Happy Holidays

I wish you the very best this holiday season. Please continue to practice your yoga as to care for yourself physically, as well as to dissipate some of the many stresses that occur this time of year. Remember that practicing yoga doesn't just take place on your mat. You can practice yoga with your thoughts, intentions, and actions. In fact practicing yoga off the mat is vital to a complete yoga practice. Here are some ways you can expand your practice this holiday season. (By the way, these tips are good for you, those around you, and for all beings. They could be the greatest gift you give this season.)

Tips for practicing higher yoga

so you can fill your life with peace and joy

this Holiday Season

1. Honor yourself, your relations, and the planet by choosing a noble and virtuous intentions for the New Year.

2. Practice ahimsa, which means nonviolence toward yourself and others.

3. Follow your own heart. Learn to listen to yourself, your own higher intuitive inner voice, through meditation practice.

4. Practice contentment (samtosha), which is one of the niyamas of Patanjali. Contemplate just how much you already have and what you really need. Is there something that you think you need in your life to make you happy, and/or do you already have plenty?

5. Cultivate gratitude for all the things you have.

6. Before you indulge, bring consciousness into the moment. For example, before eating, be aware of what you are going to eat and perhaps say a simple prayer or thanks. Prepare to enjoy the food and take it deep into your tissues so as to fully nourish yourself.

7. Be flexible in body, mind, and spirit. Do not be constrained by plans. Go more with the flow.

8. Give many hugs.