yoga

Meditation That Builds Strength from the Inside Out

October 20, 2025

Many people reach a point where exercise and healthy habits stop being enough to manage stress. I have found that meditation can build inner strength, calm the mind, and create real change. And it starts with the smallest moments of daily life.

How I Teach Mindful Yoga, and Why

May 19, 2025

After subbing a Mindful Yoga class at Common Ground Meditation, I reflect on how my journey through Buddhist meditation and yoga teacher training shapes the way I teach. I explore how breath, movement, and ethics come together as an embodied practice of mindfulness and letting go.

Cultivate the Garden of the Mind

January 17, 2021

Yogis, meditators, mindfulness coaches, Christians, and countless other spiritual seekers commonly employ the metaphor of the garden to represent stewardship. To view the mind as a garden is to view it as a place with potential value and commit to cultivating it. One must locate the space and make effort, which can take a variety of forms. One can tend to the garden of the mind while doing yoga, meditation, or any other activity in life.

Practice Needs Support

January 5, 2026

Kripalu name badge with the name Matthew Tift (he/him)

Two weeks at Kripalu reminded me that yoga works best when it’s supported off the mat. Practice, service, and community lined up. Nothing dramatic. Just steady days, shared effort, and quiet joy. Thankfully, much of that life is already available at home.

Movember, Men’s Health, and What Yoga Has Been Teaching Me

November 24, 2025

Matthew with a grey mustache outside in Movember 2025

Movember brought some hard truths about men’s health into focus: loneliness, silence, and the stigma around asking for help. Here’s what I learned, and how it’s shifting the way I teach yoga and meditation.

Yoga for the Whole Man

November 17, 2025

matthew doing child's pose in front of a world map

Yoga builds strength, balance, and calm in a way that supports men’s long-term health. Taking care of your body is an act of self-respect. In some cases, yoga can change your life. If you’ve been curious about yoga, this is a good place to start.

Stronger Together

November 13, 2025

people standing outside at sunset with their arms raised

Strength isn’t independence. It’s connection. Yoga can offer men (and people of all genders) a calm, welcoming space to feel supported and not alone.

This Movember, Let’s Talk About Men’s Health and Yoga

November 3, 2025

When I first tried yoga, I thought it was just exercise. Over time, I discovered that slowing down, breathing, and connecting were forms of strength too. During this Movember, I will be exploring how yoga and community can support men’s health in real and practical ways.

Peaceful Lane: Practicing Ahimsa in Everyday Life

October 6, 2025

A road sign with the words Peaceful Ln with green leaves in the background

Practicing ahimsa, non-harming, doesn’t mean never getting angry or always being serene. It’s about meeting each moment with care. Small, everyday choices, like pausing before speaking or taking a mindful breath, can become acts of compassion. On a recent bike ride, a road called Peaceful Lane reminded me that peace isn’t only the destination, but also the way we travel.

Practicing Vairāgya at the Bus Stop: Yoga, Parenting, and the Spiritual Practice of Letting Go

June 2, 2025

As one chapter of parenting ends, another begins. In this reflection on yoga, family, and the practice of vairāgya (letting go), I share what I’ve learned from sixteen years of walking to the bus stop, and how love endures even as rituals change.

yoga