The Practice

Yoga is a universal practice which promotes unity and love.

We want to share what yoga classes are really like at Black Cat Yoga. Because they are intentionally different. While we offer so many beautiful Kirtan and sound events, our weekly yoga classes are truly a unique offering in the Jacksonville area. Everything we do is grounded in the essence of bhakti yoga. For us, that means moving with presence and cultivating a connection to the heart. There are many beautiful expressions of yoga in the world. Our expression is one that inv

Community isn’t just a nice idea. It’s something we build every time we gather. It’s easy to think of yoga as something we do on our own. A stretch. A workout. An hour carved out just for ourselves. But practicing together is different. There’s something that happens in a shared room that can’t quite be explained. The sound of everyone breathing. The quiet moments. The feeling of looking around and realizing, “oh, we’re all just doing our best today.” And something in you set

Contrary to the way it has been largely portrayed, "Vinyasa" does not mean fast-paced or cardio-driven.

Yoga teaches us not to look away from a world that's burning, but to face it with open hearts.

The great wizard in the movie "Wizard of Oz" may have said "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!" But in our #yogapractice, and ultimately in our life, that is EXACTLY what we want to do: Peer behind the curtain. In our quest to become fully aware of our True Self, we must see through and beyond the illusory veil of perceptions, thoughts, ideas, attachments, emotions, beliefs, and the data that we collect from the culmination of our life experiences. Meditation is

Yogas-citta-vritti-nirodhah Yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. Patanjali's Yoga Sutras I.2 Monkeys sure are cute and certainly entertaining to watch as they frolic about, swinging from branch to branch, chattering incessantly, never staying in one place for too long. But experiencing "monkey mind," as the Buddha describes it, doesn’t ordinarily produce the same level of amusement or gratification. Monkey mind can be a very real deterrent to prolonged inner

The body is the bow. The asana is the arrow. The soul is the target.

Alignment as a broad concept in yoga is complicated, as there is no one anatomical positioning that serves every body in a way that is beneficial. Our bodies are remarkably extraordinary and unique to each individual, which makes forcing bodies into "cookie cutter" yoga postures an exercise in frustration and futility. And often this kind of frustration, unfortunately, is a big reason why many people give up on their yoga practice. Where there is yoga, there is prosperity, fr

Your yoga practice is the perfect arena to explore "ungripping the grip" on static thinking.

It is our desire to build a community and hold a space where you can feel supported and connect with real live compassionate human beings.

Allowing ourselves to "not know," when years of conditioned thinking has convinced us we "do know," takes trust, courage, and vulnerability.

"Stillness is not about focusing on nothingness; it’s about creating a clearing. It’s opening up an emotionally clutter-free space and allowing ourselves to feel and think and dream and question.”   From outward appearances, it may appear as though not much is happening in savasana; but this posture of stillness is one of the most revealing, transformative, and oftentimes most challenging aspects of a yoga practice. The Sanskrit word "savasana" translates into "corpse pose,"

A frequent question we receive in our yoga studio here in Jacksonville is, "What is the difference between Yin Yoga and Restorative Yoga?" It's a great question; because even though there are many striking similarities in these two styles of yoga, there are important distinctions. While both of these practices are inward and contemplative practices, the intentions are very different and the experiences are quite unique. Yin Yoga - Square Pose What is Yin Yoga? Yin yoga i

What does it mean to "live your truth?" What if you haven't made the connection to identify and express what your truth is? How can you then "live into it"? The very first offering of Patañjali’s eight-fold path of yoga introduces us to the Yamas. These five concepts are reflections of our true nature, guidelines which involve the way we interact with each other and the world at large. They serve to assist us in living meaningful and purposeful lives physically, mentall

"Change the world by changing yourself. Heal the world by healing yourself. Find a need and fulfill it. Service is the greatest form of spiritual practice. Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve, You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." ~ Martin Luther King Jr. Seva comes from the Sanskrit words saha, which means “with that,” and e