Journal
Here you'll find writing on mindfulness, neuroscience, mental health, physical wellbeing, and yoga.
These topics often overlap: attention, behaviour and embodiment are all part of the same ecosystem of experience, and the aim here is to explore those connections in a thoughtful and practical way. Some posts draw from research, others from lived experience and teaching. The intention is to share ideas that are useful, considered, and occasionally a bit different from what is typically said.
April 12, 2020
Stretch out your chest muscles, ease stiffness in your neck, and bring strength and stability to your upper back and shoulders in this relaxing, mindful movement practice.
April 11, 2020
In 30 minutes, you will be guided through a gentle and rhythmic movement practice to release tension and open up the major joints of your body: your hips, spine and shoulders.
April 11, 2020
Challenge yourself with this steady and powerful movement practice, complete with heat-building lunges, arm balances and inversions.
April 10, 2020
The field of consciousness contains everything we experience; it is an open realm with no natural boundaries. However, from our typical viewpoint, we compartmentalize it through what we dwell on, cling to, and ignore. In meditation, we often work to quieten the mind by concentrating our attention on a specific thing or process. But in today's meditation, we will open our attention to the wholeness of the field, and expand the boundaries of our attention beyond what is most salient, to the underlying glimmer of undivided experience.
April 9, 2020
Through guided movement and deep breathing, we will melt away tightness held in the most powerful muscles of your body: the quads. This flow class focuses on stretches and stabilizing movements for your thighs, glutes, and back muscles.
April 9, 2020
Make room for your heart! When our breath is shallow, when we hold mental tension and physical stagnancy, we can't express ourselves in our full nature. With a focus on mindful backbends, this multi-level alignment-based yoga class with help you tap into your inner vibrancy and confidence.
April 9, 2020
This short class will play with core and balance, particularly the arm balance, Crow Pose. We'll warm up the wrists and core to prepare and connect to what is innermost and most essential.
April 9, 2020
Whenever a limiting belief arises in our mind (a judgement, a story...) a reflection of it shows up in our body. Limiting beliefs close the window on possibilities and personal or interpersonal growth. Sometimes they cause a stress response (flight, fight, or freeze), and sometimes they arise because we are under stressful conditions already. In today's meditation, we work with a universal mantra so-ham to help us see beyond limiting beliefs. The mantra so-ham translates from Sanskrit s "I am that", which reminds us that it is possible to know ourselves instead in a vaster sense of the greater whole.
April 9, 2020
Heather guides you through a yin yoga practice that's best done at nighttime for a good sleep. The class ends with a restorative pose to calm your nervous system and relax your body.
April 8, 2020
Heather leads you through a multi-level standing and mat pilates class to target the glutes, thighs and core. No props are needed.
April 8, 2020
This class is designed for yogis on-the-go looking for a short and effective practice to put a twist on their daily routine. Through a dynamic flow, you will invigorate your body and get your heart pumping. In a series of mindful spinal twists, you will help to eliminate waste, hydrate your tissues, and release tension from your back muscles.
April 8, 2020
This short video will help you stretch out after gardening or anything that has you hunched over, using your hands, shoulders, back and legs a lot. Open up the areas that have gotten tense from working hard.
April 8, 2020
Especially in difficult times, our mind readily builds walls to keep out what feels unwelcome, and protect what we rely on. These limiting beliefs narrow our viewpoint; they can be judgements, opinions, or even stories that frame our experience in a particular way. In this meditation, we begin to recognize the appearance of these limiting beliefs in our mind and body, and notice how the energy of holding a liming belief draws us away from the present moment.
April 8, 2020
Short on time, but long to get your body moving? This is a strong flow practice to ignite the spirit and courage of your inner warrior. Chris will guide you through dynamic, breath-guided movements, culminating in the three warrior postures: Warrior 1, Warrior 2, and Warrior 3.
April 7, 2020
When our hips are strong and flexible, we can walk, dance, and play spontaneously, energetically, and freely. Our hips are able to move is many ways, but in day to day life, we often use them in limited patterns that make them stiff, and shrink their scope of movement. In this moderate-paced Hatha yoga class, you will be guided through postures that strengthen, stabilize, and stretch your hips, with the guidance of steady breathing.
April 6, 2020
In this deep stretch yin yoga class, Chris guides you through the four basic movement of the hip joints: flexion, extension, abduction and adduction. Release tension in your tissues and open space for movement.
April 5, 2020
Metta, or lovingkindness, is a powerful meditative technique and universal virtue. It opens our hearts and minds when we feel lonely, stuck, or turbulent. It attunes us to the foundation of interconnectedness between ourselves and others. It reminds us that there is beauty, strength, and vulnerability in giving without the hope of gaining anything in return. It calls us to recognize suffering, and to persevere in peace. In this meditation, we practice through one perspective of metta. To be continued in future meditations.
April 5, 2020
In this flow class, we will work through a series of spinal twists and stretches, culminating in revolved triangle pose. Spinal twists stretch the muscles of our torso, stimulate the function of our visceral organs, and help stir the fires of metabolism and digestion. On an energetic and emotional level, twists help us move through times we feel stuck, and encourage us to release what is stale and stagnant.
April 4, 2020
Squatting is a fundamental and innate human posture. From a very young age we (in the West) tend to lose our ability to squat properly once we begin to sit predominantly in chairs. With this ability lost (or impaired), there is a significant trickle-down effect that is harmful to so many other systems in our body. Learn why squatting is so important, and the options you have open to you if a full squat doesn't suit your body's needs.
April 4, 2020
Restorative yoga and sound healing are the perfect pairing to allow your body to de-stress and your mind to quieten. When we connect with our breath and become still we are able to consciously release tension, emotions, thoughts, and energy that are no longer serving us. As we create internal space, the opportunity is there to replenish our body, mind, and spirit by drawing life force energy into the body through our inhalation. Sound healing allows the mind to become still, inviting you into a deep state of relaxation.