​It’s time for another installment of our series “Your Body on Yoga.” We’ve been looking at the many different systems of the body and considering how yoga keeps these systems healthy throughout a lifetime of use. One thing that jumps out for me is the realization that Yoga truly is a holistic system for our overall wellbeing; EVERY system of the body is nurtured by our yoga practices. 

This is the last post for 2025 and what a fitting time to discuss the elimination system since we typically vow to let go of the old year in order to bring in what the new year has to offer. Our body does the same thing through the elimination system. It’s actually a three-part process: assimilate, release and let go.

1) Assimilate: Take in and absorb what is useful. Put it to good use wherever it is most needed.

2) Release: Stop holding on to whatever is stuck in the body, mind or spirit.

3) Let go: Remove what’s weighing you down because you don’t need it anymore. Flush it away and don’t think about it anymore.

Yoga aids this process by providing us with 

√ Postures that bend the body in all directions to stimulate the organs of elimination—kidneys, bladder and all parts of the colon (large intestine). In your practice focus on forward bending, back bending and twisting.

√ Pranayama breathing practices and Chakra balancing to move energy downward, whether that’s literally into the toilet or symbolically into the earth. We eliminate rather than hold onto things we no longer need.

√ Meditation sessions to help us make peace with the letting go. We become more adept at choosing what is for our highest good.

In case you haven’t noticed, let me point out that the three steps of assimilation, releasing and letting go are not just confined to what we experience in our physical body, but also our mental, emotional and spiritual bodies too. Every time we practice Yoga we have the opportunity to begin again, and “every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” (“Closing Time” by Dan Wilson)

What is ending and beginning for you at this turning of the calendar? Happy New Year!

When you think of the end-of-year holidays, certain qualities are emphasized over and over again. Peace, hope, love and joy are the main ones that come to mind. This season I’ve chosen JOY as the quality to keep an eye out for. I’ve seen

-the delightful response when someone opens a gift
-smiles as people see a million twinkling lights
-hugs and tears when greeting family and friends we haven’t seen in a while

I have a question for you: What qualities express the end-of-year holidays for you? Choose one of those qualities and pay attention to where you see it expressed around you. What do you see? 

Here are some quotes on joy that have been inspiring me this holiday season:

“Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” – Henri J.M. Nouwen

“Joy in looking and comprehending is nature’s most beautiful gift.” – Albert Einstein

“Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” – Marianne Williamson

“Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault

“Gratitude is the gateway to joy.” – Brené Brown

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river of joy within you.” – Rumi

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“Think joy, talk joy, practice joy, share joy, saturate your mind with joy, and you will have the time of your life today and every day all your life.” – Norman Vincent Peale

​We are continuing our series “Your Body on Yoga” where we look at the different systems of the body and how our yoga practices support them. Today we are looking at the water system, all of those parts of our body which carry water or regulate the flow of water in the body. Wow! This one is really important because our body is 75% water. Just think of all of the parts of the body affected by these functions: the cerebral spinal fluid in the brain and spine, kidneys and bladder, gastric secretions, sweat glands, salivary glands, blood, and synovial fluid in the joints.

The water system deserves special attention during the fall and winter. As I wrote in an earlier blog post on November 17, Ayurveda teaches that late fall/early winter is Vata season, a time of year that has these powerful qualities: cold, dry, light, mobile, rough, erratic and clear. You always know you’re under the sway of vata when you feel cold and dry! In that post I also offered a dozen helpful practices to overcome these symptoms.

Yoga postures help move fluids through our body efficiently and regularly so we can feel more hydrated and move more fluidly:

√ Fluid movements like cat/cow pose and sun salutations stimulate the joints so that synovial fluid is refreshed and replaced. You’ll have less popping, stickiness and pain in the joints.

√ Backbends like sphinx, cobra, locust and wheel stimulate the kidneys, the small but mighty organs that filter about 200 quarts of liquid per day. You’ll support your immune system by sending more wastes out of your body through urine.

√ Forward bending and twisting poses (seated, standing or lying down) stimulate the spinal column so that cerebral spinal fluid moves more easily between the brain and the spine. You’ll strengthen your brain health and support a balanced nervous system.

One urgent reminder: Please hydrate! Yoga can only work with the water you have invested into your own water system. What is your ideal weight? Drink ½ of your ideal weight in water and herbal teas every day. (For example, for 150 lbs drink 75 oz, approximately 9 ½ cups) It’s time to get a drink of water!

Yesterday we had a wonderful Holiday Meditation Retreat at the studio. What a joy to share the gift of meditation with so many people! And several of us were sure we felt Victor’s presence in the room, maybe for just a short time, but it was truly a lovely moment of connection and support from our dear teacher.

The theme of the retreat was “Inner Peace on Earth,” and we shared a meditation from the Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. I recorded a 9-minute version of the meditation and placed it on Dropbox. (My cat Homer came for a visit and added some of her sounds as well)

Here is the link

If you don’t already have one you can create a free Dropbox account then transfer the file from my box to yours. It’s easy! You can also download the file to your device and enjoy the meditation whenever you like. 

Here is a written form of the meditation to cultivate inner and outer peace:

Begin by aligning the first couplet with your in-breath and out-breath, then meditate on the two focus words for as long as you like. Move onto the next couplet when you are ready. Feel the meaning of the words in your body, mind and spirit. 

“Breathing in, I know that I am breathing in.       IN  /  OUT
Breathing out, I know that I’m breathing out.”

“Breathing in, I see myself as a flower.       FLOWER  /  FRESH
Breathing out, I feel fresh.”

“Breathing in, I see myself as a mountain. MOUNTAIN  /  SOLID
Breathing out, I feel solid.”

“Breathing in, I see myself as still water.     WATER  /  REFLECTING
Breathing out, I reflect things as they are.”

“Breathing in, I see myself as space.              SPACE  /  FREE
Breathing out, I feel free.”

​About a month ago I wrote about Yoga for Digestion as part of my current series “Your Body on Yoga” where we discuss how yoga helps all the systems of the body to operate at their best. The suggestions for yoga postures and breathing for digestion have been pretty helpful in digesting all of the rich food of the past few weeks. Today’s post is part two—digesting experiences, thoughts and emotions. Have you needed some help with those too lately?

We are not just bodies; we also have thoughts and emotions. Yoga has always taught—and western medicine has more recently confirmed—that body, mind and emotions are integrally related. We don’t need to read a study to know this to be true! We’ve all had butterflies in the stomach and inability to eat when anticipating a test or a hard conversation. Or if we’ve ever had a serious injury or illness, we remember how it messes with our mind and emotions. The rollercoaster of physical symptoms and mental/emotional stress can be challenging.

Here are a few ways to practice mental digestion as supported by yoga:

• Movement is essential. Sometimes when the mind gets stuck in a loop of negativity, it really helps to move the body. Notice that the word “emotion” has the word “motion” in it. Thoughts and emotions that don’t get digested properly do indeed get stuck in the body, just as food that doesn’t digest well can block up the system and make you feel yucky. Get outside for a walk or go to a yoga class. If time is short, get onto the floor on all fours. Begin with cat/cow and downward facing dog. From down dog walk the hands back to the feet for a forward bend, stand up to mountain pose, then fold forward to return to hands and knees. Repeat the series 3-5 times.

• Breathing brings clarity. When the mind is unable to digest experiences, thoughts and emotions, it can feel foggy and heavy. Breath carries prana—our life force—and by definition prana is light, able to move and change quite easily. Find some place where you won’t be disturbed for 5-10 minutes. Sit on the floor or in a chair with hips slightly elevated so that the spine is lifted and long. Take 10-20 slow, deep breaths all the way down into the low belly, letting it fully expand. Let the breath release easily and without effort on the exhalation. At the end, notice how much more centered and clear you feel. 

• Meditation helps you let go of what you don’t need anymore. Yoga teaches the practice of replacing a negative thought or emotion with a positive one. Take a few moments to consider what negative is intruding in your life and what its opposite would be. For example, if you’re feeling anxiety the opposite might be calm. For fear, courage. For overwhelm, peace. Find some place where you won’t be disturbed for 5-10 minutes. You can even set a timer for 10 minutes if you like. Take five slow, deep breaths to settle your body and mind. For the meditation, exhale the negative thought or emotion you want to be free from, then inhale its opposite. Visualize the negativity completely leaving your body and mind, and welcome the positive thought or emotion to completely fill your body and mind. As you go about your day you can return to this mantra anytime: “I completely release _____ and I fully receive _____.”