Moksha

One of my favorite ballads growing up was Janice Joplin’s version of “Me and Bobby McGee.”  I still sing along when the song comes on:

Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose
Nothin’, don’t mean nothin’ hon’ if it ain’t free, 
And, feelin’ good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues
You know, feelin’ good was good enough for me


I’ve really tried to live my adult life with this sense of freedom, and it’s manifested by living for years out of a backpack or suitcase while I worked and traveled away from home.

Now that I’m settled back in Tampa Bay, I try to bring that sense of freedom, or Moksha, to classes, offering a safe space for you to set your troubles aside and flow into the present moment on your breath and in your body.

It’s that sense of freedom in the present moment that inspires me to offer free events each month to bring yoga to you out of the studio and in the community, or a free first class to anyone who asks because I believe that the Moksha, or freedom from the chittering of your monkey mind, should be available to you regardless of your financial situation on any given day.

Still Water

On the surface, we’re just doing yoga, or meditating, or practicing Reiki together, but on a deeper level we’re creating an opportunity for you to acknowledge the complex and unique person that you are.  

My hope for you each time we gather is that you’ll be able to set aside the everyday stressors that make up most of our lives and breathe deeply into the limitless compassionate self that lives within.  

I want you to be able to connect with the part of yourself that is never-changing and always present, observing each thought and breath and moment.  



It is my belief that the more you are able to plug in and connect with this intrinsic part of yourself, the more patience and compassion you will have with yourself and others.

And patience and compassion, my friend, are what the world needs right now.  Spreading more of that will help prevent senseless tragedies like the ones we saw this weekend. 

When each of us learns to step beyond the patina of our everyday, we receive the tools we need to process and release feelings of anger, frustration, and helplessness.  As we dig in and connect more deeply to our own selves, we also connect more deeply with the human Spirit that unites us all.  

That is my wish for you, that you can spread the compassion and peace that you cultivate in your practice to the other people in your life, and through that, the world will become a kinder and safer space.

May you be filled with loving kindness, May you be well
May you be peaceful and at ease, May you be happy.

Free Book – Yoga for Mobility

Last year, I wrote an e-book that links current research on how yoga can help solve normal conditions that arise as we live our lives.  Recently, I edited that book to include more up-to-date research as well as information linking Meditation and Reiki to real, measurable results. 

 

Today, I am pleased to offer you a free download of my e-book, Yoga for Mobility.   This will be available for free only until June 5th, so please act fast!

 

In this book, you will learn how leading doctors, psychiatrists, and disease specialists are working to prove the ways that Yoga, Meditation, and Reiki can impact your health, wellness, and happiness.

My intention is for this book to both inform and inspire you so that you can begin making the simple changes that will improve your quality of life today.

Happy reading!

Learning & Growing Together

Kula,  SanghaComunidad.   No matter how you say it, community matters.  One of the great reasons to come out to a yoga class is to practice in community.  Sometimes it helps to see another person out of the corner of your eye wiggling to balance in tree pose or to hear somebody else’s ujayi breath syncing up with your own. 

In this life, other people act as our mirrors and teachers, our friends and our inspiration.  They remind us of all the beauty and complications that come with living in this time and place and they keep us from taking life too seriously.

Some of my closest friends are ones that I made while practicing together – in class every week, in workshops, or going through the intensity of teacher trainings.

That’s why it’s important to me to take yoga out of the studio and into the world, and that’s why I’m offering a ton of events over the next few months that have a big social aspect.  

After all, we’re all just walking each other home.

The Many Paths of Yoga

Each person is put on this earth to fulfill a destiny.  How can you overcome distraction and be more fully present on your path?

I think the first step of this is finding an activity that pulls you out of your monkey mind and helps you become embodied.  This could be dance, walking, running, or my favorite – yoga.

I was reminded this weekend of the many paths of yoga. 

For some, yoga is an exercise regiment, helping them lose weight and tone up.  For others, yoga helps pull them out of the rut of everyday life and enter the present moment.  Others practice yoga to maintain their health, while still others seek more consciousness and awareness.  

Each of these reasons to practice are valid, and there is a practice of yoga that will meet you exactly where you are and guide you towards your own personal goal. 

For me, the magic happens when you find yourself linking breath to movement, with your thoughts centered on how your body feels in this asana, this moment, and how your breath is moving in and out, in and out.
One of the reasons I make it a priority to offer yoga in different settings is because I think it’s important to bring the practice to you exactly where you are.  

That’s the beauty of this practice, and what keeps me coming back to the mat.  There is always something to explore!

That’s also why I’m so excited to offer a Yoga Teacher Training, starting April 12, so that as you step into that magical space within, you have the tools you need to safely guide others there.

I hope you can join me in class, or at the upcoming Essential You Yoga Teacher Training in Tampa this April.

5 Reasons a Beginner’s Series is Preferable to a Public Class

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?

1.  Cumulative Classes

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.

2.  Space for questions

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”

7 Benefits of a Consistent Practice

When I completed my 200 hour yoga training, my lead teachers kept talking about having a home practice.  I would go home and roll my yoga mat out and try to recreate a sequence I learned in class.  Often, I would get a few poses in and and just get stuck.  I’d be hanging out in a high lunge trying to think of what comes next.

Or I would “forget” to roll my mat out at all.  Living in Austin in my 20’s meant that there was always a farmer’s market, new band, or food truck to explore.  It wasn’t rare that I would be too tired to come to my mat between social time, work, and all the yoga I was doing in my training and regular classes.

Once I received my certification and began teaching, I still struggled with creating time for a regular personal practice, despite one of my favorite teachers telling me that real teaching starts at home.  It wasn’t until I signed up for an Anusara Immersion that required a regular home practice as a pre-requisite that I finally began to settle into a steady practice. Continue reading “7 Benefits of a Consistent Practice”

Surviving a Hot Pitta Summer

I have a tendency to seek out hot and humid places to call home, so for me, it’s summer all year long.  However, the months of June, July and August are hotter than most – for me and most other people in the Northern Hemisphere.

Ayurvedically speaking, summer is Pitta season.

That means the potential is there for frustration, overheating, anxiety, and fights over nothing.

Living in sync with the seasons means taking care of yourself when your environment changes.  Today, we’ll look at some self-care techniques you can put in place as the temperatures rise.

Continue reading “Surviving a Hot Pitta Summer”

A Moment of Gratitude

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”

Heartbreak

Please accept this as the first of several posts designed to illustrate seasons of life where your yoga and meditation practice will be helpful.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever had your heart broken….

Crickets?  Probably not.  Unfortunately, this is one big, painful part of the human experience that we all must traverse.

What is even more heartbreaking than heartbreak is giving up on love

 

Here are some ways Yoga and Reiki can help you find your way through the wilderness a broken heart and back to living and loving from your fullest

Continue reading “Heartbreak”