There are so many different styles of yoga out there, with many different approaches and ways to categorize each.

At YS, we want you to LOVE your practice, from your head to your toes, your heart to your soul. We surveyed you about YS, and we heard you! We heard that our provided yoga mats are old, smelly, and falling apart. We agree!!

Every day, and especially this time of year, our intention at Yoga Sanctuary is to create a strong, compassionate community of yogis who inspire each other and support each other. We intend to show up in our daily lives in alignment with our truest values and learn to be strong, open, playful, and curious both on and off the mat. More than ever we recognize the need to be grounded in the growth inspired by our yoga practice - as we are inspired by each and every one of you!

Change is the one constant in our lives; but how do you really feel about change? Sometimes change is exciting and exhilarating; but the shadow side is that it can be scary. We all long for safety and security as much as we long for expansion and growth (a least we yogis always look for growth!) and sometimes, we play it small in order to feel safe.

On the winter solstice, we honor the gifts of darkness as the enfolding energy of the universe that provides us with quiet and peace. The dark womb of winter offers a fertile place where new life may germinate within while all of nature rests. Deep in our center, we honor the light that is always present.

Who do you want to BE in 2018? You may already have a long list of things to do or ways you think you should improve yourself in the new year. Or you will once you get through the holidays!

One of the great victories of 2017 and very close to my heart, is the power of the #metoo movement. We are in the midst of a sea change where women's stories of harrassment and assault are finally being believed and serious consequences to the perpetrators are piling up.

Imagine if the first thing you heard or saw when you turned on the news or looked at your newsfeed every day were beautiful and heartfelt stories. You'd feel uplifted, right? And if the painful - and often these days horrifying and traumatic - news followed we might have more room inside to breathe into what those stories brought up for us and digest them.

Ten years ago, my wife Pamela was a student at Smith College, in their program for non-traditionally aged students. I was a 59 year old man, a self employed career coach, as I still am. Pamela asked me one day if I would like to attend an on-campus yoga class. I said yes, without knowing why as I look back on it. The class was taught, as I recall, by the wonderful Amy Reed, who was also a Smith student. There I was, the only male in a room full of women with great flexibility...

It was a dark period of my life. My 86 year old dad was dying after a long, slow descent into dementia. My 85 year old mom had passed away a year and a half before. Our house, in which they had lived with us for ten years, was filled from basement to attic with my dad’s gargantuan collection of accumulated belongings; his legacy of life as a unrestrained pack rat. My husband and I were exhausted from the challenges of the endings of my parents’ lives...

This has been a tough week. There have been many tears shed in some of our classes along with a beautiful coming together to offer support and connection to one another.

Have you ever heard how Yoga Sanctuary came to be? There were many twists and turns, like any good story. And there were many struggles, such as accompany and often inspire any worthy dream.