Today is the first day I have enough front desk staff working and trained since taking over as owner of SDY 4 months ago!  I feel as if a weight has been lifted.  I’m so grateful for my new yogi family.  In honor of this momentous occasion I shall post twice in 2 days.  The blogosphere might come down around me!

As I was going through piles of things undone, I found a copy of MINDBODY’s Core Values and realized I hadn’t worked on my own Core Values since November.  (Double sad face).  After reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and feeling completely connected to MINDBODY’s while I was employed there, it was on my list of Big Picture – Must Do Things. Most people I know don’t feel the need to think about this or write it down, even if they do have a list of sorts.  I have an intimate connection with writing things down though.  So, below I am so excited to share the first draft for Smiling Dog Yoga.  I’ve certainly borrowed a bit from MINDBODY and Steven Covey, but added my own spin.  I’m pretty sure these can serve as my personal core values as well, but we’ll see how I feel after I marinate on it a bit.  Enjoy.

SDY Core Values

do yoga. be you. be awesome.

1. Committed to Living Yoga. We bring the yogic attitude to all we do. Aware that we must take care of ourselves beyond the mat and nourish ourselves in multiple dimensions. Committed to not letting our ego’s get the best of us. Striving to live well balanced lives, focused on responsibilities, relationships, recreation, and rest.
2. Continuously Evolving. Aware that we must evolve to remain useful and relevant as yoga river guides. Questioning the status quo. Pushing ourselves to our healthy edge and inspiring others to do the same. Not judgemental of where we are today.
3. Brutally Honest and Committed to Integrity. Willing to be honest with ourselves and others. Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living with integrity. Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.
4. Humble and Helpful. Proud, but not prideful as pride impedes future growth. Thankful to be part of such a great community and to serve our wellness community. Helpful because we can, not because we have to. Seeking first to understand, then to be understood.
5. Proactive. This means more than merely taking initiative. We have the responsibility to make things happen. Once we have taken control of our lives we can begin to influence our world-our homes, workplace and community. Bring solutions to observed problems rather than merely complaining about conditions.
6. Caring and Happy. Caring for each other, our vendors, students. Striving for win-win in all situations. Taking actions that lead to long term happiness in ourselves and others.
7. Environmentally Conscious. Conscious that maintaining a healthy planet is the paramount responsibility of every human being. Commit to taking actions to minimize environmental footprints, at the studio, in our personal lives, and beyond.
8. Committed to “3 C Leadership”.
   • Competence – knowing what we are doing
   • Character – doing the right thing, even when it’s not convenient
   • Compassion – care as much about others as we do ourselves
9. Respectful. Treating others as we wish to be treated, with courtesy, politeness, and kindness.
10. Driven. Driven to help our students have the best yoga experience possible, ensuring they always leave taken care of and satisfied. Creating a better world through lives of purpose and integrity. Conscious that SDY is serving a cause greater than each of us individually.

“But mellow exercise is just not enough.”

“Enough for what” is probably a pertinent follow up question. If you exercise for health reasons, weight loss, or fun you’re attitude probably differs. (It’s good to check in and remember why you do what you do once in a while) I’m talking about this attitude that it’s not worth it to exercise the body if you’re not a sweaty mess afterward or something along those lines. I can relate to the need to move and sweat. It’s good for us, mostly. But I think we get hung up on this “beat myself into submission” kind of exercise attitude. Bikram yoga, triathalons, bootcamp, crossfit, that sort of thing. Guess what? The bodies we have right now are different than the ones we had at 18. We only get one body and it’s constantly changing and it is constantly getting older and moving towards death! It cracks me up how much this thought really freaks people out. Doing 2 hours of running, cycling or hot yoga a day is fine when you’re in your 20′s, but will that really be nourishing and helpful in an older, more lived in body? I find it fun to challenge myself and see what I can do with this bag of bones of mine. To watch my body literally get stronger, fitter and more flexible as I age with yoga is pretty incredible. But after giving birth, being sick, injured, sidetracked, I’m not sure the hardest, sweatiest workout is what we often need although it’s often what people describe when they say they need to get back in the saddle.

Yet, where do we draw the line between healthy challenge and being too harsh on ourselves? I want to make sure I’m listening to my body accurately. I want to make sure I’m challenging myself in a healthy way. Sometimes it says, “I can’t move, I don’t feel good” when really it means “I don’t want to move, I want to be lazy.” Other times it says, “I want to become an endurance athlete, do 108 push ups, and only eat broccoli” and I wonder what it really means then. It feels good to control one of the few things we can control, ourselves, to burn the anxious, nervous energy many of us live with, but my inner yoga teacher wishes people would be a little nicer to themselves, without promoting laziness and avoidance. I love the post exercise endorphins, feeling strong, flexible, and comfortable in my own skin, but why do I cause myself injury? Why do I beat myself up mentally for letting life get the best of me sometimes? How do I deal with the inevitable injuries life will impose on me in a healthy way? How will I make sure to stay on my own health wagon and what will that look like in reality?

I see lots of bodies on the mat as I teach yoga each week. Some glow. Some shake and suffer. Some come back for more and some don’t. It all comes back to learning to listen to our bodies in a healthy way, to tuning in to the subtle, to remembering why we do what we do. I think it’s more important to create the habit of doing something that nourishes you on a regular basis, and then phase two can be stepping up the challenge. Many of us are inconsistent and then forceful and intense. We really like to avoid the “long way” in our culture or sticking with something we suck at. I realize doing something new kind of sucks for a while. So does falling of the wagon of fitness. But I’m sorry, I think doing mellow yoga or exercise is ok. It’s a great place to start if you’ve been inactive for a while. It’s a great way to balance stressful work days or workouts or phases in life. Life beats me up enough without me adding to the fire. Stop trying to skip the baby steps, perhaps? It doesn’t mean you’re a wimp. And don’t worry, I’ll still make you sweat and shake on the yoga mat. Right before I force you to be nice to yourself in savasana.

This is my list of new and improved list of “go-to” recipes that make eating healthier not feel like eating healthy, but feel like eating good food.

If you’re cooking for people who really love meat or cheese and they start to lose it and muttering something about “the evil baby corn”, stop, don’t make them hate veggies forever!   I advise adding cheese or avocado to save the day!  Baby steps my friends, baby steps.

1. Roxy’s Oatmeal Surprise – This is my default winter breakfast. It is a finely tuned recipe honed over at least 10 years after I realized instant oatmeal packets have something like 13 teaspoons of sugar or something absurd like that. It’s so unnecessary with a little sweetness from dried fruit and spices. It smells so good you’ll feel like you’re treating yourself to pie for breakfast, but it’s actually pretty good for you.
2. It’s a Soup Tie – I can’t get enough of either of these which don’t require canned tomatoes and take well to adjustments: Black Bean Soup – Like a little black dress, simple and tasty, goes with everything.  Chickpea Noodle Soup – Love the flavor of the simple herbs, miso and veggie broth. I use rice pasta instead of soba noodles.
3. For Parties - Skinny Spinach Artichoke Dip or Grandma’s Cheesy Potatoes.  While I love my healthy veggie food during the week, these are my standby’s for weekend parties.  Comfort food at it’s finest.
4. Desserts - Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes (Yes, I’m for real).  I use rum in the cookies instead of brandy.  It’s amazing.
5. Crock Pot Beans – It’s so easy and cheap to make your own beans. Plus it makes you feel like you just conquered something magical in the kitchen.  I use this recipe and immediately use some in a soup or salad, and freeze the rest in one cup servings to use in place of canned beans or as emergency bean burritos for lunch when I haven’t grocery shopped. Soak a bag (pound) of beans (black or pinto are my faves) in cold water in the fridge overnight. In the morning drain and rinse the beans. Add them to the crock pot, covered with about an inch or two of water. Add one onion peeled and quartered, two cloves garlic peeled and crushed, two bay leaves, lots of cumin (a few tablespoons). Cook on high all day (6-8 hrs). At the end of the day you come home to yumminess. Serve with rice and cilantro and whatever fits your fancy.
6. Butternut Squash Risotto – This is my favorite way to use a butternut squash, leftovers are even better. I suggest not omitting the white wine or butter, I often use two buck chuck or whatever I have, but if you omit the wine the final product suffers.
7. Esalen Kale Salad – This was the recipe that introduced me to kale. I will be forever grateful.  Lovely the way it is, but is also fine with substitutions.  I like to add beans or tofu to make it more of a meal.  Really good with the braggs aminos and avocado.
8. Lentil Stew – This stew is a favorite for winter, also freezes well. I found it in a magazine a long time ago, and have been making it for years. My first veggie meal before I even knew what a veggie was.
9. White Bean Kale Soup – I make a version of this often, anytime I cleanse as well. Good and simple and has lent itself well to my “whatever’s leftover from farmers” kind of cooking.
10. Khichadi – My favorite easy, healthy, lunch meal. Love it with peas, lemon pepper, feta. Also good with lentils and shows up in a many cookbooks and mulajara or something like that.
11. Minestrone – A great basic soup recipe, you could make it with whatever you wanted and I have used this as a template for many variations. I have added veggie sausage, omitted/added pasta, added different beans, veggies, parmesan, avocado chunks you name it. Everyone I’ve served it to loves it too. If you haven’t noticed, I love stews that are more of a meal, like they used to say in Chunky Soup commercials. Screw buying them canned though, homemade is so much better!
12. Black Bean Quinoa Salad – (This recipe and the following are from my favorite cookbook ever, the Veganomicon) I use this as a staple recipe. I use whatever beans I have on hand, whatever grain I have on hand (usually rice or quinoa). It’s really simple and tasty. Even better with avocado.
13. Mac Daddy – Vegan mac and cheese? Yes. It’s good. Try it.
14. Scrambled Tofu – This is actually better than scrambled eggs because it gets better leftover. A few slices of avocado, roasted potatoes, and you’ve got a pretty good breakfast burrito.
15. Vegetable Korma – This is a bonus recipe. It’s the best vegetable curry I’ve ever made. It’s not exactly “light” but it’s vegan. So good. Try it if you like Indian food or curry. I’d say it’s more of a weekend meal, it took me 1.5 hours to make it from start to finish, but the leftovers were even better. Great for potlucks.

Comments? Suggestions? What are your favorite recipes, veggie or not?

I just finished teaching my first yoga class to the inmates at the women’s jail in SLO county. Are they really called inmates, I wonder? I feel so humbled and blessed! How did I even find this life changing practice called yoga? I don’t know what they did to bring them to the jail, but I do feel that yoga can help everyone in some way, shape, or form. I’m thankful they were willing to practice with me. I asked, what are you hoping to get out of this class, and their answers were simple, mostly to de-stress and stretch. I wondered if they were only attending because it’s something different in their days, they shrugged and it didn’t seem like it. This photo isn’t from me today, but pretty inspiring!

I thought we should start class seated and connecting to the breath, but hell, I needed to move a little to get my teaching grove on. Sitting cross-legged on the floor was pretty uncomfortable for most of them. One women showed me her knee and I can’t say I’ve seen a knee scar with bones sticking out like that before. I noticed another crying a little after Let it Be played by the Beatles. I wondered if they’d be resistant to me assisting or touching them, and they weren’t. As I touched them it was pretty amazing to notice the deepening of breath and of the stretches themselves. I noticed another with her face crinkled throughout the entire class. It seemed like she was having some intense feelings and it showed on her face. I think she was crying a bit too at the end. I was surprised by the young, intelligent faces, and the older, painful ones as well. I ended up teaching a lot less poses than I thought I would, and holding them a bit longer. I walked around and barely held any poses myself. I had to remind them to close their eyes and breathe constantly, but it definitely seemed to help shift their energy. Their was a big difference before and after class. Before class I couldn’t hear their breath, they kept looking around at each other. After class, they were breathing deeply on their own and savasana seemed extra sweet.

Their was a sense of lightness in the class. They cracked jokes and laughed when they couldn’t do something which was fine by me. I had to physically help them get into postures quite a bit. They asked if I was a flexible pretzel and I said not really, but I am much more flexible than I once was. I pointed out that there is always someone more flexible, strong, prettier,…than all of us, that we have to be ok with ourselves where we are today, and try to not take that personally. They were so grateful afterwards. I am going to print what I taught and bring it to the next class in hopes that they’ll be able to do a little on their own.

What an experience. It left me feeling so blessed, honored, and respectful of these women. I’m so blessed that life dealt me the hand it’s dealt me, and that when it has been challenging, I’ve found a way to turn those lemons into lemonade. Much of life is our choices, but much of it seems to be luck of the draw. And what about that secret beast, Karma? It seems to me the only way to create change is to become aware of karma, and try to put the positive energy out there, somehow, even when life seems to be feeding us the negative.

I’ll probably write this up more formally, but the following is what we did today. Next time I might teach the “max” ladies. That means maximum security. We agreed they would like to move more, and I’m ready to bring some sweaty vinyasa next time!

A Simple Class for the Ladies
Cross-legged forward fold, forward, and to the side
Cat-cow
Ragdoll
Mountain
Standing forward fold
Hands & knees to Cobra
Childs pose
Bridge x2
Seated single legged forward fold
Both legs forward
Legs wide
Butterfly
Savasana

PS. Image is from http://www.amanuddinfoundation.org/yoga-jail-bamyan.html.

Yes, my green travel mission was a true success and learning experience. Did you expect otherwise? I succeeded in confusing the cashiers at Whole Foods by bringing my own food containers and telling them to “Take 10 off”. One cashier said, “Do we sell those here?”. Haha! My cloth napkin and reusable fork were super easy to carry in my bag and helped me realize how many paper napkins I often use in a meal, a day, a trip. I kept all my recycling with me and have a bag of stuff to recycle including all my receipts and paper plates from eating slices of pizza. A city as amazing as New York City doesn’t really have recycling everywhere which I never really noticed before. I’ll likely be bringing it back with me to SLO. The only stuff I really ended up throwing away was uneaten food. My travel mug was great in the airport, they filled it with hot water at Starbucks and on the plane. Having tea was enough of a treat so I resisted the call of the free can of soda. I didn’t feel uncomfortable doing any of these things, it was all easy with just a little forethought. It didn’t cramp my style or make me stand out in a crowd. It really makes me wonder what change we could all affect with just a little effort. And I mean LITTLE effort. I worked 9-10 hours a day, attended yoga a few times, and was still able to fit this in.

My last event with MINDBODY was a lesson in patience and presence. Try teaching 90 people about internet based software without the internet for 3 days! I have to say that my students were mostly gracious and understanding, which is kind of a surprise in New York City. Alright NYC, maybe you’re not as grumpy and aggressive as some might say. My friend SJ said something interesting, that what passes in our culture for control is really just routine. When our routine gets rocked, we get freaked out and can’t handle it. But we can’t control what the universe hands us every moment of every day. We can do the best with what we’ve been dealt, but it makes me wonder how much we control and how much we don’t in our lives.

Off to one more class at Laughing Lotus in NYC. It’s one of my favorite studios in NYC and I look forward to taking a training with them soon and bringing some of the lotus energy to the Dog.

(This quote was in response to the fact that most Canadian hockey players are almost all born in the first quarter of the year, which gives them up to 12 months of maturity and growth on kids born later in the year, which gives them better access to the better coaches, practices,…)
Do you see the consequences of the way we have chosen to think about success? Because we so profoundly personalize success, we miss opportunities to lift others onto the top rung. We make rules that frustrate achievement. We prematurely write off people as failures. We are too much in awe of those who succeed and far too dismissive of those who fail. And, most of all, we become much too passive. We overlook just how large a role we all play — and by “we” I mean society — in determining who makes it and who doesn’t.

The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any “naturals,” musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of the time their peers did. Nor could they find any “grinds,” people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks. Their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That’s it. And what’s more, the people at the very top don’t just work harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.

(Comparing two geniuses, one “successful”, one not)
Would Oppenheimer have lost his scholarship at Reed? Would he have been unable to convince his professors to move his classes to the afternoon? Of course not. And that’s not because he was smarter than Chris Langan. It’s because he possessed the kind of savvy that allowed him to get what he wanted from the world.

“They required that everyone take the introductory calculus,” Langan said of his brief stay at Montana State. “And I happened to get a guy who taught it in a very dry, very trivial way. I didn’t understand why he was teaching it this way. So I asked him questions. I actually had to chase him down in his office. I asked him, ‘Why are you teaching this way? Why do you consider this practice to be relevant to calculus?’ And this guy, this tall, lanky guy, always had sweat stains under his arms, he turned and looked at me and said, ‘You know, there is probably something you ought to get straight. Some people just don’t have the intellectual firepower to be mathematicians.’ ”

There they are, the professor and the prodigy, and what the prodigy clearly wants is to be engaged, at long last, with a mind that loves mathematics as much as he does. But he fails. In fact – and this is the most heartbreaking part of all – he manages to have an entire conversation with his professor without ever communicating the one fact most likely to appeal to a calculus professor. The professor never realizes that Chris Langan is good at calculus.

That particular skill that allows you to talk your way out of a murder rap, or convince your professor to move you, is what the psychologist Robert Sternberg calls “practical intelligence”….

Riding the wave of change the last few weeks I have felt on the verge of crying and cheering all at the same time. Yes, I’m still riding that wave. Buying a yoga studio was getting in the way of me practicing yoga. Typical dichotomy of life, right? When you’ve got money, you don’t have time. When you’ve got time, you don’t have energy. Like many of my yogi friends, I had to prioritize the infinite tasks of living life and finding time, energy, and the mental strength to make it to the mat just wasn’t happening. And I knew it. And I thought, “This is just for now, sometimes we need to sacrifice more”. Finally, one night this week I went to bed at granny/kid time (8pm) and woke up for an early yoga class before a long work day. By the end of the class, I wondered, what was it that was really keeping me from this? I really couldn’t find the time? What are my real priorities? My to-do list melted away (albeit temporarily) and I felt so much more ready to tackle the many challenges that lie ahead. It was the right amount of physical challenge to get my energy flowing. It cleared my mind of the incessant “I’ve got too much shit to do” chatter. It put a smile on my face. My to-do list seemed cute rather than heavy.

I learned this week to be careful before I give up that which keeps me the most sane, energized, and happy in my life. I am so thankful to have found something that can give me those feelings/gifts. Many people never feel that way. I love that yoga welcomes me back time and time again with open arms, and always feels good no matter how long I’ve been away. I felt sore, but not so sore I hated my instructor. I felt challenged, but not so much so that I was exhausted for three days after. So, get out there, hit the mat, ride your wave, ride your bike, read a book, find your zen, and all else will follow, I promise. Just do it!

I’m in the no sleep phase of the pregnancy.  I get heartburn via e-mail at least twice a day.  I’m feeling emotional and have a breakdown once a week wondering, “why am I doing this, I’m not ready!”.  The nursery is only halfway setup, there are papers and folders everywhere, and I’m due in a week!

Yes, it’s true!  My baby is named Smiling Dog Yoga.  The due date is next Friday.  I’ve been being cagey and shy about talking about it online, but I think it’s time I share this wonderful news with my world and document my feelings and thoughts.  I have been given the wonderful opportunity to be a bigger part of the yoga studio I’ve been teaching at for the last 3 years.  I will be taking over as owner of the studio 10/1/11 (what a nice number).  The transition through October will be a little slow as I honor commitments with MINDBODY. Those photos are of me in the studio.

What does this mean?  I will be leaving my awesome travel, desk, teaching, software job and will be trying my best to make the studio a place people want to be part of, practice yoga at, shop at, eat at, feel the love at.  Yoga has changed my life for the better and it is my hope to share that with others.  I have to make it a viable business as I am spending every dime I have, and many I don’t to make it happen, so numbers, business, budgets, the bottom line will be something I know very well.  It will matter that it can support itself and me, and if it can’t, well, lets not get negative yet.

I’m super excited and feel so blessed to be able to take this kind of adventure.  Timing is such an interesting phenomena, isn’t it?  If I hadn’t came to grad school in SLO, I wouldn’t have found MINDBODY at just the right time.  If I hadn’t found MINDBODY, I may not have gotten the amazing experience of helping wellness businesses grow for the last 5 years and the confidence that I could be an entrepreneur, something I never imagined I’d do.  If I hadn’t failed my grad school qualifiers I might be teaching a bunch of apathetic college freshmen math.  If I wasn’t honest, open, bold, and available to the owner at the right time, maybe I wouldn’t have had this chance.  If I wasn’t saving as much money as I could the last 3 years, I wouldn’t have been able to make it happen, even if I wanted to.  I am so humbled that all these stars aligned to help one of my dreams come true.

And it was a dream.  Even if I wouldn’t let myself say it out loud.  I remember the first time the dream seed was planted.  I was studying graduate level math with a friend, we would meet up after I went to yoga.  While I was working on homework I thought, “I’d rather just do yoga, or maybe run a yoga studio, than study this abstract subject that is driving me batty. Ah, that’s funny, and it’ll never happen. Back to studying theorems and trying to prove the unproveable.”

So, my adventure begins, and has already begun.  It is more work than I ever imagined.  It’s more paperwork, patience, insurance, money than I thought possible, and “they” lead you to believe.  It’s already rewarding me too.  My website updates and pricing changes have brought in people.  I get to see the stoned-yogi-bliss-look all the time.  I love being able to connect with the staff and students more, in a way that wasn’t really possible when I was only there a couple hours a week.

So it’s official.  I’m about to be a yoga studio owner and rock that shit.  I hope you’re ready for me SLO

1. I am doing a spontaneous roxy-style cleanse this week.  It entails of no alcohol, wheat, dairy, processed foods, sugar, caffeine, cheese, parmesan, cheddar, oh, I said cheese already.  I am inspired by this cleanse by yoga journal, although at this point I have made up my own little routine.  I also like this cleanse by Dr. Doulliard.  It’s important to do what you can, do what aligns with your values, lifestyle, and tastes, and don’t take it too seriously.  If you have a time of year you always get sick, cleanse a month prior to prevent it.
2. I take one day off a week. Period.
3. I have sacrificed my yoga a bit, but not my meditation practice.
4. I have sacrificed sleep. I get up as early as needed to feel good about what I can get done in a day.
5. I sing karaoke.  It’s surprisingly inspiring.

PS. Doing 108 Sun Salutations was amazing!  It took 2.5 hours, my ham strings were worked afterwords, and I’m going to do it every year and I’m going to try to do it on the solstices/equinoxes.  Whose with me?

My birthday is coming up soon and I’m going to try to do 108 sun salutationsto celebrate another year of life and blessings; cleanse the body, mind, and soul a bit. I’m predicting it will take 2-3 hours, it usually takes me 1-2 minutes per sun salutation.  The number 108 has significance in many cultures and for many reasons.  The fact that it is connected to a bunch of nerdy math facts as well as yoga, well, I just can’t resist.  I’m excited to give this a try.  If you’re interested in joining me for part of this celebration, hit me up!

• Traditionally, malas, or garlands of prayer beads, come as a string of 108 beads (plus one for the “guru bead,” around which the other 108 beads turn like the planets around the sun). A mala is used for counting as you repeat a mantra—much like the Catholic rosary.
• Renowned mathematicians of Vedic culture viewed 108 as a number of the wholeness of existence.
• This number also connects the Sun, Moon, and Earth: The average distance of the Sun and the Moon to Earth is 108 times their respective diameters. Such phenomena have given rise to many examples of ritual significance.
• According to yogic tradition, there are 108 pithas, or sacred sites, throughout India. And there are also 108 Upanishads and 108 marma points, or sacred places of the body which are said to converge at the heart center (chakra).
• 108 is a Harshad number, which is an integer divisible by the sum of its digits (Harshad is from Sanskrit and means “great joy”).
• 108 is twice the number “54″, which is the number of sounds in Sanskrit.
• Some say that 1 stands for God or higher Truth, 0 stands for wholeness in spiritual practice, and 8 stands for infinity or eternity.
• 108 has numerological significance in that 1^1 x 2^2 x 3^3 = 1 x 4 x 27 = 108.
• The angle formed by two adjacent lines in a pentagon equals 108 degrees.
• The diameter of the sun is approximately 108 times the diameter of the earth.
• The distance from the Sun to the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Sun.
• The distance of the Moon from the Earth is 108 times the diameter of the Moon.
• “One feels great. 108 is a journey.” -Shiva Rae
• “One represents union, zero represents the void and eight is infinity ” -Ben Thomas

sources: Yoga Journal,
Yoga For Peace Santa Cruz