All Blog Posts (168)

http://jennyzenner.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/insight-from-injury/

I recently spoke on KUOW’s The Conversation with Ross Reynolds sharing my yoga injury story during William Broad’s appearance for his new book…

I am writing about feet today because last week in ecstatic dance a friend and I began a foot dance which evolved into a co-foot massage. Afterwards I was dancing on feet which felt so much more alive and I heard the theme, Feel Your Feet! So, here goes!

I hear in my yoga classes, in tadasana, stand with your weight squarely over your feet, spread your toes, feel all corners of your feet.. and more. In straddles, monkey pose and many others we grab our toes or ankles and pull to…

When it comes to the objective of a yoga practice, many yogis cite Patanjali’s Sutra 1.2: “Yogash citta vritti nirodhah.”   Sanskrit scholars offer varying translations of this sutra, but the gist of it is:  “Yoga is the cessation (nirodhah) of the fluctuations (citta vritti) of the mind.”

Personally, Bernadette Birney’s (a smart and thoughtful yogi ‘scholar’ from the East Coast) translation speaks to me the most:   “B!tch–you are captive of your own…

World-renowned humanitarian and spiritual leader Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi (Amma) is…

Finally, a website that offers practical online tools for teachers! Lots of sites show yoga poses in their traditional form and repeat the same, basic instructions for students. But teachers need more to support diverse student populations – and to keep growing and evolving in their profession.

With Yoga Teacher Central, you have access to an organized storehouse of tools and information gathered from expert…

Hi Seattle Yoga Friends,

Kristin Haberly, a yoga instructor at I Love Hot Yoga is in the Yoga Journal cover contest. We have 2 more days to add our votes to help get her into the top 6.

Her warmth, open-hearted appreciation for all her students and her skilled instruction combine to make her a wonderful representative for the Seattle yoga world to Yoga Journal. Please click on the link and vote for her the next 2 days.    …

What a lovely life we lead, those of us who become entranced and surrounded by movement exploration! Yoga took me to a yoga retreat long ago where at night we were introduced to Five Wave Rhythms. This took me on a long wild ride through free dance dancing at Drum and Dance events to several years of African dance classes, workshops and  performances! My dancing life seemed to have no limits as I jumped, twirled, sweat, learned to drum, did fancy steps, over and over week after week and year…

I have writers’ block.

I think I’m still suffering from jet lag; since I returned from India last week I’ve found I can barely string two thoughts together, let alone a readable newsletter about something yoga-ish.

During my time away, I spent three days in Mumbai, followed by two weeks at a retreat center studying with Ashtanga Yoga legend Maty Ezraty.  Although I learned a ton about yoga (and myself!) during my time there, my biggest education came from attempting to move…

Maharishi Ayurveda - Supporting Yoga Blaze and yoga practitioners everywhere



Maharishi Ayurveda is a natural, wellness-oriented approach to healthcare. We embrace the traditional system of Ayurveda that (among other things) uses the knowledge of whole plants, synergistically…

Jenny Zenner on Yoga Journal

When I saw the Athleta & Yoga Journal competition asking to submit photos I turned to my husband who has a nice set of camera gear to get a shot to submit. Yoga has been a lifesaver for me, especially over the past few years as a new mom to twin boys.

Here were the rules:

Readers will judge and vote on entries based on who they would like…

Add to the discussion and then find out the real deal at the Bellevue Arts Museum on Saturday Night, April 7.

The Argentinian band "So What Project" is the feature attraction at the Seattle Yoga Rave at BAM on April 7, 2012. This yogi way to party is taking the country by storm. The So What…

Today I am facing March's ending. We have one week left.  Near the end of February I optimistically told friends who asked as well as myself that my shoulder would be all well by the end of March. Well, it almost is. I have increased classes, reduced modifications, done a few chaturangas and pushed up shakily into wheel! Wow! It sounds like I can fly in April! And I want to, so badly.

And I can, yet there are some muscle cramps, twinges and tightness which tell me that I am…

The wildness of March weather parallels the whirl of underground turmoil of beginnings to come forth! Whew, what a sentence! I am waiting, aching for spring, the warmth, the lessening of rain and new possiilities which abound. Light in the evenings barely breaks through a curtain of rain for longer grey. I huddle inside, tired of the rain, waiting for my shoulder to heal enough to go to a second yoga class in a day. It's not time, yet.

During winter we slumbered, rested,…

http://jennyzenner.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/gratitude-it-is/

We are habituated to look at the negative versus focus on the positive. Network news does it. Religion does it. We do it in our own conversations. Raised Catholic, Lent provided a season that often meant giving up something that was seen as bad or…

Who am I today awakening another day with a shoulder not 100% painfree? Who is anyone facing a time of recuperation after an injury? Thank goodness for conscious language. This morning I faced my lumpy, bumpy and grumpy persona when some clothes fit differently than they did early winter. I knew it would happen.. reducing yoga, cutting back on beloved dance and spending time with appointments and care instead of more active time. Today I faced the 'enormmity' of my healing time. Pounds and…

I am aging. I am always aging. Why talk about it now? Well, I am approaching a mid sixties age. I am noticing new body changes which differ these past 2 or so  years  in myself as well as in others around my age. Not only physical changes, but emotional needs and differing ways of thinking about the future; what to expect from life and how to grow into the world especially from those viewpoints of much younger friends. Truly I am not always pleased with some of these changes. Little hurts…

Prose+Pose™ is officially launching this month! On March 15th at 7pm, we'll be sharing Seligman's Authentic Happiness together at 5focus. Prose+Pose™ emerged out of my own desire to join a book club as I continue to explore the writings that inform and inspire my yoga teaching while feeling pressed to fit anything into my schedule as a MoM (mom of multiples). As a result, I have joined the…

After writing "Make Yourself Happy Ponderings and Dimensions " I realized that making oneself happy has many more aspects and dimensions to it than one little or much longer blog can cover. Certainly I hit what I thought were main highlights: instant gratification of desires, long term self care and life maintenance for deeper happiness and a 'happy' button.

I have stalled on this blog because as I considered long term self care and maintenance it's impossible to cover it all…

There’s a little dog that lives behind a chain link fence on my street – an energetic little Jack Russell terrier named Buck.  Buck shares his yard with Christie, a Basset Hound-Lab mix who is quite possibly the slowest moving dog on the planet.  Christie spends most of her day sitting in stunned bewilderment by the whirling dervish that is Buck.

Every single day, Buck chases my car, misjudges the end of the yard, and runs full speed – head first – into the concrete foundation of the…

Do you often start a yoga class completely drained of energy or so stressed out from your day it sometimes is impossible for you to reach any level of relaxation by the end of your class?



Our monthly Friday night series, “Relax and Restore” is an Ananda based yoga class designed to help…