I'm a yoga teacher and artist who loves to talk about yoga, spirituality, meditation, mantra, art, lifestyle, and more. Subscribe to my Lotus Letters to blossom and grow.
What is the teaching?
|
Inside This Letter
Hello Reader,When I was younger, I thought that to master Yoga, one had to master the poses. So I spent a lot of time working on challenging poses. I did "master" a few of them. Still, some remained elusive. And even the ones I mastered have faded over time. When I became a Yoga teacher, I first thought that mastering yoga teaching was about mastering the poses and helping people "correct" their bodies in the poses. You know, they had to get it right or else they might get injured. What I have learned over time, through deep contemplation and personal experience, is that more people get injured working hard to get the pose right than they do when they are holding a pose that doesn't look exactly like the picture. I have learned, from watching classes and working with thousands of people over the past two decades, that initially, we wear the postures like too-tight clothes. Our bodies are tight, and it takes time for them to adjust to new postures and new habits. We have to stretch into the new shape, both in our bodies and in our minds. We have to ease into the practice. Sometimes I do come around and offer an adjustment, but I have found that it is also ok to let a person just be. Over time, usually within a few months, something shifts. With regular practice, your body opens up, creating space all on its own, with no forcing from the outside. It emerges all on its own from within. Yes, we can refine the pose a little, but your personal inquiry, based on your internal experience, is far more important than whether a pose looks right or gets corrected from the outside. And only YOU can feel the pose from the inside. "Nature never hurries, but somehow, everything is accomplished." Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching. The truth is, Yoga isn't about those postures at all. They are only a small doorway into the internal experience of Self. So if I spend all this time working on the outer shape, whether it's in my own body in a pose, or in a student's pose, I focus on the wrong thing. So that's why I don't correct and adjust poses as much as I used to. Something new has opened up within me, and I want to create a space where you, too, can experience practicing yoga differently. From the inside out, not the outside in. One of my teachers, Elena Brower, wrote this past week: "The more I practice sitting meditation, the seeing, then shedding the thought, the self-judgment, the many mistakes I've made, I can remember what's true. This moment is all I've got; can I be with things as they are? Can I let go of all the evaluations, of myself and others? As I write to you, I literally feel like I'm shedding my skin, which feels tight and confining these days. As dear teacher Norman Fischer writes, "Don't hold onto anything, especially the teaching, and especially the practice... the teaching is really just life. Life as it really is. Not as we imagine it, but as it really is, right where we are."
For you, right where you are, what is the teaching?"
And this I know to be true. It is easy to get caught up in the methodology of teaching and think that it is the most essential piece of the learning process. However, learning only occurs from an organic, internal space. Don't hold onto anything too tightly, especially the practice. The teaching is just life, as it is right now. With Space, and Opening, and Love, Angie More words...“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.” ~Lao Tzu “It is very strange…that the years teach us patience; that the shorter our time, the greater our capacity for waiting." ~Elizabeth Taylor, A Wreath of Roses “Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” Moliere Yoga Teacher Training Info Session--FREEHave you ever dreamed of becoming a yoga teacher? Do you long to study this ancient healing practice and to learn how to live a yogic lifestyle? I've been training teachers for over ten years, and I have seen radical transformations happen with each new group. Nothing changes your life like yoga. Join me on Sunday, September 21, from 10:15 AM to 10:45 AM.
|
| Learn more about YTT HERE |
Spirit of Sicily Retreat 2026 info Night
FREE–Thursday, September 18, at 7:15 PM
Learn more about our amazing Sicily Retreat 2026. We will discuss the amazing island of Sicily, what you can expect during the Spirit of Sicily Retreat in 2026, and essential need-to-know details for this incredible travel journey. Meet your hosts, Angie and Josh, and discover why Sicily is a must-visit location!
All attendees will receive a BONUS DISCOUNT when you sign up for the retreat, and anyone who registers for this talk will also get the replay video.
Sign up for the Free Sicily Retreat Info night HERE.
| Learn more about Spirit of Sicily 2026 |
Monthly Kirtan in Brownsville
We are planning to bring you more monthly kirtan at our Brownsville studio! See our calendar of events.
Prema Hara returns to Jai Studios, Sunday, October 19
Prema Hara (Keshavacharya Das and Kamaniya) is a musical couple devoted to the sacred practice of kirtan. Deeply rooted in the bhakti tradition, their path is one of love and devotion, where every song becomes an offering to the Divine Beloved.
For them, kirtan is far more than music — it is a living prayer, a bridge between the human heart and the eternal Artist of the universe. Over the past two decades, they have carried this sacred practice with them, sharing it as a medicine of joy, healing, and remembrance. Through the chanting of holy names, they invite all who gather to rest in the sweetness of devotion, to dissolve into the collective vibration of love, and to touch the stillness and beauty within.
Their vision is simple yet profound: to create spaces where voices unite, hearts open, and souls remember their connection to the supreme Being. Prema Hara believes that kirtan is a gift for all beings — a balm for the restless mind, a nourishment for the yearning heart, and a light for those walking the spiritual path.
Join us for a whole Sunday event!
1-4 PM Bhakti Workshop from
4-5 PM Food (Kitchari and Salad)
5:30 PM Kirtan
Join us for the workshop, Kirtan, or Both!
Kirtan: $35 ahead, or $40 at the door
Workshop and Kirtan: $108 ahead, $125 at the door
About the workshop...
An Invitation to the Path of Bhakti
Bhakti is the song of the soul — an ancient river of devotion flowing through thousands of years, carrying us back to our eternal home. It is the gentle awakening of the heart, the remembrance of our true nature: pure, loving consciousness.
In this three-hour introduction, we will immerse ourselves in the sacred current of Bhakti. Through timeless wisdom and the practice of Kirtan meditation — the chanting of divine names woven with music — we open ourselves to joy, peace, and the sweetness of spiritual connection.
Bhakti is devotion — a love that endures, a relationship that remains, an eternal connection. It is the soul’s ultimate realization: that we are made not only to live, but to love, and to love without limit.
Come and taste the nectar of devotion. Come and awaken to the beauty within your own heart.
Learn more and register HERE.
Sign up for YOUR Private Session with Angie
| Schedule your FREE info call HERE |
- Feel powerful, healthy, and radiant.
- Prioritize your health for your unique body.
- Clear your mind and reduce anxiety.
- Use yoga philosophy to experience balance, purpose, and meaning.
- Design habits, rhythms, and routines that anchor you in your authentic self.
Yoga Classes, Meditation, Kirtan, & More!
| Try the new student yoga pass: 2 classes for $35 |
Jai Studios LLC
I'm a yoga teacher and artist who loves to talk about yoga, spirituality, meditation, mantra, art, lifestyle, and more. Subscribe to my Lotus Letters to blossom and grow.
Kirtan, Saturday, June 20, 4:00 PM, 1152, North Road, Vershire, VT $25 donation drop-in, or just join us at the door. See you there!
🪷 All Classes- Sign Up HERE Inside This Lotus Letter 🪷 🌺 Join our Summer Solstice Celebrations 🎶 NEW KIRTAN ALBUM!!! 📿 Private Sessions with Angie: Reiki, Breath, and MORE 😻 Cat Corner: Send me your pet pictures 📖 Book: Summer Solstice Hello Reader, Some of my friends here just love winter. They revel in the snow and love to ski and snowshoe, and probably they like to make snowpeople too. ☃️ Living in Vermont, it's certainly a good idea to love the winter because we have about 10 months of...
Photo by Angie, at the Sivananda Ashram in New York "The Sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers but for the wide world's joy."––Henry Ward Beecher Inside This Letter The eyes are the window to the soul 12 Gifts of the Sun Workshop Bonus Yoga Class on Monday-Sign Up HERE Weekly Yoga Class Sign Up HERE Hello Reader, Sometimes, when talking to someone, I must remind myself to focus on the other person's eyes. For some reason, this isn't always easy for me. Perhaps I feel vulnerable in...