For thousands of years yogis have been contemplating and practicing to find what could not be touched or damaged by the troubles of the world, no matter what. Yoga has been passed on because those inquiries, practices, and explorations into the nature of what it means to be a human being has amounted to some understandings and wisdom that have been of benefit to others.

The value of any teaching is experienced in its application in practice. When there is little we can do to control what's happening outside, there are actions that we can take to transform the states of suffering experienced in the body and mind, to endure these periods of disequilibrium and to ride through times of uncertainty with the ability to access a state of peace and ease within.

Iyengar Yoga makes it literal, and finds the concrete expression of freedom within the confines of our vulnerable and temporal physical body. "Open your armpits and you won't get depressed." B.K.S. Iyengar has famously said. In class last week, we focused on opening up our armpit chest so that the collar bone region spread and broadened. We can experience a difference in our mood from skillful practice which aligns the muscular skeletal body so that the energetic pathways of body function better. We breathe better and our heart works better when our chest is lifted and broadened. Practice transforms us.

There is a version of that continuing level class for experienced students to lift and free the armpit chest now available on Patreon. A beginner version will be shared soon. Our family filmed a kids yoga class this weekend, and I taught a prenatal class. Hopefully those will be shared within a couple of days…