrated in gravity so that the whole person can function in the most optimal and economical way?”

The method involves a technique called structural integration, which is according to Eric Jacobson, Ph.D., a certified advanced Rolfer, “a system of manual therapy and sensorimotor education that aims to improve human biomechanical functioning as a whole rather than to treat particular symptoms.” In other words, it’s a hands-on treatment that is distinct from massage in its focus on releasing fascia—the soft tissue surrounding muscles—with the aims to improve postural alignment and reduce pain. In the tradition of Ida Rolf, the main question that Jacobson and other practitioners seek to address is: How well is the body working in relationship to gravity?

Related: A Simple Solution to Heal Plantar Fasciitis

All bodies, of course, exist under the force of gravity, while they also operate according to individual energy fields. The essential goal of Rolfing says Jacobson in his 2011 article on Rolfing, is achieved by “aligning their physical structure around the vertical vector that gravity defines.” The physical manipulation techniques help realign the body—down to the fascia and joints—in a way that “flows” in tandem with gravity’s pull. According to Jacobson, “Dr. Rolf did also speculate that when the physical body was aligned with gravity there might be an integration of the individual’s ‘energy field’ with gravity,” but that notion, he continues, “was speculative. She never put that forth as an essential element of her theory or method.” Still, many contemporary Rolfers integrate that theory into their work and hold it as belief.

Ida Rolf was heavily influenced by osteopathic medicine, a bodywork modality that sees restrictions of the musculoskeletal system as the root of most disease. This non-invasive form of medicine is drug-free and relies on manipulations that seek to strengthen and treat the framework of the body. Osteopathy is a holistic therapy established in the late 19^th century that not only addresses the ‘problem’ area, but seeks to create overall body balance and free circulation. The practice of osteopathy uses manipulation of the tissue layers to release the bones, whereas in Rolfing, says Jacobson, “we manipulate the fascia instead of the bones, and change the alignment of the bones by changing the tension in the fascia.” Osteopathy, says Jacobson, “is a medical treatment for specific problems, with medical professionals licensed to practice specific methods. Rolfing is not a medical treatment.”

The typical Rolfing protocol involves a series of sessions in which the therapist works to fix the body’s various misalignments as well as the particular pain problem the client wants addressed. When the body is experiencing pain, says Field, “we recognize that the body is going to be full of compensatory misalignments.” Indeed, that’s what I experienced in the days after my session: as if by some miraculous stroke, I could attain yogic postures and use parts of my feet and legs that had previously eluded me.

Related: How to Fix Chronic Knee Pain

Rolfing is meant to produce long-term changes in the biomechanics of the body. “In order to do that we have to work with people at least ten times. It doesn’t do everything possible, but that’s the minimum. If there is anything chronic, it’s probably part of the whole body system,” says Jacobson.

Research on Rolfing is on the rise, though still relatively sparse. A recent study conducted in Sao Paulo, suggested that both acupuncture and Rolfing used both in tandem and individually proved beneficial in the treatment of fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. Though Paula Stall’s article seems to concur with these findings, the limitations of the study deem these findings merely suggestive.

There are still gaps in understanding contraindications to getting Rolfed. In a recent study conducted at Stanford School of Medicine on the effects of Rolfing for children with Cerebral Palsy, the average outcome was net positive, though, the understanding of long term risk in development of certain motor skills is still inconclusive. The study shows essentially no objective effects, though parents reported improvements. It seems that in the Rolfing community the only red flags are osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis, though neither are complete contraindications, merely conditions that need to be tended to with care. Research is urgently needed to determine “severe” cases, and to further understand what objective effects structural integration can have on various other conditions. Marcelo Coutinho, an advanced certified Rolfer at Village Rolfing in NYC told me that he’s had clients “who are over 90 years old and I had babies of 8 months.”

In spite of its profound ability to notice and realign even slight imbalances in the biomechanics of the body, Field said that she often encounters clients who have had longtime aversion to Rolfing due to its reputation for being severely painful. In Eastern practices, Field said, “there is an understanding that if somebody palpates your body or pushes on an area of trauma or stagnation it’s just going to be painful, and that’s just how it is.” Field is one of many practitioners who relates to the bodywork as not only deeply physical but an energetic healing practice like Reiki and Thai massage. For her, the practice of realigning the body is a deeply inspiring one: “It’s so beautiful to understand that we have the potential, even at 70 years old, to feel like a new person because we are correcting a misalignment that’s causing tremendous discomfort, or so many blockages in the body.”

Even for the less spiritually inclined, Rolfing provides some profound effects. As research increases, we’re becoming more and more aware of how, objectively, Rolfing might change the way the medical world treats physical misalignments in patients, and what all possible benefits are. And while I still have work to do in the realignment of my femur and my anklebones, I now look down at the bruises on my calves and smile; the body’s architecture is beautiful, and now my work is to find flow between my energy and the earth’s gravitational pull.

The post How Does Rolfing Work to Relieve Pain? appeared first on Sonima.

But it was a slippery slope. Younger went “raw,” refusing to eat anything heated over a certain temperature or that wasn’t 100 percent “clean.” She embarked on 10-day juice cleanses that eventually had her saying no to solid food altogether, as it would ruin what she’d worked so hard to accomplish: a body that she thought was in its purest, most efficient state. Though the Southern California native had yet to realize it, she had a serious problem. Its name was orthorexia.

Defined as a “fixation on righteous eating” by the National Eating Disorders Association (although not official designated a disorder by the group), orthorexia is a term that was coined in 1997 by California doctor Steven Bratman, and refers to people who create severely limited diets in the name of healthy eating. It’s a condition that Caspar Poyck, has seen up close over the past decade while serving as a chef at yoga retreats in Ojai, California.

“I was cooking for what seemed to be very healthy people—yogis—and I started to notice, ‘There’s a lot of emotional and psychological hang-ups around food in this community,’” says Poyck, a licensed therapist who calls his area of expertise “digestive therapy,” and who’s spent years studying “mind-body connected health.” The problem is, as with a lot of orthorexics, many of these men and women didn’t think they’re on the spectrum.

“We understand that there is an imbalance with people who are majorly overweight, who don’t pay attention to their diets and who basically live on fast food and junk food,” says Poyck. “So we think, ‘I pay a lot of attention to my diet, I must be healthy.’ Well, yes, if it’s in balance. If it becomes an obsessive-compulsive disorder, that’s the opposite end of imbalance.”

Younger was an extreme case. After dropping nearly 15 pounds and finding herself with bad skin, next to no energy and no longer having a period, Younger confided in a friend who was recovering from an eating disorder—and realized she had one of her own. She forced herself to eat the first fish she’d had in 18 months, a bit of wild salmon, and two days later, she got her period.

When Younger began to reintroduce fish and eggs to her diet, she felt she had to come clean to her Blonde Vegan readers, so she wrote a blog post: Why I am Transitioning Away From Veganism. Immediately, her site crashed; she lost followers; she received angry missives from animal-rights activists. Her story went viral on the Internet, and she appeared on Good Morning America.

Now known as The Balanced Blonde, Younger has written a memoir, the just-published Breaking Vegan, One Woman’s Journey From Veganism and Extreme Dieting to a More Balanced Life. As a vegan myself, I wanted to talk to her and find out how things went so wrong. After all, my vegan diet has, over the past three years, given me far more energy, glowing skin, perfect blood-test results, and a sense of well-being that I am being kinder to not only myself but to animals and our planet.

First, I want to clarify that Younger was never, by definition, a vegan; her reasons for forgoing animal products were purely diet-based and not ethical. And second, it was not her so-called veganism that made her orthorexic but an extreme and obsessive diet that included no grains, fats or sugars of any kind. As the subtitle of her book suggests, she was living an unbalanced life. Read on, as Younger explains more about what that entailed, the steps she took to bring it back into balance, and more.

Related: How to Be a Conscious & Responsible Omnivore

Your book chronicles your “ journey from extreme dieting to a more balanced life.” Explain what you mean by that.

I was fixated on pure, healthy, clean foods and had a fear of foods that didn’t fall under that category—that is what orthorexia is. I ended up in a very restrictive cycle of juice cleansing, reintroducing greens, veggies, and some fruits and nuts, [then] going back on juice cleanses, believing that this version of a plant-based, raw, vegan diet was going to be my cure-all. By “cure-all” I mean the answer to lifelong stomach problems, including bloating, nausea, food sensitivities and allergies, pain, etc. Now, in my more balanced life, I have far less restrictions and I live a label-free life where I don’t call myself “vegan,” “vegetarian,” “paleo,” etc. For someone with as extreme of a personality as mine, those labels added to the propensity of restriction that I already had.

It’s ironic, because you thought you were being extremely healthy—you thought your body was being the most efficient it could be, because it didn’t have to expend energy to break down solid foods.

I did think I was being extremely healthy. I knew that I was also being restrictive, but I was also in denial. I believed what I heard and [had] soaked in at lectures that I went to that advocated raw veganism and extra-long juice cleanses as the only form of detox—although I had knowledge about nutrition that should have reminded me that all bodies are different. I let that go in favor of chasing after the most extreme lifestyle and trying to perfect it.

When did you know that your health kick had gone too far?

There were two events that made me realize that I had developed a serious problem. One event was when my best friend visited me in New York and we went to get breakfast before spending the day in Central Park. We went to a juice bar near my apartment because we both knew it was one of the only places I would be able to find something to eat. I knew which juice I wanted, a green juice with no fruit in it, and when we got there they were out of that particular juice. Even though there were several other green juices, smoothies, and raw food options to choose from, I felt completely panicked by the thought of eating or drinking something I hadn’t “planned.” Instead of choosing another juice and going with the flow, I insisted we walk a mile out of our way to the juice bar’s other location to get the juice I wanted. My body was already starving from days of restriction and crying out to me that walking a mile without any sustenance would be a bad idea, but I did it anyway. I was determined, and being unable to shake that feeling scared me.

The second event was when I actually came to terms with the fact that I had an eating disorder. I was out to dinner with a close friend of mine in the city who also runs a health blog. We had bonded over the similarities in our jobs ever since we met each other when I first moved to New York. That night she confided in me that she was in recovery from an eating disorder, and she described all of her symptoms and food habits to me. While she spoke, I started to get a lump in my throat because I knew that everything she was discussing was dangerously similar to what I had been going through. The moment I opened up and told her that I could relate, it was like I had released a flood gate. We talked about it for hours, and I had never felt so relieved and so terrified about something at the same time. I called my mom afterward, afraid to tell her that I speculated that I had an eating disorder, and when I finally blurted it all out she was so relieved because she had been noticing my habits around food worsening for months.

Caspar Poyck, the digestive therapist I spoke with, says that often times those with eating disorders have a disconnect between their bodies and minds. Would you say that was the case with you?

Absolutely. Toward the end of my eating disorder, and in the thick of it, I totally feel that there was a massive disconnect between my mind and body. I didn’t even know when I was hungry anymore because I turned those signals and cues off. I wouldn’t let myself recognize the feeling of hunger for so long that I stopped knowing what it felt like, and in turn pretty much stopped knowing how to satiate myself.

Can you talk about how you started back on the road to a more balanced life? And how are you today?

One thing that helps a lot is learning to let go of the restrictions. My version of restrictive dietary labeling accidentally helped me fine-tune my restrictive habits, and it created a whole lot of “bad” and “off-limit” foods in my mind. In recovery I’ve tried to reorganize my thoughts toward food, seeing nothing as entirely off-limits but rather as healthy, indulgent, something that should be eaten in moderation, etc. Even just reintroducing eggs, fish, and organic chicken right off the bat made the hugest difference in my mindset. I was also on a strict meal plan in the beginning that restored my blood sugar levels since my hormones had gotten all out of whack from my restrictive habits (and my psychotically long juice cleanses). Following a plan was tremendously helpful. Learning to just be, and not obsess about food in every way shape and form, was extremely helpful as well.

Poyck said that one thing we can do to eat in a more balanced way is to eat together more as a community—do you agree? After all, one of the problems you had was not being able to eat with your parents and your friends, because you were so limited in your options.

Absolutely! I could not agree with him more. Learning to make food more of a social thing, and to make meal times about the people you are with and the bond that is shared rather than the food itself—and obsessing over it—works wonders. Food is such a culturally beautiful and shared ritual, and I didn’t allow myself to be a part of that for so long. It took a toll on many relationships. I will never miss that very negative aspect of my eating disorder.

So what do you eat these days? When we first met a few months back, you said you were “90 percent vegan”?

I don’t try to qualify it anymore. I have days where I eat 100 percent vegan, and days where I am very far from it. I definitely gravitate toward a heavily plant-based diet, but trying to put any sort of percentage and quantification on it hasn’t been helpful for me. I find that I do best when I listen to my body, focus on nutrient-dense food from the earth—lots of veggies and gluten-free grains and legumes—and add in some animal protein here and there. I am training for a marathon, so I find myself eating more animal protein.

Although you initially lost quite a few blog readers and social-media followers, you now have more of an audience than ever as The Balanced Blonde. Have you met or been in contact with a lot of other people like yourself? Would we be surprised to know how many there are out there?

The problem that I experienced—the over-exercising, over-emphasis on health, and the propensity toward extreme health—definitely draws from a very specific personality type. I have met countless people that have experienced something similar to me and have taken their labeled diets too far. With so much talk in the media about “cut out this food, and then you’ll be the healthiest possible version of yourself,” it’s nearly impossible for a well-educated person to not fall prey to some sort of food fear or food insecurity. You would be shocked to know how many people have experienced orthorexia and/or can totally relate to orthorexic thoughts and symptoms. It feels silly to say “everyone,” but it feels like everyone I speak to about it can either relate or is very close to someone who can relate. The problem is widespread and is only growing.

The post A Former Vegan on the Extreme Diet That Threatened Her Health appeared first on Sonima.

Join yoga master Sharath Jois for a deep 30-minute yoga class that will stretch, strengthen, and invigorate the body. Building on the sequences featured in the 10-minute, 15-minute, 20-minute, and 25-minute sessions, this class takes you a few steps further in your at-home practice. Keep an eye on the students in the video to see the different variations that can be performed depending on your comfort level and experience. Learn more about Sonima’s approach to yoga here and watch the full introduction to Sharath Jois here. For more in-depth instructions on how to do the postures in this sequence, watch the video tutorials for Sun Salutation A,Sun Salutation B, Big Toe Pose, Triangle Pose, Extended Side Angle Poses, Spread Foot Pose A, B, C, D, Side Stretching Pose, Extended Hand Big Toe Pose, Half Lotus Forward Bend, and the finishing postures.

Don’t miss your chance to attend class with Ashtanga yoga master Sharath Jois when he visits the U.S. in May 2017! Learn more here.

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