Shine Your Sacred Self
I traveled last week to Coral Gables, Florida to take part in my friend’s event “Stress Less Sunday.” It was a long drive, but I was excited to be a part of her vision of offering donation-based self-care techniques and education to the community. Continue reading “Yoga for Kidney Health”
You’ve probably seen your local studio advertising a Beginner’s Series. They’re a popular way to for people to learn about a new practice, but you might be wondering what is so different between a Beginner Series and a public class?
We’ll zero in on a small piece of the larger yoga puzzle, and each class will progressively build on previous classes, which leaves you with a strong foundation to walk into any yoga class you want.
Unlike a public class where everyone is silently moving from posture to posture following the teacher’s cues, inquisitive minds are encouraged to explore in this small-class format. Your wrists always hurt when you’re in Downward Facing Dog? Chances are, you’re not the only one, so we can pause as a class together to explore options that might benefit you and several other people in the room. Continue reading “5 Reasons a Beginner’s Series is Preferable to a Public Class”
What is the difference between unrolling your mat among friends and stepping onto your mat when it’s just you and your teacher? Traditionally, yoga was a cultivation of a relationship between one student and one teacher. It was never taught in a class, but instead was doled out over time as the teacher judged that the student was physically and mentally prepared to go deeper.
My first private yoga experience happened spontaneously. I was the only student who showed up for class with my favorite teacher. She turned that into an opportunity to share partner yoga, which is a mix of unique poses done with two bodies instead of one. What a cool experience!
The second time I worked privately was intentional. I found that I wasn’t getting the push I needed in public yoga classes, and wanted to explore how I could best practice inverted yoga poses. My teacher worked with me to create a custom sequence that addressed my specific mobility issues – very tight neck and shoulder muscles. I walked away with a group of poses I could practice at home, which over time led to more flexibility and stability in my shoulder girdle.
To Schedule Your Own Personal Session Today
I was surprised the evening after my private lesson to feel as though I had received a massage! I found the practice of working one-on-one to be nurturing, as my teacher constantly checked in with me and used her expert gaze to see things I was missing in my posture and alignment.
As a teacher, I often work with students who want to increase mobility and decrease stress. Sometimes, my students want a routine that will target specific muscles and compliment the activities they do outside of yoga, such as my client who is an experienced martial arts practitioner. Other clients prefer a custom practice to meet an ongoing issue, while still others prefer the one-on-one attention over moving in a group atmosphere.
Whatever your situation is, I believe that you can benefit from a personal experience. That’s why I want to offer a Spring Special that drastically discounts the cost of a single private class. In fact, this special offers the value of a free class when you commit to a 5 class package with me.
Together, we can create a sequence to meet your unique needs. I draw on my twenty years experience and offer up the tools of reiki, meditation, and yoga to help you meet mobility goals, release the stress of your responsibilities, and step away from energy that doesn’t serve you.
Contact me to schedule your session today! Virtual and In-Person Options are Available.
I am still shaking off the sleep from a 2 am flight out of Managua Nicaragua as I sit snuggling my daughter and reflecting on the past week in this surprisingly cool Florida afternoon.
When I was invited to participate in Yoga Fest Nicaragua, I was excited to contribute to an event dedicated to showcasing yoga from a variety of international teachers. I had few expectations, which gave me the freedom to experience and enjoy each moment fully. The impromptu dinners with new and old friends, the Reiki treatments and card readings Paty la Mariposa and I shared, and the many moments of free form dancing that overtook us all were moments of joy sin expectativas.
Some of the plans I set in motion for the week came to fruition and others didn’t, which allowed me the opportunity to open to grace and allow the universe to surprise me with a week that turned out far better than what I could have imagined!
I’m grateful to have lived long enough to have this perspective – rather than get frustrated if something I desire doesn’t come to pass, I trust that it is only to make space for something bigger.
For example, our Reiki Course at the Laguna de Apoyo was an incredible mix of women, both local to Nicaragua and long-term turistas, all visionaries offering something unique and brave to the world.
The trip was a healthy mix of work and play, which allowed us to serve people from all over the world with mini private yoga sessions, meditations and mantra offerings, chakra balancing, Reiki practice, and card readings.
And so the week turned out exactly as it was supposed to all along! I’m overtaken by gratitude for this practice that allows me to learn again and again, each time deeper, how to fully step into the present moment and enjoy the beauty that surrounds me.
Thank you for being a part of the journey.
When you take your yoga off the mat and start digging into the philosophy (me, all day long…) we come up against several different concepts that boil down to this basic idea:
In the US, we celebrate Labor Day today, which gets me thinking about how we define work and labor.
The five principles of Reiki contain a line that says “I will devote myself to my work.”
Just for today, I will not anger
Just for today, I will not worry
Just for today, I will be grateful for my blessings
Just for today, I will devote myself to my work
Just for today, I will be kind to others
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism all teach of dharma, which can be loosely defined (without getting too dogmatic, as each religion alters the definition slightly) as following the cosmic order or fulfilling your life’s destiny.
I like to approach my work in this way, as a reminder that I am a spark of the divine acting as part of a larger plan that I cannot fully comprehend.
Creating any healthy new habit is not easy. It’s heartening to me that Patanjali acknowledges this in the Yoga Sutras. As he’s espousing the many benefits you’ll gain from your new yoga practice, he stops to mention the barriers you will encounter.
As with other truths discussed in the Yoga Sutras, these obstacles are as relevant for people today as they were for yogis committing to the practice thousands of years ago.
All nine obstacles are disruptions to the heart-mind field of consciousness (citta) and can be debilitating to a practice, because distracting thoughts and emotions (vrtti-s) arise when antarāya-s are present. These nine obstacles are:
Disease
Apathy
Self-doubt
Carelessness
Fatigue
Regression
Sexual preoccupation
Erroneous views
Ungroundedness
~Nicolai Bachman, The Path of the Yoga Sutras
It’s great to know that these obstacles are out there, because, with planning, you can anticipate them and stop them from disrupting your practice.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the part I play in creating my world. I’m not speaking here of my individual world – creating and taking responsibility for making a life that fulfills me and allows me to serve others. Since being blessed with becoming a mother, my thoughts have turned to the part I play in my community.
I’ve also become vitally reminded of the importance of independently owned businesses. After returning from my travels where the majority of businesses are independently owned, it’s really come home that we need to be a little rabid in making sure that we frequent businesses we want around. Otherwise, it’ll be all Walmarts, Targets, and Olive Garden, and that’s not the world I want to live in.
One aspect of traveling is that you’re always moving on.
I have a confession to make, yogis and yoginis! I am a bookworm, and I usually have at least one fiction or historical fiction book that I’m working through. In that vein, I’ve spent the last few weeks steeped in the past – whether that be Russia’s Imperial Age as written in Anna Karenina or the times of slavery described by Octavia Butler in Kindred or Jewel Parker Rhodes in Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau or stories of true history as shared by the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast.
Add my studies of various translations of the Yoga Sutras and and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika (expect some posts exploring these soon), and you have an idea of where my mind has been lately!
Along with all the valuable lessons I am reaping from my recreation and study, I am left with a sense of appreciation and awe for this time and place we are all lucky enough to occupy.
I know – there’s plenty of crazy to point to that’s happening in our current time – strange fads, worrisome country leaders, and tragic events, but there’s also just so much magnificence, right? Continue reading “A Moment of Gratitude”
It’s easy to maintain a sense of detachment when you’re only passing through. It’s also simple to have perspective and true vision when looking at the trifles that capture people’s egos and lead to conflict
When you don’t call a place home or interact with people every day, it’s simple to see the overarching harmony that we all share and are capable of. When I first arrived to California, I was able to observe moments of tension for what they are — a distraction from our shared One Human Spirit and an opportunity for each of us to learn. That is the gift of being a traveller. As a gypsy, I hadn’t alighted down. The perspective provided from that height allowed me to see how small these stumbling blocks truly are and how easy to overcome.
But oh, how that perspective changes when you land. Continue reading “On Detachment and Conflict”