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I’ve always hated New Year’s.
Associations:
Drunk people
The cold
Feeling tired
What if there were a different way?
New Year’s resolutions too often devolve into premeditated disappointments and we go back to business as usual. Why is that? It’s because in order to make lasting change, we have to change our fundamental state of mind and stage of consciousness? Like Einstein said: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”
It’s time to recommit to doing a little bit of essential self-care, the kind that helps you be at your best. Cuz we all know that it’s those little things that we do regularly for ourselves that eventually turn into the big things, the things that help us live the kind of lives we want to live and be the kind of people we need to be.
Read moreAt very least, exploring A Christmas Carol through the filter of Yoga Nidra may help us to appreciate this story anew and add a deeper insight and meaning into this well-worn story. It may help us to reflect upon our own awakening that can happen at any time of the year. And I think what I’m really angling at here is that this story illuminates so perfectly how the altered state of sleep can catalyze a massive change in spirit which can lift us from our habitual, broken way of being and help us wake up to the truth that we are all One, that veritably we are each other’s business.
Read moreToday, I want share one of my favorite winter poems, White-Eyes by Mary Oliver.
First of all, if you haven’t already, ‘tis the season to sign up for my 31-Day Meditation Challenge. It starts January 1 and lasts all through the month. The challenge is simply to meditate any way you wish for 15 minutes a day, every day for the entire month. I’ll be supporting you every step of the way with daily emails, live group meditations sessions, and plenty of recordings, poetry, links, and stories to make the experience very rich.
Give the world a gift by practicing drawing inward, getting quiet in heart and mind, so you can present a YOU that is more mindful, less reactive, and rooted in compassion.
It costs only $31 and you can get your tuition back if you complete the challenge. Make a meditation posse and sign up!
Onto the poem!
What I love so much about Mary Oliver's poetry is that so often in her poetry she is speaking to the eternal, the Everything, God, or the Universe by simply reflecting what she sees in nature.
And like in her poem “Bone” I love how she willingly admits that she doesn't fully know what God is but is "playing at the edges of knowing" and that perhaps it’s not about knowing at all, but rather it’s about “seeing, touching, and loving.”
It’s about being present with senses and heart.
Through her poetry, Mary Oliver helps us all to create a touchpoint to the Divine that is present both in our outer and inner worlds and opens us to seeing, touching, and loving as she steers us away from trying to make it all make sense.
Her poem White-Eyes is about seeing the Divine in something as simple yet complex as the wind dancing through the tree tops and the snow silently drifting down from the heavens. It’s an exposé about how with the “right eyes” or with attuned sight, we might be able to see the loving Divine present in all things.
I hope you enjoy it.
BY MARY OLIVER
In winter
all the singing is in
the tops of the trees
where the wind-bird
with its white eyes
shoves and pushes
among the branches.
Like any of us
he wants to go to sleep,
but he's restless—
he has an idea,
and slowly it unfolds
from under his beating wings
as long as he stays awake.
But his big, round music, after all,
is too breathy to last.
So, it's over.
In the pine-crown
he makes his nest,
he's done all he can.
I don't know the name of this bird,
I only imagine his glittering beak
tucked in a white wing
while the clouds—
which he has summoned
from the north—
which he has taught
to be mild, and silent—
thicken, and begin to fall
into the world below
like stars, or the feathers
of some unimaginable bird
that loves us,
that is asleep now, and silent—
that has turned itself
into snow.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on what this poem says to you.
Drop me a line, I read every email I get.
May we all be our best by remember those essential phrases:
I love you.
I’m sorry.
How can I help?
Yoga For Stiffer Bodies on Saturdays at 7:30–8:30 am at Mosaic Yoga
Vinyasa Mondays at 12 pm at Mosaic Yoga
I teach a Restore Yoga and Yoga Nidra workshop on the first Sunday of every month at Mosaic Yoga
Plus, mark your calendar for January 1 because I’m hosting an in-person yoga class to begin the new year. Together we’ll plant our Sankalpa, the seed of our intentions, through ritual, movement, meditation, and breath. Mosaic Yoga.
Though the analogy is perhaps over obvious, I’m nonetheless going to offer it: What dies and drifts away this year becomes the compost to usher in next year’s spring blossoms, next year’s harvest.
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It’s getting cold in Salt Lake City.
It’s nice to come back to a place.
It’s made me notice things I perhaps never did before or perhaps took for granted.
I’m very aware of the quiet streets of our neighborhood. The closeness of the mountains. I’m aware of how much … space there is here.
Being the week of Thanksgiving, I’d be remiss if I didn’t offer my cornucopia of gratitudes. Gratitude is perhaps one of the greatest practices we may ever do, one that I believe will enrich our lives immeasurably.
Before I get to my gratitudes, if you’re near Salt Lake City, I’d be over the moon to see you in a live class.
I’ll be teaching 3 classes on November 24th, the Friday after Thanksgiving.
Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation
6:00 am Power Hour
7:15 am Mindfulness
8:45 am Power 1
My new regularly scheduled classes.
7:30–8:30 am Yoga For Stiffer Bodies
Saturdays beginning November 25th
Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation
12–1 pm Vinyasa Flow
Mondays beginning December 4th
Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
By donation
Also, I’ll be offering a monthly Restore Yoga and Yoga Nidra Workshop on the first Sunday of each month. The next workshop will be December 3rd.
12–2 pm Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City, Utah.
I teach a weekly, live, online Yoga Nidra class each Sunday at 9 am MT
I’m grateful for many things, but in particular, I’m poignantly aware of my gratitude for family.
Last Saturday, my step-dad passed away. He was a kind man—smart, reserved. He loved WWII airplanes and John Wayne movies. He had suffered with poor health for many years so his passing was both difficult and a relief. He adored my mom and sorely grieved her passing almost exactly 3 years prior to his death.
It’s a beautiful thing for families to come together during the passing of a loved one. Our family was able to come together, siblings and step-siblings, to mourn together, to laugh together, and to eat fabuloso tacos.
When my mom and step-dad got married, my twin brother and I needed a car and my step-dad ponied up and GAVE us his sweet, sweet, cherry 1978 Ford Ranchero (V-8).
We called it the Gator.
Don’t ask me how but somehow my buddy, Al, figured out how to record ONTO 8-track tapes.
We were the only kids rolling around town like bosses in a vintage, 30-ft. long car-truck rocking out to The Cranberries recorded over a BTO 8-track.
No joke.
Eventually, the Gator took its last breath and when it expired (no more Cranberries on 8-track!), my grandparents gave us a little 400 cc Yamaha motorcycle to scoot around on.
On my maiden voyage of that iron pony, having never ridden a motorcycle previously, I straddled the bike, flanked by my grandpa and step-dad. They instructed me about how to let out on the clutch while turning the throttle to make it go.
Understanding nothing of the essential finesse required for a soft start in first gear on a motorcycle, I fully released the clutch which jolted the bike forward causing me to hammer down on the throttle.
Suddenly I was speeding down the driveway and blasting across the street.
It was happening too fast. I didn’t have time to think.
But soon I realized something essential: we hadn't yet covered the lesson on how to stop.
I had to improvise.
I soon learned that at least one way to stop a motorcycle was to jump the curb of the neighbors yard, drive over their lawn, straight through a flower bed and blue spruce, and then crash the bike into a fence.
That did the job. That stopped the bike.
Fearing I’d just broken my neck, my grandpa and step-dad ran but luckily all that broke was the neighbors fence. After a few pounds with a hammer and some light gardening, everything was returned to normal and I could resume my lessons on my motorcycle.
But this time, I understood to aim myself down the street. This time, I understood how sensitive the clutch was. This time, I understood the other lever opposite of the clutch was in fact a brake.
I’m grateful for my step-dad, especially for how he loved my mom.
I’m grateful for my biological dad who is still alive and with whom I’m very close.
I’m grateful for all of my family and for the chance to be close to them again after living far away for a few years.
I’m grateful to be married to such a fantastic woman. She and I grow together in the best ways and it’s an honor to partner with her.
I’m grateful for my son Elio who explodes my heart with love and teaches me gentleness, wonder, and patience.
I’m grateful for my other son, my step-son, Liam whom I’m very proud of, who is kind, wicked-smart, and sensitive.
I’m grateful for my siblings, Chris and Lucy and my step-siblings.
I’m grateful to be a teacher. I really love it.
I’m grateful for you reading this. It truly means the world to me.
What are YOUR gratitudes? Drop me a line or leave a few in the comments on my blog.
If you celebrate Thanksgiving, have a wonderful holiday. If you don’t, I hope you find an opportunity to make every day special.
Thanks for being on my team. I’m glad to be on yours.
Let’s all make this world a more loving, peaceful place.
Let’s start with gratitude.
I recently wrote a blog for Hugger Mugger about yoga and running. It was fun to write and I wanted to give you a snippet here with the option to check out the full article on their blog.
Forever, I’ve heard that yoga and running just don’t mix but I don’t believe that to be true. I’ve had runners tell me that doing yoga hurts their running and yogis tell me that running hurts their yoga.
Personally, I’ve been running and doing yoga most of my life and I understand how both practices complement each other. This article focuses on how yoga can help your running practice and perhaps I’ll write another article about how running helps your yoga practice.
Do you run and practice yoga? I’d love to hear from you about your experiences with both. Leave a comment below or reach out here.
Here is the article.
Growing up, I was never very athletic. I never really enjoyed team sports. I was average at baseball, soccer, and basketball—scrawny and uncoordinated. I didn’t even bother to try out for football.
But early on, I discovered a love for running and have been running most of my life. I found joy in running, not in running the fastest or the longest but rather just in the running itself. For me, the joy comes from the solitude of a long run and from the full-body movement of running, especially when I manage a comfortable and sustainable pace. Running also clears my mind and often even feels spiritual to me. Growing up, I never felt better than during and after a long run, especially a trail run.
That is, until I discovered yoga.
When I started practicing yoga in my early 20s I was excited to discover another activity that wasn’t a competitive sport and also left me feeling as good in body, mind, and spirit the way running did. But when I told my yoga friends that in addition to practicing yoga I also enjoyed running, they’d often raise their eyebrows above their bindi and matter-of-factly inform me that yoga and running just don’t mix. Yet as someone who does both I beg to differ. On the contrary, yoga has improved my running and has kept me running well and largely injury-free for decades.
In many ways running has improved my yoga practice by giving me more stamina, focus, and breath capacity. However, in this article I want to explore some of the many ways that yoga can benefit runners and how incorporating yoga into your training routine can make a significant difference in your enjoyment, performance, and longevity of your running.
One of the biggest benefits of yoga for runners is better flexibility. Running primarily involves repetitive movements in a forward direction which almost always leads to tight muscles. Tight muscles contribute to reduced range of motion which means that the tighter a runner’s muscles get, the more effort they have to use to make their body move. Yoga postures stretch and lengthen muscles and help runners enjoy greater flexibility and mobility, a benefit that feels like finally, someone has released the parking brake on your running.
Previously I thought that to be liked, to be appreciated, or to be successful in this life (read career) I was supposed to demonstrate some superhuman skills or talent and be like Michael Jackson or Prince or Beyonce, or something.
I thought I was supposed to be some sort of yoga Rockstar to be liked, appreciated, and successful.
Instead, what I’ve learned over the course of my career is that success is 100% reliant on my ability to connect with my heart and to learn how to share that with the world.
That’s it.
Read moreOne day many years ago, I began my work day with my journal and favorite pen. I set the timer for 11 minutes and committed to keep my pen writing no matter what, even, and especially, if I didn’t know what to write. This is a trusted practice I’d learned from my good friend and collaborator Nan Seymour. What’s so magical about this writing method is that you never quite know what’s going to come rolling out of your pen onto the page.
Read moreIn Nice, we have a broccoli guy.
We have a shoe guy.
We have an apple lady.
We have our favorite croissant guy, our patisserie lady, and a full suite of cafes we frequent where we know the owner and all of the servers.
We have a lady who cuts our dog’s hair and who loves our dog so much that when we take him in for a trim, instead of cringing, his little doggy heart practically bursts his harness from the unfettered glee of being under her spell for the duration of his grooming.
Read moreGood work is the opportunity to both discover and share who you are with the world in a way that feeds the world and that feeds you back.
Sometimes this heartfelt work is what you do for a living, sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it’s very public, sometimes not.
But what’s always true is that at the heart of good work is … YOU.
Read moreToday, just a quick note and fun read.
I hope you’re having an amazing week. I hope you’re opening your eyes to majesty which is around us all the time, the miraculous in the mundane, the beauty in the boring.
I have been nursing an achilles heel injury for many months but finally was able to get out onto the trails above Salt Lake City today for an incredible run. It was like heaven!
When: 6–7:15 pm MDT
Where: Integrative Health, 1174 East Graystone Way #15.
No need to pre-register, just grab your bestie and head on over.
Suggested donation is $15. I take cash or Venmo or original, signed, and authenticated copies of John Coltrane’s 1957 album, Blue Train.
Bring a yoga mat, a blanket, and an eye mask. We’ll move a little, breath, talk a bit, but mostly get into our very relaxing Yoga Nidra practice.
When: Friday September 1st
Where: Mosaic Yoga 1991 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City (map).
All Mosaic classes are by donation. I accept cash, Venmo, (or John Coltrane records)
Power Hour 6–7 am MDT:
An all-levels hour of wake-up yoga with an easy warm-up including Sun Salutations and full-body mobilizations, followed by standing, balance, and grounding poses.
Mindfulness 7:15–8:15 am MDT:
This is an opportunity to sit and meditate with a group of other mindfulness practitioners in a welcoming environment. It’s perfect whether you are a new or experienced meditator.
Power 1 8:45–10 am MDT:
This 75-minute class weaves a spiritual or conscious theme into a Wanderlust format of poses which alternate between short flowing and static sequences to arrive at a therapeutic, cohesive, and well-rounded yoga experience. This class will feature warmups, sun salutations, standing poses, approachable standing and arm balances, core work, hips, and a solid cool down and savasana. I’ll be bringing the clarinet!
Finally, the other day we were walking through the mall and as any self-respecting father would, I bought my 8-year-old a copy of The Worst-Case Scenario Survival handbook, cuz you know… you never know, and I was pleased to see him so enthralled by it. Here he is walking through the mall glued to the entry about how to deliver a baby in the back seat of a car. #proudparent.
Well, come to find out that this book was actually written by our pediatrician’s son. Small world. Brilliant world, but small world.
I was originally introduced to this book many years ago (so I’m happy that the family has an updated version) and as a throwback, today, I wanted to share with you a piece I wrote called The Yoga Worst-Case Scenario Survivors Handbook. Just like yoga, though it’s a little dated it’s still relevant. Also, I originally wrote it about surviving yoga in the arid climate of the Utah deserts so if you don’t understand the arid air reference, now you will.
I hope you’ll enjoy the article and I hope to see you in class. I’ll be leaving back for France early next week.
One of my favorite and most useful books in my library is one called The Complete Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook.
Its bright yellow hard-backed cover makes it durable so I can take it with me everywhere, and easy to find when I’m in a pinch. This Survival Handbook contains a lot of information; you know, practical and essential know-how for things like giving your cat the Heimlich Maneuver, how to escape your car when it has been completely submerged in water, and how to escape from killer bees.
We’ve had a great time visiting the US and I’m heading home to Nice in only about 10 days!
I have a few more classes I’m teaching before I leave and I’d love to see you before I go.
All Mosaic classes are by donation. I accept cash, Venmo, or original, signed, and authenticated copies of John Coltrane’s 1957 album, Blue Train. Thank you.
Power Hour 6–7 am MDT:
An all-levels hour of wake-up yoga with an easy warm-up including Sun Salutations and full-body mobilizations, followed by standing, balance, and grounding poses.
Mindfulness 7:15–8:15 am MDT:
This is an opportunity to sit and meditate with a group of other mindfulness practitioners in a welcoming environment. It’s perfect whether you are a new or experienced meditator.
Power 1 8:45–10 am MDT:
This 75-minute class weaves a spiritual or conscious theme into a Wanderlust format of poses which alternate between short flowing and static sequences to arrive at a therapeutic, cohesive, and well-rounded yoga experience. This class will feature warmups, sun salutations, standing poses, approachable standing and arm balances, core work, hips, and a solid cool down and savasana. I’ll be bringing the clarinet!
This class will feature opening to sacred space with some shared breath, a discussion about the benefits of Yoga Nidra, some pre-Nidra breathing & mindfulness practices, then a 30-minute Yoga Nidra practice, followed by some brief integration practices.
Bring a yoga mat, blanket, bolster (or extra blanket) and an eye mask or pillow.
Price $15 ($10 if you’re a subscribing member to Sunday’s class). No need to register or pay in advance. Just show up and you can pay in cash or with Venmo.
Plus, I had the really, really cool opportunity to be interviewed by two amazing women, Danielle LeCourt and Jamie Bangerter, on their amazing podcast called The Art of Mountain Biking.
We discussed how rest is an often underemphasized skill that supports, everything we do including sports such as mountain biking, but also the full-contact sport of every-day life. As with any skill, we need a systematized way of approaching it. I loved where our discussion went and I hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy it too.
Listen by clicking here or click here to listen on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Last but not least, I’ve been brushing up on my Renaissance history because in about 6 weeks, I’ll be in Tuscany offering a retreat with an optional pre-treat—walking tours through Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance. We have a few spots left both in the retreat as well as the pre-treat (I say “we” because I’ll be hosting the retreat with Kim Dastrup). Please grab your bestie and join us for this incredible adventure.
What I want to say about yoga for healthy backs is. …
Want to stand out as a yoga or meditation teacher?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Want to be an extraordinary therapist with a powerful resource that can access ANY client’s deepest needs?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Want to be the kind of school teacher who can meet, welcome, then and neutralize stress and anxiety of your students?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Want to learn how to guide a team to unheard of levels of performance?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Want to help yourself and others resource their next-level creativity?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Want to learn how to make lasting changes in relationships for yourself and others?
Teach Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra is an efficient and effective catalyst for massive personal and group growth.
Truly, anybody can do it.
That said, learning to be a skillful facilitator, one who can speak from the power of their own voice to meet the individual needs of their clients, is rare indeed.
My passion is not only to teach you about what Yoga Nidra is and why it’s so crucial for today’s world, but more importantly how to uncover the incredible facilitator that is already inside of you, the one who knows how to make a massive and positive impact on your audience in ONLY the way you know how.
My live, in-person Yoga Nidra training runs August 17–20, 2023 in Salt Lake City. Please, walk, run, fly, or teleport to Salt Lake City and join us. It will be such an honor to work with you.
If you’re not close to SLC (or your teleport machine is in the shop), now’s the time to join my pre-recorded online Yoga Nidra teacher training program.
I’d love to have you join me in this conversation of understanding ourselves and making a powerful and positive impact on the world by learning to facilitate Yoga Nidra and learning to Wake Up with the Yoga of Sleep.
Scott Moore (E-RYT 500, YACEP, RYS) is an American-born international yoga and Yoga Nidra teacher, mentor, and author. He’s been a career yoga teacher since 2003 and has logged over 25,000 teaching and training hours. He is the founder of Waking Up with the Yoga of Sleep, a method of Yoga Nidra instruction and teacher training which celebrates students and teachers in 43 countries. He is the author of three books, Practical Yoga Nidra, 5-Minute Manifesting Journal, and 20 Yoga Nidra Scripts Vol. 1. Scott teaches trainings, classes, and retreats in the US, Europe, and Asia and is currently living in Southern France. When he’s not practicing or teaching yoga, he loves to play the sax and clarinet, trail run, and travel with his family.
Are you ready to deepen your practice, discover lasting inner peace, and learn the art of guiding others to profound relaxation and deep healing? I’m thrilled to invite you to my Live Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, a transformative journey that will elevate your understanding of this ancient yogic practice and empower you to share its benefits with the world.
Read moreSo how does Yoga Nidra help a person, “wake up?”
A simple truth that Yoga Nidra explores in its gentle model of illumination is how relaxation and layered Awareness aids us learn to welcome, recognize, and witness every object that life gives us and that all objects are pointers to ultimate Truth. Yoga Nidra facilitates an easy change of our mind state, one of deep relaxation, as we welcome, recognize, and witness objects coming and going through our Awareness. Regularly practicing changing our mind state in Yoga Nidra provides a pathway for upward stage development of consciousness. One develops in stage consciousness and typically does not return back to lower stages of consciousness. In other words, it is difficult to “un-know” or “un-experience” your true magnificence of Being.
Read moreWith the rising accessibility of mobile phones and applications, more people have relied on these technologies for health-related purposes. Data from a survey found that nearly two-thirds of US adults have used mobile health apps over 2022. These include exercise or fitness, general wellness, and mental health apps— nearly six in ten consumers use these apps daily.
I’m loving spending a few weeks in the desert landscapes of Castle Valley, Utah, near Moab.
I love the raw, unfiltered desert, the solitude, and the wide open skies.
And the stars!
What I am starkly aware of is that the desert isn’t trying to please me or make me comfortable but if I can appreciate that and love it as it is, cactus and wind scorpions and all, I will open my eyes to its unrelenting beauty.
Castle Valley is a sparse community—houses sprinkled lightly throughout an otherwise unspoiled wilderness. Each humble house here has unobstructed views and exposure to the red rock cliffs, majestic monuments, and oppressive sun. Neighbors are few and far between and the people who come here appreciate this area’s primary resource: solitude.
Read moreSeveral years ago I was teaching a yoga class, we’d just finished savasana and as everyone was sitting there, the yoga glow radiating off of their faces, I ended yoga class by preaching to everyone, “May we all apply the peace, calm, and centeredness of our practice into our daily lives to make the world a better place because we practice yoga. Namaste.”
Little did I realize how much this little speech applied to ME …
… and how quickly I’d be tested to apply that invitation.
Seconds after leaving the studio …
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