Maggie Norton Yoga

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

02/03/2026

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning, the world presses in. Headlines scroll, notifications ping, and images of heartbreak and outrage flood our screens. The noise can be relentless. We do our best to take breaks from the news onslaught yet also stay informed. We may wonder how to go on living our ordinary, comfortable lives while knowing that terrible suffering is going on for so many people here and around the world.We have to be intentional about finding ways to steady ourselves when the current feels too strong. As Jeff Foster says,'Grief and anger have to be held in presence, not poured endlessly into our nervous system all day long without limits. That is not compassion. It is a fast track to burnout and helplessness.'
We need to give ourselves time to seek calm with our yoga and meditation, to find joy in creative pursuits, nature and connection. When we have at least some spaciousness and stillness of mind, we can more fully connect to whatever is happening around us, fully connect to others and fully engage without our habitual reactions. This is equanimity, calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation.
Do join us for a practice that sustains us and that helps us ‘find the strength needed to go forth and persevere’. 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)

01/27/2026

“We should notice that we are already supported at every moment. There is the earth below our feet and there is the air, filling our lungs and emptying them.” Natalie Goldberg

May we ‘keep the eyes of my heart open’ (see poem excerpt ..worth checking out the full version♥).
Here’s to the support of earth and air and to sensing that ‘quieter place inside’ as we practice yoga together. As the poet James Crews says, “I have loved the phrase “soul time” for so long now as the perfect way to describe what it feels like to tune in again to that wilder, quieter place inside, when the simplest moment stretches to infinity.”
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)

01/26/2026

The ethical principles of yoga (& surely of most spiritual and religious traditions ) cannot possibly agree with what is happening in this country right now. May more and more spiritual and religious leaders that have a platform speak out and speak truth to power.

01/20/2026

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr
So much of what Martin Luther King Jr said and wrote speaks of love, love for ourselves and for others as the foundation for a just society. Can we too live with open loving hearts in and amidst all the delusion, division and suffering of these disturbing times? Can we also appreciate and take in beauty, kindness and maybe even sense our fundamental ‘joyous, genuine nature’? (see poem)

MLK also said, "Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.” Perhaps we sometimes confuse love and ’empty sentimentalism’. Perhaps some of what is offered in this week’s poem doesn’t ring true for you personally. I do hope that the poem (and our shared yoga practice) offers a reminder of the potency of love when we are able to truly both give and receive it, a counterbalance to the mind’s tendency to focus on what is wrong with ourselves and with our world.
You may be joining the thousands standing up today (Jan 20) and ‘walking out’. May you also join the “thousands of people are in yoga classes right now intentionally sending light out from their heart chakras and wrapping it around the earth”! As one of my students said, ‘yoga is part of our survival and resistance’ in these challenging times.
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) And if possible do have a small firm (possibly spikey) ball to roll under your feet for this week’s classes.