EDITOR’S NOTE
Felicia TomaskoW
hen we practice yoga, are we chasing spectacle or are we
cultivating sustainability?
Do we imagine the photo op for a pose instead of fo-
cusing on the practice? When is pushing ourselves to take
our practice further actually dangerous? In this issue,
Sarah Ezrin asks “Is safe really the new flexible?” Devel-
oping a dynamic relationship with challenging ourselves
doesn’t have to involve chasing an idealized version of a shape that may be unattainable
or even meaningless.
Enrolling in a teacher training program offers the opportunity to explore these ques-
tions. It’s an opportunity to sign up to learn what it really means to be in this body. To
connect to how our bodies, minds, spirits evolve over time. This life-long training also
involves continuously developing a stronger sense of responsibility. To learn to seek
and find the modifications that can safely support practice in any given moment for
any given circumstance.
Flexibility is something we also seek in the time and space to practice. Bruce Black
and Liz Arch talk about their journeys of cultivating and maintaining personal and
home practices. The challenges are not so much about striking a pose, but about de-
veloping relationships of sustainability and support. Since we’re moving into the new
year, it is even more meaningful to focus our intentions on the practices and rituals that
create our structure of self-support and self-care.
One of our most important self-care practices may be found in the words we speak.
Writer Dani Katz is a proponent of Quantum Languaging, which describes the connec-
tion of our habitual language with the quantum energy of the universe. After all, what
we imagine, the phrases and mantras we repeat, all have an effect. Words can empower
us and provide the structure of our daily reality and choosing them wisely may be one
of our most significant acts of support.
The energetic currents of our physical and subtle bodies also provide support. In
Ayurveda and Yoga, the system of marma is the representation of the ways in which
energy moves through us. We can affect our physical, mental, emotional, and other
bodies by applying pressure and practicing asana. Ayurvedic practitioner and Yoga
Teacher Jeff Perlman provides understanding and guidance of marma points that can
be incorporated into daily practice.
Another way we can tap into the subtle currents of energy is by pairing our jewelry
with the chakras. We’ve selected seven items from seven innovative jewelry designers
who imbue their creations with the gemstones and qualities found that correlate with
the seven chakras.
Considerations around self-care include what we watch. Conscious Good Founder
Trina Wyatt believes in the transformational power of storytelling through film. And
when we come together to watch engaging and thought-provoking stories in a com-
munity, the transformational effects can be amplified. This is why we’re partnering on
the Conscious Good Yoga Studio Film Series—to come together to create microcosms
based on sustainability rather than spectacle. And to fulfill on the promise that inspired
us to take up the practice of yoga in the first place.
As one year ends and another begins, I think about how the flexibility we really seek
is in our hearts. May all of our hearts radiate with joy,