Author: Jennifer Gress

Yoga as Leadership

When I think back to why I fell in love with yoga, much of it was falling in love with the possibility of who I could be as a bigger human being and practicing it with a group of people who also saw that possibility for themselves and for me. Together, we could be greater… Read more »

Don’t Make it Weird

I sometimes say this in class before asking everyone to do something…….well- ‘weird’. For example, turn to the person next to you, smile and tell them your name and that you’re glad they’re here. Choreograph some high fives with your entire row in boat pose. It strikes me that all the things I might have… Read more »

Time To Practice

Now is the time. Every yoga cliché or platitude heard in a class or worn on a t-shirt is now live on the main stage of life. I’ve wished quite a few times that I could put my life on pause and have a moment to REALLY catch my breath. Plus: read more, meditate more,… Read more »

Drishti Power

One of the foundations of yoga practice is our gazing point or drishti. A place to set our eyes as access to being present and staying focused. I find in my own practice that as soon as my eyes begin to wander around the room, my thoughts wander even more. Something I’m curious about in… Read more »

Mister Rogers the Yogi

I LOVE Mister Rogers. I grew up watching his television show on PBS and it was always a point of pride that he was from and filmed his show in my hometown of Pittsburgh. It felt like the neighborhood he spoke about really was OUR neighborhood. How amazing that his messages and work are being… Read more »

Disrupt the Drift

Even if you are a new student to PYB you likely have heard a teacher using the expression ‘Disrupt the Drift’. This is a significant theme of Baptiste Yoga. And, it’s not just a conceptual idea because the true disruption comes through new thought and new action on our mats and off. This is where… Read more »

Yoga is Everywhere

‘Yoga is not meant to live in the vacuum of a yoga studio, it’s meant to inform the way we live with each other and in the world.’ A fellow Baptiste teacher shared that perspective and it made me think of two things: 1- THIS is why I love yoga and our PYB community. 2-… Read more »

There’s No Crying in Baseball (but There is Crying in Yoga)

The famous line in ‘A League of Their Own’ is that Tom Hanks tells one of his female players in a shocked voice, ‘there is no crying in baseball’. I would actually argue that there is a lot of space for crying in sports- just think about any championship game you’ve ever seen; The Superbowl,… Read more »

Should I Do ’40 Days’? (And, What is ’40 Days’?)

Yes, to the first question. (If you don’t feel like reading the whole blog post, you can stop right now and just refer to the first word.) I’ve been fortunate enough to be a part of many (I think 10 or more!) 40 Days Programs and I hope that what I have to share will… Read more »

NO New Year’s Resolutions

New Year’s Resolutions tend to have a bad reputation for sounding like a chore and being notoriously unreliable. I think the main downfall is that the title alone: ‘New Year’s Resolution’ sounds short term! The further we get away from New Year’s, the less power those resolutions have. Who’s talking about keeping their New Year’s… Read more »