Musings From the Mat

“Kirtan is the glue that bonds our hearts together.” ~ David Newman WHAT IS KIRTAN? Kirtan is very simple and powerful way to meditate. It is part of an ancient form of Yoga known as Bhakti - the Yoga of Devotion. The word "kirtan" or "kirtana" translates into "telling, narrating, enumerating, or describing." Kirtan chants are usually sung in call-and-response style where the wallah (leader) sings the mantra, and the group sings it back. There may be several instruments or

“Life is a mystery of beauty, bliss and divinity. Meditation is the art of unfolding that mystery.” 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

We are celebrating our 3rd revolution around the sun this month! But how can we possibly measure all of the immeasurable moments that have unfolded over the past 1,095 days? WE MEASURE IN LOVE. Three years of being present for countless sacred breaths, even through the moments of greatest uncertainty. Three years of showing up and being open to what the deepest learnings of the practice are. Three years of being human and standing in solidarity as we faced uncharted territory

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

Guest Blog by Lindsey Sternett Lindsey Sternett is a yoga student here at Black Cat Yoga. We are honored to have her share her own personal journey with chronic pain and speak to how her yoga practice became instrumental in easing her physical pain by writing a guest blog for our website. Lindsey hosts her own extraordinary website called "The Invisibility Journey" which is devoted to helping people who are experiencing chronic pain, anxiety, and other illnesses. She uses

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

There is no truth except the truth that exists within you. Everything else is what someone is telling you.” ~ Neale Donald Walsch 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 inter