Practice, Mula Bandha as cessation of thought, confessions of a yogic stalker

This morning, I did full primary and second up to Ardha Matsyendrasana. Why no Karandavasana? Well, my SI joint has been feeling dodgy the l...

Why go to Mysore? Kino's response

It's that time of the year again. In the northern hemisphere, much of the land is covered with snow (I don't know about Japan, thoug...

Hot spring Ashtanga talk, the place of alignment in Ashtanga

Yesterday afternoon, I took a break from grading papers and exams, and went with a group consisting of a few colleagues from various other d...

Practice bloopers, the primal potency of breath, movement and vinyasa

During practice this morning, something which had never happened to me before happened: In Prasarita Padottanasana C, while trying to bring ...

Flow state, art, beauty, and yoga

One of the courses I am teaching this semester at the university is Philosophy of Art (a.k.a. aesthetics). Over the past couple of months of...

Kino on the balance between alignment and the inner experience of yoga

After writing my previous post , I decided to ask Kino herself what she thinks about this whole alignment-in-Ashtanga issue. I emailed her, ...

Backbends, candy and nuts, upcoming book reviews

This morning, I did full primary and second up to Ardha Matsyendrasana, followed by three UDs and dropbacks and standups, and then went on t...

Yoga asana practice, chess, freewill, and life

I just watched the very beautiful video above by the latest humanoid Cylon model Kino. In the video, Kino talks about how her practice has ...

Floating forward and hovering before touching down in Uttanasana, jumping through with straight legs (or not); upcoming interview with alt-rock musician Ife Sanchez Mora, and a call for technical assistance

Over the last few days, I have been playing and experimenting with some of the finer points of floating in the Surya Namaskaras. If you are ...

Might democracy in social media sometimes be an evil thing?

Here's a test case. Earlier today, I visited Kino's Facebook page , and saw that she had posted her very popular video on Yoganidras...

Ninjas and yoga superstars

Before I begin this post, I should make a couple of disclaimers: (1) I probably have no business writing this post, all things considered. ...

A review of a review: Kino's The Power of Ashtanga Yoga

I just read Brian Penny's review on Huffington Post of Kino's latest book , The Power of Ashtanga Yoga . Since I have yet to read th...