Yoga with Nikki Chau » Inspiration

Let the Music Play

Nikki Chau — Mon, 10 May 2010 06:17:34 +0000

Sophomore year. 19 years old. I was studying in France. Traveling alone half the time. I had taken a night train to Milan to meet a boy (don’t ask). We were going to spend two weeks in Rome together. After breakfast, he put on some music and laid there on the couch. “What are you [...]

Midwinter 2010 Newsletter from Nikki

Nikki Chau — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:56:41 +0000

Here’s my newsletter that I just sent out, like, literally. If you didn’t get one in your inbox and would like one, please email me at nikki@nikkiyoga.com.

You can also view the web version of this newsletter.

Is this email looking funky wonky? No problems! You can view it in your trusty web browser. Happy New Year, Once More! [...]

Transform T – A Shirt for Haiti

Nikki Chau — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:41:55 +0000

Tonight I found out that YogaDork was running a t-shirt design contest to raise money for Haiti, and I immediately opened up my Photoshop program.

I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

Back in early November, I submitted a design to a Yoga Journal contest for a freebie to a YJ conference, and I used then [...]

Chanting the Gayatri Mantra

Nikki Chau — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:54:55 +0000

Here is a quick video of me chanting the Gayatri Mantra, something I did quite a bit after my bike accident.

You can follow along with the Sanskrit words here:

oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ tat savitur vareṇyaṃ bhargo devasya dhīmahi dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt

An Open Letter of Grace

Nikki Chau — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:21:21 +0000

One of my favorite authors, Bill Bryson, once wrote:

Welcome. And congratulations. I am delighted that you could make it. Getting here wasn’t easy, I know. In fact, I suspect it was a little tougher than you realize.

…

To be here now; alive in the twenty-first century and smart enough to know it, you also had to [...]

Yoga, or Transformation

Nikki Chau — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:41:58 +0000

Lately, it seems like the whole world is going stir-crazy on the commercialization of yoga, or debating what it is and what it’s not, and if it’s lost its soul. I have taken refuge in going back in time, as far as possible, and for some reason found some solace in reading what people who have [...]

Why I Teach Yoga

Nikki Chau — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:12:10 +0000

(I wrote about this in February in a different blog. It was true then, and it’s still true now, so I’ll write about it again )

I’ve been doing some research on Seattle yoga studios and as a result been reading a lot of yoga instructor biographies. More often than not, there would be [...]

Oh How The Years Go By

Nikki Chau — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:19:23 +0000

This past weekend I was at the Yoga & Pilates Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. While I wandered around the Exhibition hall checking out the vendors, there were free yoga classes every half hour in the middle of the giant show room at the Vancouver Convention Center.

I was talking to yoga teacher I just met, Rebecca [...]

Impermanence, Avenue Q Style

Nikki Chau — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:01:24 +0000

Coming back from my 10-day Vipassana course, as I do the sittings on my own, I keep hearing Goenkaji saying… “Anicca, anicca, anicca… Changing, changing, changing.”

I’ve always loved Avenue Q, and think this song is the perfect embodiment of Impermanence in pop culture.

“Each time you smile / It’ll only last a while… Life may be [...]

Judith Lasater’s Experiential Anatomy Teacher Training

Nikki Chau — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 07:05:33 +0000

I’m back from a week of immersing myself in yoga, anatomy, and the wild open sky of Montana at Feathered Pipe Ranch.

I’ve updated the outline of the topics we discussed on the Yoga Conferences and Workshop page. I’ll keep updating the blog with the information I learned, little by little, because the training was packed [...]