Yoga with Nikki Chau » Readings

Annie Wood Besant on the Yoga of Action

Nikki Chau — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 20:04:10 +0000

I’ve been reading Intro to Yoga by Annie Wood Besant, which consists of four lectures she gave in December 1907, “intended to give an outline of Yoga, in order to prepare the student to take up, for practical purposes, the Yoga sutras of Patanjali, the chief treatise on Yoga.”

I like what she has to say here [...]

The Day I Did “Real Yoga”

Nikki Chau — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:37:20 +0000

I have had a really hard day of traveling, starting off with a mobile boarding pass crashing, some poor planning on my part, some technology failure, long lines at the airport, missing a flight, working with the general anxiety of the consequences of running around worrying about the potential fees I’d have to pay, wondering [...]

Where Is “Within”, And How Do You Get There?

Nikki Chau — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:15:03 +0000

I’m listening to this audio book called Catching the Big Fish, written and read by David Lynch. (I’m going through this period of looking for inspiration from the Art world, but more on that later.) This is what he says in the very first chapter, and I found his question totally intriguing: “Where is within? [...]

Awareness, Empathy, and Emotions

Nikki Chau — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:06:57 +0000

Here’s one more reason to meditate if you want to rule the world, or like, read and empathize with other people and stuff.

The insula and linked circuits activate when you experience strong emotions such as fear or anger; they also light up when you see others having those same feelings particularly people you care about. [...]

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 [...]

I’m Just Here to Get Lucky – What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, Part 2

Nikki Chau — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 03:00:45 +0000

This is part 2 of What Your Yoga Teacher Will Tell You, a response to the Smart Money article: 10 Things Your Yoga Teacher Won’t Tell You. Read Part 1.

What your yoga teacher won’t tell you, number 5: “I’m just here to get lucky.”

While many gyms, training schools, and yoga teachers’ associations frown on liaisons between [...]

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 [...]

Art of Teaching – Supporting New Yoga Teachers

Nikki Chau — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:04:09 +0000

To Study and to Teach Yoga

I finished my 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in April of 2009, a short four months ago. Since then, I’ve been immersing myself in two things: studying yoga and teaching yoga.

Coming out of the 8-month program, I had learned and grew so much, such that if I never got to teach [...]

YogaBody

Nikki Chau — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 01:50:54 +0000

Yogabody: Anatomy, Kinesilogy, and Asana by Judith Hanson Lasater

This book is quickly becoming my adult blankie. It’s a great book about Anatomy and the basic structure of the human body without sounding like a dry and impersonal science textbook.

If you are unfamiliar with Judith Lasater, she is a senior yoga teacher and a physical therapist [...]

Yoga as Medicine

Nikki Chau — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:19:44 +0000

Yoga As Medicine: The Yogic Prescription for Health and Healing by Timothy McCall

This book is written by a board-certified medical doctor on the therapeutic benefits of yoga, and which style of yoga is suitable for certain illness and conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, infertility, cancer, etc.

Again, I love this book for its conversational [...]