My first visit to San Francisco was in my early 20’s. It’s not hard to remember how I felt then, and how it’s different from how I feel now. I had no children, no spouse, but I did have a 260Z.

Post #9 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology.

I have a wrist injury I call the Tequila Lesson. Remember when you were young and foolish and spent one night drinking too much tequila?

Post #8 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

It was around 1994 and I was teaching a class on padmasana (lotus pose), a three hour workshop preparing the hips for this less than easy posture. About an hour into it a frustrated student announced “no one has ever been able to help me understand why I can’t do this pose!”

I took the bait.

The question of what does the word “spiritual” mean and what constitutes a spiritual practice has been a point of inquiry my whole life. From my upbringing in the Episcopal church to my years of teaching yoga, I was confused until I realized that although we all use the term spiritual, most of us do not share the same definition, or have a definition at all.

I was shopping at PCC, one of Seattle’s organic natural food stores. Outside stood “The Real Change guy” at his usual post, so called by me because he sells a small newspaper by that name. We know nothing about each other, not even first names, but I have always had pleasant interactions with him.

Post #7 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

Totoor Turtle was a character in an old cartoon from the 60’s. He was ambitious and often got into trouble. When in need of help he cried “Help, Mr Wizard!” and a ponce-nez be-speckled anthropomorphized lizard would appear. Funny a turtle would ask a lizard for help.

Post #6 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

Sadly, when the phrase “Death by Yoga Not Okay” occurred to me some 25 years ago, I didn’t rush right out and buy the URL. In my defense I didn’t know there were URL’s to buy, but about five years ago it crossed my mind that I ought to go fetch it. Of course it was too late. Gone. However, this told me that as yoga has exploded, so has death by practicing it.

Forward: In many ways, this is an old story. We just don’t think it’s going to happen in yoga. But really. Why not?

All my students know, I don’t try to hide it. I don’t like the Sun Salutation. It’s nothing personal, but it does nothing for me. Still, I taught it for years, until one day it dawned on me; why not create a salutation I like?

Forward. When I wrote “After 27 Years Teaching Yoga, I Got a Job at the Mall,” I intentionally left the financial aspect out of being a yoga teacher. It was too much to include, too big of an animal to contain, and I had way, way too many feelings that I felt would result in a “sour grapes” read.

Forward: Telling this story has been surprising. The look of shock on friends and family’s faces, as well as fellow teacher’s, has been priceless. Invariably the look fades into peels of laughter as the contradiction of my long standing career as a yoga teacher clashes with the thought of me working in a department store.

After sitting in a drawer for over 20 years, I finally figured I could take footage in VHS format and convert it to digital. All I had to do was take it to the local video transfer store and trust. Trust that they wouldn’t destroy it. This isn’t a far fetched notion as the company who did the duplication for my video “Stillness in Motion, Yoga Vinyasa,” did indeed destroy the master. It happens

One of the challenges we face as teachers of hatha yoga is the practice has become so diverse and mutates so quickly that it begs the question: what do we all have in common? Although we use the word “yoga” to describe our classes, as one participant at the recent Northwest Yoga Conference succinctly put it, “yoga has come to mean, anything goes.”

Post #5 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

I would love to know how many times I have used the word “buttocks” while teaching in the last 27 years. Of all the words there are for this much sought after and innately happy part of the human body, there is no word that strips it of all its callipygian goodness like the word “buttocks”.

Post #4 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

Back in the day, bloomers were all the rage in yoga class. It was an East Indian aesthetic that had a certain old-world charm. You often saw bloomers in Iyengar classes on both men and women. They were very modest, made of cotton with elastic bands around the thighs, monochromatic and drab, until someone got the idea to spice them up by using colorful prints. They were only available via special order, and you sent your measurements, pattern choice and money off to Dallas Texas, of all places.

Post #3 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

A few years back, while teaching my ongoing master class at the Taj, I was talking about Wide Brain, a reference to a state of mind. I mentioned it’s fairly easy to tell if someone is in Wide Brain as they look like they just smoked a doobie. The weight of the eyes are heavy and the demeanor suggests someone who is laid back. In that moment, at age 50, I realized the rock band, The Doobie Brothers, was named after smoking pot.

When Elliott — the passionate dancer, the experienced practitioner and instructor with endless love for music — decided to create her yoga dance program, it didn’t come as a big surprise, at least to her. She was captivated by the combination of yoga and dance.

Post #2 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

This is quite contradictory to how I operate, but I found the Unicorn while teaching with a hangover. I don’t think of awareness as a byproduct of alcohol, and for years would not practice, much less teach, if I had had anything to drink the night before. But beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to discovering a mythical concept really does exist, and it was sighting The Unicorn while hungover that made me realize, I had completely under estimated the power of not being able to think clearly.

Post #1 in The Elliott Lexicon of Satisfactory Yoga Terminology

Words have always been difficult for me. When I was a kid, my parents thought something was wrong because I played alone in my room. Never mind having four siblings I could interact with. I liked being alone and spoke little. I have joked for years that Speaking is my 2nd language.

An interview by Michelle Pearson