I truly believe that if there is a force that animates me and all of creation, the more I can connect with and trust that force, the more I will be at peace with my mind and my life. The challenge is that I forget to trust. I get caught up in the duality.

Most spiritual books, and many teachers, use our weaknesses against us. We’re asked to move from a place of deficit and need, as if we’re completely ignorant. I want to suggest another way: Can you come to these reflections with your best self?

I see that creativity is embodied spirituality. Through creativity we connect to the energy of creation. Ironically, this is often lacking from spiritual practice. We are told how to practice without being given creative license to explore on our own. Even worse, we are often scolded for being undisciplined and disrespectful if we don’t follow

Sometimes confusion arises in spiritual practice because attachment and nonattachment both stem from love. It’s just that attachment is the love that comes from our ego-mind, and nonattachment is the love that flows from our heart.

White supremacy and systemic racism have poisoned the water to the point that our personal practice alone can’t make it drinkable. But, our practice can give us the clarity to step up to the task of making real political and social change.

To live in the question is a very difficult thing to do, but that’s what yoga demands.

As we move into a time of post-lineage yoga, I think we should celebrate our independence from traditional gurus who were so often abusive. But we can keep in mind that there were benefits to the guru relationship that may be lost—the power of tradition and lineage, the focused attention, the individual support—but this should not keep us from

The point is, yoga is not just about stopping the mind, as Patanjali advocates, at least not unless our goal is renouncing the world. Instead, it’s about learning how to use the mind wisely, to cultivate discernment. This may seem like a minor point, but I think it has huge repercussions. We have created modern yoga systems around a philosophy of

Failure is the direct outcome of practice. Failure is what we get to do every time we get on the mat. We get to fail at this pose or that pose. We get to fail at relaxing when we lie in Shavasana and our nervous system is buzzing with caffeine, and we get to fail at meditating every time our mind wanders. I’ve never practiced yoga and not failed,