staff spotlight

“Unified Consciousness results when the gunas return back inward because the Ascendant’s purpose is fulfilled, or when the Absolute Self is permanently stabilized in the Divine Power of Pure Consciousness.”   The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Sutra IV.34 Of all the...

As we approach the busy season here in Punta Gorda, I can’t help but be obsessed by this idea we call time. We all have a million expressions for it: “Don’t waste your time,” “It’s about time!” “In the interest of saving time,” and so on. I, myself can’t help but feel...

I began yoga in 2002 as I was finishing my master's degree and found myself very much stressed and increasingly gaining weight. A friend recommended yoga and gave me some VHS tapes to get me started. I spent over a year with Brian Kest Power Yoga tapes and Yoga...

An important lesson that I have learned since beginning my yoga practice in 2005 is that it’s best to not overdo, overthink, or over plan, but instead to go back to the roots of existence, to the rules of nature, and to feel one with what really matters. It’s what we...

Before taking yoga teacher training, I had never used the words surrender or non-attachment. These particular words peaked my interest, however, when I came to realize that they could change my life.   I would never have labeled myself as controlling, but I would...

  In this day and age it’s easy to become jaded or disassociated with ourselves, with each other, and with the world around us. At first glance, it can sometimes feel as though each of us is alone and left to fend for ourselves as we fight our way through this...

"The yogi is entitled to action only, not to the fruits of his actions."  —Bhagavad Gita The first time I read this passage I cried. Jumping to the negative interpretation, which was my habit, I understood this to mean that no matter what I did, no matter how many...

“You think too much.” I’ve been told that more than once. And you know what? The people who said it were right. I’ve always been a worrier—I worried about everything! I also have a great imagination, which, as a writer, is an asset. But I used to believe that I had to...

                  I took my first yoga class 10 years ago. After teaching fitness classes at the YMCA for several years, I enjoyed the calm, quiet, peaceful feeling I experienced after practicing yoga. Growing up in a...

                  We are so proud of Melissa Goodwin, an instructor at The Yoga Sanctuary and accomplished children’s book author. In fact, Melissa has been published extensively in children’s and national magazines and won...

                Imagine a juggling act that involves a person running down a row of spinning plates balanced on sticks, trying to keep them all spinning? That is an apt description of my life! Most days, I am keeping my home...

                    "If you really want to understand something, teach it," often quotes my husband (many of you know I was recently married and still smile when I say "my husband"). It's one of the reasons he became a...

                    For me, yoga is as important off the mat as it is on it. While I may have come to my first yoga class wanting an exercise program, I quickly learned that simply doing yoga poses does not a yogini...

                  I was fortunate enough to take my first yoga class when I was 10 years old. My mom and I went together to classes at a community center in our town. I wasn't an athletic kid-didn't run fast, wasn't good at...

                    Yoga holds a special place with me. I love the concept of "creating space" within the body. Having been physically active most of my life, like many, I have some areas which require my full...