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Sun Salute Challenge: Day 10!

mary — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 17:59:53 +0000

Eek! I missed posting a couple days, but I hope you’re still doing this with me. You’re inspiration/added challenge today is to laugh! A friend shared the funniest website (warning: language) with me this morning, and while poking around on it (after crying because I was laughing so hard), I found this video of someone laughing while they read through the website. Have a look-see. She’s a snorter, which makes me laugh even harder. But what’s really interesting? Watch how her face shifts as she starts reading more. She gets more relaxed and trusting, and she moves her body closer to her computer as she engages more. The simple act of laughing together can bring us so close to each other. Please share a laugh with someone today!

Sun Salute Challenge: Day 7.

mary — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:08:06 +0000

I have a friendly debate with a friend of mine over yoga. His wife and I have been trying to get him into a yoga class for at least two years now, and he’s yet to take the bait. Every now and again I pick through YouTube videos to find something enticing, and today I found an extremely inspiring short clip from Duncan Wong that I must share. Enjoy, and then rock out some sun salutes. Sixteen of them. Awesome.

And in case you’re wondering? Yes. Yogas are ninjas.

Sun Salute Challenge: Day 4.

mary — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:00:47 +0000

We should be up to 13 Sun Salutes today, and I can’t really think of a better word than delicious. I feel like a huge cat, stretching out in the sun and wiggling around to get just the right kind of length and light and openness. Although…I must admit, yesterdat got away from me and I have a few Sun Salutes to make up in today’s go at this little challenge. I love the grace in that.

I’ve included a little video clip from Elsie Escobar. She’s one of my favorite Anusara yoga teachers, although I only know her virtually. She’s a little goofy (the reason I love her), but very thorough in her cues (and refreshingly philosophical in her free yoga podcasts), so if you’re feeling a little stuck in parts of your vinyasa, maybe this will help. I always learn something new from her, in addition to how to rock yoga in leg warmers.

Sun Salute Challenge: Day 3

mary — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:00:30 +0000

I was much more present with this yesterday. I think it helped that I had a great workout this morning at the CrossFit gym and really felt the right stuff at the right time in one of the lifts. It’s amazing how empowering that can be, no matter which part of your life gives it to you.

As I worked through my Surya Namaskar, I noticed that my breath was linking my poses more than on Day 1. I could hear it clearly, evenly, and had that sweet internal knowledge of the moment it began to slow down to teach me what my rhythm should be. My vinyasa in Surya Namaskar always takes longer on my own than in a class, because my breath gets so long in those Downward Dogs.

It’s delicious.

The flexibility will return. It’s the peacefulness that I yearn for the most, though. The peace that comes when you can still be moving yet feel like you’re sitting with something bigger than you.

For a treat, I found this video today. It’s not a Sun Salutation, but it holds the curiosity and playfulness of yoga so sweetly. Enjoy. (It made me cry. But I’m a complete and total sap.)

Sun Salute Challenge: Day 2

mary — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:00:52 +0000

I don’t know about you, but my Day 1 Challenge was actually a challenge. I had a trying afternoon and evening with my toddler, who is currently on an upswing from being down with a tummy bug, which only made him all the more feisty.

I did my first salutation on the carpet, in my jeans with a stocking cap on, and immediately found my hands sliding forward, limited mobility because of my choice in attire, and my stocking cap falling off to show my completely disheveled hair. I was even holding my breath!

What a mess.

And I realized: I wasn’t even trying. I needed to change into something that would let me move appropriately, get on my mat, slap my hair into a ponytail, and offer my breath to my practice.

Shiva Rea said something so profoundly beautiful a couple of years back in an interview. Someone asked her what kind of yoga she did. Her response?

I be yoga.

Sounds funny and awkward when you say it out loud. But try it. Try being your yoga.

Ninety-nine percent practice, my friends.

Here’s the beautiful Shiva rocking a modified version of Surya Namaskar A.

Sun Salute Challenge: Day 1

mary — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:54:54 +0000

How are you yogis doing on the challenge? It’s 8:45 p.m. and I’ve completed one SS. Eek! How does this happen? I’ll complete the remaining nine right after the babe is lulled to sleep.

Check out Hannah at tothemoonandback.net on her day 1. SO inspired by you, girl! Rock the kula!

Here’s another video, including a nice modification if it’s been a while since you and your mat have had a little time together.

Class begins August 3rd.

mary — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:25:33 +0000

Our first donation-based Power Yoga class will be Tuesday, August 3rd, from 10-11 a.m. at Conviction CrossFit in the Erie Airpark. Please remember to bring your own yoga mats and any props that you require.

Easy directions, from the intersection of E. County Line Road and Highway 7:

Head east on Highway 7 toward Airport Drive.
Turn north (left) on Airport Way. This road curves a couple of times and then you’ll say a gray house on your left (west side of road) with a parking lot in front of it. Park in the lot and walk down the hill to the hangars. The hangar faces west and is #302.

Can’t wait to practice with you!

Donation classes to begin soon.

mary — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:01:29 +0000

This is such a happy announcement! And, so sorry, but I’m so excited about it that just blurting it out seems to be the best option.

Donation-based Power Yoga classes are coming very soon!

Classes will be held at Conviction Crossfit in the Erie Airpark at 10:00 a.m. and I’ll be posting our first class date very soon. Classes will be an hour long, and you must bring your own yoga mat and any props that you need.

Since these are classes run on donations, please know that what you give is personal and private. I never want you to feel that you can’t come to a yoga class for financial reasons. Donations will be used to purchase yoga props and mats to have at the gym for community use.

That being said, here are some guidelines:

Classes are held in a hangar (how cool is that?), which has a concrete floor with a partial “matted” floor. There are no yoga mats at this time to provide; please bring your own mat and props.
Please layer your clothing accordingly and bring water to drink.
The owners are still building out their space, so there is no bathroom yet. Boy, am I selling this or what?
I really love you guys.

This is a grassroots endeavor and I am really looking forward to what this will become. Feel free to leave comments and/or thoughts; I read every single one. Or you may email me at mary@pantier.com.

Class begins August 3rd.

Schedule Changes. Or, Good News/Bad News.

mary — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:21:59 +0000

Life is so full of change. And as a good friend just counseled, “When one door closes, another opens.”

Tomorrow, June 10, will be my last Thursday Power Yoga class in a teaching capacity. This class, in particular, has been my heart and soul for many months now, and I’m so sad to let this class go. But next week, you will have a new instructor, CM Brown, who will continue the class as an Intermediate or Advanced level practice. And I very well may be practicing alongside you, which will be such a treat for me.

The Postnatal and Prenatal series classes have been canceled as well, and the All Levels Yoga class on Wednesday nights will be shared between Terry Sweeney and Wendy Hood.

I will continue teaching the shared Sunday All Levels Yoga classes at 10:30 a.m.

So…why all of these changes? Very simple: diapers.

I have been quite blessed over the last 10 months to have a lot of help with keeping my burgeoning toddler fresh and clean during class, but that grace has come to an unfortunate end. The community center staff is no longer able to provide that and I would be required to leave class (while teaching) in order to take care of business. So in lieu of leaving during class, I resign to waiting until Ewan is potty trained (which will most likely be at least a year or so) before returning to teach during the week.

Hoping to see you on Sunday mornings! Please check my schedule for those dates. And I do have another idea or two brewing, so stay tuned…

Walk as though your feet are kissing the Earth.

mary — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 04:23:18 +0000

Day 4, Prenatal Intensive.

I’ve taken a couple of days to digest the experience of the intensive. And I suppose there should be a preface to this post with a little background information.

I’m a wrestler.

I’ve wrestled a lot throughout my life with spirituality, duality, non-duality, alternative lifestyle, Christianity, yoga, and philosophy. I wasn’t raised as a yogin. In fact, I practiced asana diligently for about six years before becoming comfortable chanting the sound, Aum, though I’ve always loved being in a class when everyone else was chanting. I’ve never been to India and I don’t foresee a pilgrimage there in my near future, but I love to read about all of your journeys out there and vicariously live through you in secret.

I am what is referred to as a “householder yogin.” One who cannot afford the time or resources away from family for months at a time for immersions with teachers. One who balances soccer games and gymnastics for preschoolers, baseball games because I love them, and who colors her hair, and not with henna, because I’m afraid of going gray.

I wrestle a lot.

But on Sunday morning, I walked. In the words of Thich Nhat Hanh, I walked as though my feet were kissing the Earth. No wrestling thoughts; just the gentle stir of a breeze, the sweet, sweet smells of spring, and the soft quiet of morning. A pause here and there. A peek over a railing and down into the water flowing by, which I couldn’t quite hear since the snowmelt in the mountains hasn’t happened yet. Passed by a furniture store that I’ve driven by for years to finally notice its name: Joyful Furniture. Joyful Furniture! Amazing.

And it brought me to this. This workshop was an honor. An honor to learn with new eyes how to see what people sometimes can’t say verbally yet shout through their bodies. An honor to sit with another’s joy and sadness and to taste curiosity and sweetness. To see strength, surrender, and innate wisdom. To become aligned with what is. Whatever it is. Whenever it is.

And, as one woman put it, to trust the dive.

Here are some photo highlights of the day.

De assisting a 3rd trimester momma in Upavista Konasana.

I love this picture.

Demonstration of Vrksasana in the 3rd trimester, using the wall for balance and opening in both the chest and hips.

Postpartum demonstration, showing how to twist in Jathara Parivartanasana with bolsters.

An explosion of heart! Can’t you just feel it? Upavista Konasana partner work.

Beginning to quiet down for closing the workshop.

Peaceful momma, peaceful baby.

To see the entire gallery of photos from the intensive, please click here or go to the Photos page.