Maggie Norton Yoga

04/21/2026

The renowned author and meditation teacher Lorin Roche died a few days ago. I never met him but have loved and been inspired by his translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Ta**ra, ‘The Radiance Sutras’, for many years, So I’m returning to a passage from that this week as our ‘poem’.
St Teresa of Avila wrote,“Close your eyes and follow your breath to the still place that leads to the invisible path that leads you home.” She and many wisdom teachers might say that the breath is the bridge which connects life to consciousness. Is that how it feels to you?
Classical yoga meditations describe many ways of ‘savouring’ the breath as a path to exploring and deep simply pay attention to breathing, offering us even a moment to ’surrender to quietude’.
I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

04/14/2026

In the second verse of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, he gets right to the heart of why we practice yoga, telling us that the purpose of yoga is the cessation of the churning waves and disturbances of our minds (Yogas citta vrtti nirodhah). I know, I know, far easier said than done, perhaps particularly in these turbulent times when many of us find our minds, hearts and stomachs churning! That is precisely why I’m returning to this ancient wisdom.
Is your mind like the surface of the ocean, full of churning waves and disturbance? Most likely you’re dealing with a multitude of day-to-day demands and obligations, not to mention the state of the world. My mind is often skimming the surface of a million to-dos, thoughts, worries and other chattering! Yes, there are important considerations, conversations to have and actions to take. That is why, more than ever, we all need even just a few moments each day to stop, breathe and find some inner quiet. Can we consciously turn our attention from the churning and discover the stillness that is always with us ‘beneath the surface disturbances’ (see poem)?
You may often have heard me use the analogy of a body of water when guiding a meditation or relaxation session, or even simply as a way of settling before beginning our movement practice (credit for that image to Jon Kabat Zinn). At the surface there may be churning water, continuous motion of wind and waves, tides coming in and going out. Yet, no matter how wild the surface may appear, even during a storm, deep within the water there is stillness and calm.
Do join us this week to pause, breathe, stretch and to settle in to even just a wee bit of bliss! I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

04/07/2026

I have been thinking about bones in various ways recently, inspired particularly by Rebecca Solnit’s recent post about the origin of the word poetry. Additionally a couple of yoga students have asked me about yoga to help strengthen bones and what is considered safe for osteoporosis.
Regarding bones, life and poetry, Rebecca says,“We associate skeletons with death, but bones generate life, abundantly, prolifically. The femurs, the ribs, the sternum and other bones we see dry and white after death in life harbor the marrow that produces billions of new blood cells daily, a bright red river gushing forth from bone. The process is called hematopoiesis, from the links & passwords i Greek words for blood and for making. Poetry comes from the same word, poiesis. Our word for poetry is their word for all the making in the world, of chairs, of houses, of bombs, of books, of blood, of gods. Making a poem is like making a chair; a poem is as real as a chair and sometimes more useful.”
All this has also had me reflecting on what we might think of as the ‘bare bones’ of yoga and of our lives, the basics, what feels essential and true. In our practice, Tibetan Buddhist nun Pema Chodron invites us to “Come back to square one, just the minimum bare bones. Relaxing with the present moment….(not resisting the fact that everything is changing all the time).” Can we come back to the basics at least for part of each day? Our bodies, the flow of breath, the sky, the trees (many of which are now blossoming and budding out after a skeletal winter)?
Ullie-Kaye says,“Hope knows there is work to be done…. She is bare bones and deep waters... weary and weak...barely a glimmer….This is where hope lives….on the verge of crumbling into the sea. Yet there she is, quietly breathing.”
May poetry kindle a spark of hope in these extremely challenging times. May our yoga together be an ‘act of celebration’, bringing us back to the bones, to the ground beneath our feet and perhaps even to dancing and singing sturdy songs!). I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst.Links & passwords in my IG bio.

03/31/2026

Brother David Steindl-Rast, a 99 year-old author, scholar, and Benedictine monk, says “Nothing gives you more joy than when your heart grows wider and wider and your sense of belonging to the universe grows deeper and deeper.”
I think we know intuitively that human resilience is largely rooted in human connection, that a culture of connection supports greater well-being and that, conversely, the high levels of stress, division and disconnection in our society have a human cost. Albert Einstein said “Our task must be to free ourselves ….by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” He understood this sense of separation as ‘a kind of optical delusion of consciousness, …… thoughts and feelings (experienced) as something separated from the rest”.
Of course the ancient yogis also understood this. Yoga means union and this sense of connection to both self and other is at the heart of the practice. May our yoga and meditation practice remind us we truly are in this together, that the earth is one family…..that we ripen on each other's breath (see DNA poem).
I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

03/17/2026

Slowing down can help to teach us how to turn off the body's stress response, to act with greater intentionally and purpose and to sense that we have time to do the things that matter. Ralph Marston's advice is to “Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” May our yoga and meditation practice create a calming effect on body and mind and remind us that ‘it is alright to be exactly what you are, who you are, where you are.’(see poem below)

I am travelling in New Mexico. Do join me today (Tuesday) and /or Wednesday next week for virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom (Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst). Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class
details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)
~NO class on Wednesday March 18th
~NO class on Tuesday March 24th

RIGHT HERE

Stop moving. Stand in
one place – this place.
Breathe slowly; in, then out. Repeat.
Repeat again. Let your
shoulders sink and relax. Unclench
your jaw; slowly close your eyes.
Listen for your heartbeat; really
listen. Feel it pulse in
your fingertips.
Lessen expectations. Under-do all your
efforts. Requisition the time
for your soul
to catch up. Lean
into the wind; feel it
like a tree and test the ground.
Learn to trust the resilience.
It would be treason
to move quickly – left or right –
from this place. It is alright to be exactly
what you are, who you are, where you are.
Right here, right now.
Dane Anthony

03/10/2026

Recently a large number of trees have been cut down in my neighbourhood and in my garden as the electric company deemed them as possible safety hazards for the power lines. This always leaves the other trees far more vulnerable and eventually they too are slated to be felled. The strongest and most resilient trees have roots have interconnected root systems that support one another, not only providing a strong anchor of support against the increasingly strong winds here, but also through moving nutrients from strong trees to trees that are struggling.
Research shows us that human resilience is largely rooted in human connection. Like a tree, we need to be in a healthy environment in which our roots can grow deep and wide so we can flourish and blossom. To be truly engaged, we must feel connected to and supported by the “trees” around us as well. I think we know intuitively that a culture of connection supports greater well-being and that, conversely, the high levels of stress, division and disconnection in our society have a tremendous human cost.
Albert Einstein understood this sense of separation as ‘a kind of optical delusion of consciousness, …… thoughts and feelings (experienced) as something separated from the rest”. Of course the ancient yogis also understood this. Yoga means union and this sense of connection to both self and other is at the heart of the practice. So may our yoga and meditation practice remind us we truly are in this together and with that help us to ‘replenish, love, hope and dream’ (see poem).
I do hope that you can join us this week. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

03/03/2026

Czech leader, poet and dissident Vaclav Havel said “The kind of hope I often think about (especially in situations that are particularly hopeless) I understand above all as a state of mind, not a state of the world. …It’s a dimension of the soul; it’s not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation.” I imagine that, like me, many of you feel that each day brings news of more cruelty, violence, corruption and chaos. For much of our lives many of us have hoped for, and perhaps worked for, a world where more people would be free from the suffering of injustice, violence and poverty. We hope for a better world and that hope motivates us but then, confronted by failure, we can easily become depressed and demoralized. We despair of changing things for the better.
Perhaps we need to find what Margaret Wheatley calls ‘the place beyond hope and fear’. This is a familiar concept in Buddhism. A state of presence where we are free to discover clarity and energy. It seems that somehow we need to be able to let go of outcome to be able to continue act wisely, whether it be in our yoga poses, our close relationships or our community, doing what feels right whether we will succeed or not.
Of course trying to be present when everything around you is crashing down is far from easy! The challenge of recalling ourselves back to the present moment is a big one to say the least, especially in the midst of everything going on in the world that assaults our hearts and minds. May our yoga and meditation practice invite us to have a sense of being ‘very still with what Is’ so that ‘hope flutters inside’ us (see poem). I do hope that you can join us this week. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

02/24/2026

Dr. Cheryl Fogle-Hatch says that ‘right now, progress looks like kindness, passion, and persistence despite political disruption.’
Many of us may feel that we need reminders and encouragement every day, encouragement ‘to not sink in, to not get stuck’. Reminders of the world’s marvels and miracles (see poem), reminders of the courage, resilience and loving kindness that the human heart is capable of and that show up in so many ways every day.
What or who encourages you to "continue to be who and how you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness” (from Maya Angelou)?
Our yoga and meditation practice together may not be ‘moments that will change the world’, but perhaps can help to remind us that love and kindness are always possible and turn us ‘again toward the miracle’. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

02/20/2026

Mary will be teaching a series in Ukiah in March♡♡

Special 4 week series on Tuesday Lunchtimes in March

02/17/2026

Happy New Year! Today we enter the Year of the Fire Horse, ‘fire’ being the element, and ‘horse’ the Zodiac sign. The first Fire Horse for 60 years (the length of the Chinese Zodiac cycle). According to Ada Ooi (a Chinese medicine practitioner in London),“it may feel like a restless, dynamic time with the possibility for conflict”. Well we are certainly witnessing that these days!
Of course the ‘reasons’ for our current challenges and conflicts are complex but, for now, let’s consider that some of the advice given for a year of the Fire Horse fits well with our yogic practices. Apparently, the combination of horse + fire can tend to create a faster pace of life and lead to burnout, making it especially important to stay attuned to the body’s limits and energy reserves. We all need to pause sometimes, to slow down and take a long breath in the middle of our overcrowded, stressful, and uncertain days. Regular practices of both movement and of nervous system regulation such as walking, yoga, breath work, meditation and time spent outdoors all help channel our more fiery energy in a way that supports our ongoing wellbeing rather than exhaustion.
We need the message of rest and retreat in James Crews poem so that we can try and renew our weary spirits. May our yoga practice be an ‘island of relief and peace’ this week. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

02/10/2026

Brother David Steindl-Rast says“Times that challenge us physically, emotionally, and spiritually may make it almost impossible for us to feel grateful. Yet, we can decide to live gratefully, courageously open to life in all its fullness.”
There can be so much that gets in the way of appreciating the beauty and wonder of everyday life. This is perhaps especially so when our attention is caught up in fear, worry or anxiety. So much in our world these days can trigger our angst, let alone just being in a body, and an aging one! This week’s poem reminds us to give ourselves to life fully with both hands, that the human heart can hold it all. Pain and pleasure can coexist in a ‘sacred tension’.
I continue to encourage myself in the discipline of being grateful amidst the struggles. Not to deny fear or sorrow, but in companionship with them. Joy and gratitude do not silence despair; they can limit its reach so that tenderness, curiosity, and connection still have room to exist. Jeff Foster writes, “Joy is not a betrayal of the cause. You shine your light, even when it feels impossibly dark. It really is brave to choose to stay awake, tender, open-hearted and curious in a world that keeps asking you to shut down.” We do not have to sacrifice our joy and our sense of wonder when times are tough. Rather than a distraction from life's challenges, joy can be fuel to help you face them with clarity and resilience.
What brings you joy? What encourages a sense of gratitude? What can you do right now to feel a bit more ease and comfort in your body? Relax your jaw? Roll your shoulders? Soften your belly? Smile? Do join us for a practice that sustains us and that helps us to ‘stay awake, tender, open-hearted and curious’. I hope that you can join us for this week's virtual live-stream yoga classes on Zoom,Tuesday 4:30pm pst and Wednesday 9:30am pst. Let me know if you wish to receive my weekly email with more inspiring quotes and yoga class details (links and passwords are also in my IG bio)

02/06/2026