opening

i've been tossing this idea around in my head for a few weeks and decided, why not take a leap? yoga has taught me so much but i've never thought to encapsulate any of it into words. i used to think of my practice on the mat as enough of a moving tribute to those idea(l)s.

but in recent weeks i've been talking more about yoga, teaching yoga to other people, and thinking more intentionally about how yoga affects me, its potential to transform my world and those around me, and how i want to actively engage it and share it with more people. and then as part of a personal project to document the last 6 months of my 20s with a yoga portrait a day, i started photo-documenting my self in a pose every day. as i started this practice -- of daily yoga, of daily documentation, of what became a daily reflection on my practice and my life, this became a natural outpouring and growth from what felt like an eventual, inevitable process.

here's what to expect, and what i hope for:

• discussion about yoga practice (the how's, the what's)
• how yoga can transform daily life, interactions, self-perception, self-growth, self-acceptance
• sharing ideas for yoga community, specifically how to make yoga accessible and attainable to people of all walks of life
• i recently started teaching yoga to kids and teens with disabilities and their caregivers, so there will be lots of lesson plan ideas, lots of ideas on the meaning of community, what it takes to foster it, and how to fold that into a yoga practice, and how to use yoga to bring those sentiments into daily life
• yoga has been highly commodified in America and turned into an industry. i'd like my practice to be highly democratic in philosophy -- literally the only thing you need to be a yoga practitioner is an open heart and mind. what does it mean to democratize yoga? we'll see, but some thoughts right now: "yoga for all", open studios, free clinics, apprentice models of teaching, yoga collaboratives, open air yoga sessions, and random acts of yoga in the park -- more on that soon :-)
• yoga portraits as i document my own journey with yoga (basically i want a place to put all my #ayogaposeadayuntil30 posts so i'm not clogging my Instagram and Facebook feed with them)
• the occasional pithy inspirational post as i learn things from my practice
• research and resources i find as i explore yoga pedagogy and mindfulness research
• collections of resources for fellow practitioners (yoga flow combinations for classes, playlists for different situations, ideas on various poses, quotes to contemplate, resources and ideas for cultivating a home practice)
• endless possibilities! the leap is taken!

i'm excited to begin a more intentional examination of my practice and to see where this new form of exploration leads me!