Blog | The Yogi Bassist

Dec 11, 2019
3 min

December Newsletter: Happy Holidays! Eat, Drink & Be Merry Through Releasing Food Guilt

Greeting friends, Happy December! In closing the year, there's always plenty to celebrate and time to make some final beautiful memories for 2019; as the saying goes, "eat, drink and be merry!" Yet, while in theory this sounds great, in practice it can lead to a lot of issues with food. In the spirit of aparigraha and as a body-positive and food-positive individual, I think this time of the year is a powerful opportunity to put into practice non-attachment to the fear, anxiet

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Oct 9, 2019
5 min

October Newsletter: Flow Into Abundance By Learning To Let Go

Greetings Friends! Happy autumn everyone! Although here in Tennessee the days have still been reaching the 80s and 90s, Nature's fall shift is still apparent through dry and breezy days followed by cool and long nights. And while this year's autumn foliage may be nothing more than leaves drying up to a sunken shade of brownish-green and descending into a crunchy scatter on the street sides, there remains a quiet, sublime message about what it means to let go. In the 8-Limb pa

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Aug 22, 2019
7 min

August Newsletter: Energetic Intersections, Part IV: Kapha Dosha, the Heart & the Throat Chakras

Greeting & Namaste friends, Can you believe we're already in the second half of summer? Here in Tennessee, the kids are already back in school--very different from when I was growing up in New York where summer break lasted from mid June to the beginning of September. Seasonal tides are already shifting, too, and all you gardeners, nature dwellers and early risers are probably noticing the subtle changes. I've noticed the sun has been rising later in the morning hours and set

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Jul 8, 2019
6 min

July Newsletter: Energetic Intersections, Part III: Pitta Dosha & the Solar Plexus

Greetings and namaste friends, Happy Summer Solstice to you all! If you didn't know, Friday June 21st marked the official first day of summer--while the weather might have already felt like summer here in middle Tennessee, the official summer season is just beginning. The summer solstice is also the International Day of Yoga, which was first observed in 2015. According to Wikipedia, "The idea of International Day of Yoga was first proposed by the current Prime Minister of Ind

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Jun 3, 2019
5 min

June Newsletter: Energetic Intersections Part II: Vata Dosha & the Chakras of the Hips

Greetings and Namaste friends, Summer is quickly approaching! This celestial shift brings nature--and us humans--into the transition of vata dosha moving us to the pitta season. As the weather gets hotter here in Tennessee, make sure to stay hydrated and try waking up a little earlier to enjoy the cooler morning hours--I enjoy an invigorating 45-minute walk before breakfast to stimulate the body & mind. Last month we dove into exploring the energetic intersection of the dosha

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

May 16, 2019
5 min

May Newsletter: Energetic Intersections, Part I: Chakras, Doshas & Endocrine System

Greetings and namaste friends, Spring has been a source of growth potential. The world is back to life and creative energy is flowing. For me, this has led me to space of curiosity. A curiosity to observe the intersectional nature of yoga, ayurveda and physiology to better understand how to move forward on a path of self-inquiry. Yoga & ayurveda overlap in a number of philosophies, concepts and practices, and one fascinating intersection is that of the chakras and the doshas.

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Mar 8, 2019
9 min

March Newsletter: Spring Cleaning, the Ayurvedic Way

Greetings & Namaste! March is an exciting month! The first spring flowers are in bloom, the weather is unpredictable yet getting warmer, the Spring Equinox is quickly approaching--and so is daylight savings time on Sunday, March 10. Here in Tennessee, Mother Nature is waking up from her winter sleep, and all of her children are celebrating the return of our divine Mother's consort--the radiant, hot, sexy Sun. Considering the erratic, wet and muddy weather, the movement of the

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Jan 31, 2019
6 min

February Newsletter: Balancing Kapha & Practicing Divine Love Through Self-Care

Greetings & Namaste! Can you believe it's already February? I remember when I was a child contemplating how long the days were. With my limited concept of "time," the only milestones I could count on to understand how long a year was and begin to grasp the cycle of the seasons were: my mother's birthday--that was spring; mine and my father's birthday--that was summertime; school starting--that was fall; and both of my brothers' birthdays, Christmas and New Year--that was wint

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Dec 31, 2018
4 min

January Newsletter: Happy 2019! Releasing Samskaras & Reaffirming Sankalpas

Greetings & Namaste! Happy 2019 to you! With the ringing in of a new year, many of us may be planning to shed some old habits and embark on a new journey, whether that be travel, self-care, fitness, education, work or family. And while the new year is a great way to capitalize on a fresh start , often we may find our progress fleeting as the months move on, and the resolute vigor we had to grow at the beginning of the year turns back into more of the same chronic behaviors we

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Dec 3, 2018
7 min

December Newsletter: Maintain Health This Holiday Season With Ayurvedic Yoga

Greeting & Namaste! The end-of-year Holiday season has begun! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends! The winter holidays can be a joyous and celebratory time for many, yet for many of us still the end-of-year celebrations can bring about stressful feelings of anxiety, overwhelm and depression. In addition, holiday overindulgence can leave us feeling slow, sluggish, unmotivated and heavy in body and mind. What can we do to stay true to our persona

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Nov 2, 2018
5 min

November Newsletter: Perceiving the True You

Greetings & Namaste! Wow everyone happy AUTUMN! This last month of October flew by rather quickly. For those of you waiting to read the October Newsletter exploring Vata dosha, I will pick up on the doshas at the beginning of 2019 after the holidays pass and my ayurveda course is complete. I am currently in the process of completing the final assignments and projects to receive my Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor certification. Currently I'm working on honing consultation skills

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Sep 4, 2018
4 min

September Newsletter: Ayurveda 101-The Three Doshas

Greetings & Namaste! This month we're going to dive into exploring the three doshas and better understanding how they interact with our body and the world around us! As one of my friends and fellow yoga practitioners aptly put it, “Ayurveda is the Yogi’s medicine cabinet.” Ayurveda is a system of holistic medicine & self-care regimens that stems from the same ancient Vedantic wisdom as Yoga. What I find the most radical and empowering aspects of Ayurveda is that it is prevent

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Aug 7, 2018
6 min

August Newsletter: Seasonal Eating, the Ayurvedic Way!

Greetings and namaste! It's August, and it's midsummer here in Tennessee! I hope you all have been able to stay relaxed and cool so far this pitta season, while still enjoying the beauty, peace and abundance mother Earth has to provide us this time of year. Here in Tennessee, there are so many state parks, swimming holes, waterfalls, lakes, hiking areas, neighborhood parks, nature preserves, farms, community gardens and so much more, so hopefully you have found time in your s

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Jul 11, 2018
5 min

July Newsletter: Stay Cool & Calm with Restorative Yoga

Greetings and namaste! Happy (belated) Summer Solstice to you all! The Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, and is the heart of Pitta season. In addition, the International Day of Yoga is observed on the Summer Solstice! Did you know that the United Nations established June 21 as the "International Day of Yoga," aka, "Yoga Day" on December 11, 2014? The intention of the UN establishing International Day of Yoga is to raise global awareness of the benefits of practi

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Jun 5, 2018
3 min

June Newsletter! Happy Pitta Season

Greetings and namaste! Summer is just around the corner, and I'm sure many of us are already feeling the effects of Nature's shift to pitta season! "Pitta" is the Ayurvedic Dosha comprising the elements fire and water, and it's hot, sharp, oily, light, consuming and transforming. If you consider how that translates to inside the body, we're talking about the power of digestion; the ability of our digestive fire to transform food into energy through metabolism, and our ability

Ayurvedic Self-Care: How To Practice Jala Neti ( demonstration video included)

Jo-Jo, The Yogi Bassist

Apr 27, 2018
3 min

Ayurvedic Self-Care: How To Practice Jala Neti ( demonstration video included)

Jala Neti - also called "nasal irrigation," or, simply, "neti," this ayurvedic body cleansing technique involves washing the nasal cavity and sinuses with warm saline water to clean out the inner nose and sinuses from any mucus buildups, air pollutants and other debris that can clog our breath passageway . In order to practice jala neti you need a "neti pot," which is a special water vessel to inset into the nostril and looks similar to a small teapot. You'll also need warm f