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…

Related posts:

1. New Class Schedule!
2. Thursday News.
3. Donation classes to begin soon.

I actually googled this quote. Hundreds of millions of hits later, I sat in awe, my fingers not knowing what link to click. We spend a lot of time, money, and effort trying “put the past in our behinds”, or leaving our pasts behind, as it were. The quote above actually popped into my head during a massage this evening as my back begged miracles of the therapist’s hands. I needed her to help undo what I had done to my body.

Our physical and emotional experiences imprint on us so deeply, layering on feelings of openness, freedom, happiness, but sometimes tension, anger, and despair. The former creates a confidence in our vulnerability, but the latter can sometimes cause illness and broken heartedness. We need all of it, though, don’t we? How would we ever have our eyes open to lightness if there was no darkness? Would we notice the radiance in our own hearts if we didn’t have a little tender spot here and there? And how on Earth could we ever relate to one another without our own experiences upon which to draw?

I realize (yep, from lots of personal experience), that there are times when we feel so stuck in our stuff that we need help from others to pry ourselves free. Find courage in that! Whether that comes in the form of a massage, talk therapy, a good cry with a friend, or a long run with your dog, take the time this week to put your past in your behind.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

To increase your own inner space today, try this power yoga sequence:

Sun Salutations A, 1x, return to Mountain
Pincha Mayurasana
Vinyasa to the following, working first the right, then left side:
Warrior II
Reverse Warrior
Triangle
Side Angle
Vinyasa, returning to Mountain

Vinyasa to the following, working first the right, then left side:
Ardha Chandrasana (Half-Moon)
Triangle
Wild Thing
Vinyasa, returning to Mountain

Standing Hand-to-Foot, each side

Vinyasa to the following, working first the right, then left side:
Triangle
Vishwamitrasana
Vashistasana

For ab work (each set for 30 seconds, with the breath):
Set 1: In bridge, lift one leg vertically, then lower to hover above the floor.
Set 2: Repeat on second side.
Set 3: Roll back with both legs together, then roll forward to hands and lift butt and legs off floor.

Virasana
Supta Virasana
Windshield Wipers

Savasana

(to see this beautiful sequence, without the ab work, please click here: yogatoday.com)

Related posts:

1. Power Yoga. April 17th.
2. Intermediate Class: Pincha Mayurasana. April 22nd.
3. Intermediate Class. April 14th.

Related posts:

1. Yoga Health Festival in Denver.
2. Power Yoga. April 17th.
3. Power Yoga. April 24th.

Imagine this with me: unmasked adoration on my baby’s chubster face when he sees me (especially when he’s hungry); seriously sweet hugs when I pick him up and he buries his precious, Burt’s Bees-scented fuzzy head into my neck; terribly loud toots when he pulls his feet toward his slobbery mouth; quiet little sighs as he nurses during those dark and tender midnight hours. I smell of a mixture of milk, lavender soap, buttermilk lotion, and you-don’t-want-to-know-what-else.

I am somone’s habitat.

Daddy just can’t quite cut the muster right, now, and oh have we tried. We both know the day will come when I will be trumped by worms to bait a hook with, skateboarding lessons, dirt, and baseball with Dad and big bro. But right now, I’m … it.

Pretty cool.

So to cherish this, to cherish him, and to save this habitat from insanity, I take a breather from teaching in the evenings. Here’s to you, and to all that you hold dear.

Related posts:

1. Sunshine and stars.
2. No fear.
3. Sticky Sticky Sticky.

Often the hands will solve a mystery

that the intellect has struggled with in vain.

Carl G. Jung

I have an obsession. It’s not a secret to those who know me or have been around me for any period of time. It’s something about which I read, practice, and luxuriate.

I love touch.

Lately, I have been reading book after book and article upon article about the benefits of being held. Did you know that you can regulate a baby’s heartbeat and bring more oxygen into their system simply by holding them skin to skin? Or, how about the ability to boundlessly thrive in animals who have mothers who hold them v. those who are fed but not cuddled? Do you remember a time being tremendously upset by something and a simple touch on the shoulder brought you to your knees in such release that you were able to breathe again? And let’s not overlook the intense pleasure and passion that ignites when your lover strokes the back of your neck just before a sweet kiss.

Touch intensifies everything. In fact, it’s how I knew I would marry my husband: from the first moment he touched me, he did so with his whole hand. It was such sweetness and such a sense of safety that I knew I was home. It was simply the bridge between my emotional self and my intellectual self – the marriage before the marriage, if you will.

Touch can be physical or emotional. Whichever it is, it can be piercing, yes? Here are some of my favorite touches:

• Nuzzling my baby’s barely-there neck and smothering it with kisses
• Spooning, early morning, with my husband
• Cuddling up with my preschooler and reading a silly book
• Receiving a hug from my mom – she has the most enveloping, soft, and complete embrace I’ve ever known
• Being licked by my ever-teething baby across my shoulders and jaw
• Touching my hands to my belly, ribs, and heart to feel my body breathe in quiet meditation

Tell me, how have you been touched lately?

Related posts:

1. It’s About Time.
2. mary, mary, quite contrary…
3. Kula.

No related posts.

Related posts:

1. Intermediate Class. April 14th.
2. Yoga Rocks!
3. Habitat. For Humanity.

Make a statement to the Nation at our National Yoga Month 09.2008 kickoff event during the Democratic National Convention. A bi-partisan festival to celebrate yoga, heatlhy and green living. Be inspired and motivated, learn from some of the best yoga teachers and health experts and enjoy festival activities: http://yogamonth.org/event/yogahealthfestivalsDenver.php

Related posts:

1. Yoga Rocks!
2. My Longest Yoga Practice. EVER.
3. Power Yoga. April 17th.

Chanting (artists)
Krishna Das
Deva Premal
Jai Uttal
Prem Joshua
Rasa

Meditation/Savasana
Carlos Nakai
Chakra Chants (Jonathan Goldman)
Chuck Wild/Liquid Mind
Aqua Serenity
Marina Raye
Michael Hewett
Shastro

Fave CD Compilations
Shiva Rea – Yoga Rhythms
Sundari
Soul Practice
Asana 2 – Moving Meditation

Additional Stuff, aka artists’ music I love during my home practice
Ben Harper
G Love & Special Sauce
Jack Johnson (Thicker Than Water soundtrack)
Afro Celt Sound System
Thievery Corporation
Moby
Mickey Hart (Planet Drum)
John Mayer
Herbaliser
Sneaker Pimps
Beck
Jamiroquai

Related posts:

1. A Few of My Favorite Things.

Samasthiti (equal standing pose), chanting
Surya Namaskar A, x3

Utkatasana (awkward chair, arms forward, legs 90 degree)
Surya Namaskar B, right side. Add the following standing poses, one vinyasa at a time:
- Warrior I
- Warrior II
- Extended Side Angle
- Reverse Warrior
- Triangle

Balasana (child’s pose)
Repeat all on left side.

Vinyasa (plank, chaturanga, up dog, down dog)
Vashistasana (side arm balance), x2

Vinyasa
Pigeon prep

Wide Angle Forward Bend
Wide Angle Forward Bend, upward balance, then to floor
Tortoise pose
Twist
Bridge, x2

Savasana

Related posts:

1. Power Yoga. April 17th.
2. Intermediate Class. April 14th.
3. Intermediate Class: Pincha Mayurasana. April 22nd.