Yoga with Ethan

05/01/2026

⏱️The Nervous System needs more time to adapt.

Our bodies are incredibly adaptable and malleable, but they are also our slowest part to change. A quick sketch may provide a little sensation but it won’t bring about meaningful change. Our NS looks at a quick sketch like a minor detour on the way back to what’s familiar. Unless you’re engaging in a practice like Yin Yoga that creates a longer (3-5 minute) container for each position your NS will just spring back to what is known.

🔎 The site and the source are often different

It’s understandable to go for a quick shoulder stretch if it’s bothering you - the problem is that it’s not your shoulder’s fault. Where we feel discomfort and what’s causing it are more often totally different places. If there’s a crack in the ceiling of my house, I’m going to go down to the foundation to make sure everything is structurally sound before patching a painting.

If you don’t address the underlying issue, that pattern will continue to repeat no matter how much you stretch it out. The victim is not the culprit.

💪 Tightness is a sign of weakness

Tight hamstrings are one of the most common complaints I hear as a teacher. However, most of y’all need to strengthen them, not stretch more. When we sit too much (often not properly supported) our hip flexors get tight in the front, which creates an anterior tilt in the pelvis.

This pattern maintains when we stand and walk, and pulls on the hamstrings in the back of the body keeping them in an elongated position. It may feel tight, but they don’t need to be lengthened anymore.

🦺 The body needs safety to let go of long held patterns

Rarely is the answer to anything going on in the body so binary or black and white.

There’s often a deeper long held physical/emotional/energetic pattern wrapped all together that needs time but most of all safety to start to unwind. Without creating a safe container, practice, boundaries to explore the issue our NS will keep holding on tight (and rightly so).

Which one of these hit home for you?

Drop a ✋in the comments if you’ve been stretching the same spot for years and it keeps coming back.

03/17/2026

Survey says…all of the above!

A yoga block is such a powerful tool in my practice.

It acts like the bones of the body, providing me with additional structure.

The outside structure acts like scaffolding to a building when it’s under repair, for example blocks under the sacrum in a bridge.

It also helps me hold the form providing a boundary for support, and creating more freedom in the body by not having to hold it all together myself.

How do you use blocks in your practice?

03/06/2026

Asana is the Cup 🍵

Pranayama fills the cup 😮‍💨

Meditation is the drink 🧘🏻

I love this quote so much as it hits to the core of what we explore in Yoga - exploring the subconscious of our nature.

The form and measure of the practice provides structure to hold things together, and create space for the breath.

But the more I practice the more I realize I am not my body, I am not my breath, nor am I just the witness observing it all.

The practice allows me to explore my watery nature, flowing with the ever changing environment around me

10/08/2024

So excited to share this new workshop - The Power of Props!

Ever since I was exposed to the magic of Katonah Yoga my interest in working with props has grown to a full on addiction. I never leave home without blocks and a strap 🧱

Props can help us to orient our bodies in time and space.

They give us new insights previously unseen helping bring the unconscious conscious.

In this 3 hour workshop we’ll explore many ways to inform your practice with blocks, blankets, straps, and sandbags.

Come learn how to refurbish the body of your house with a myriad of scaffolding techniques 🏡

The Power of Props
Sunday 10/27
12:30-3:30pm
Village Yoga, Sedona

See link in bio to reserve your spot or head over to www.villageyogasedona.com/events

01/30/2024