FEAR

Certain things scare me. I am unnerved by what I cannot predict and control. Violence and cruelty make me want to run or look away. Yet, I do not consider myself a fearful person and I believe that when we react to fear with anger and aggression, we create more fear. I've been thinking about the idea of fear and its opposites: strength and love. It can be hard to reach out in love if you are feeling frightened or vulnerable, so what to do? 

You already know what I'm going to say, right? Do yoga of course! Maybe that sounds like a simplistic answer to difficult and seemingly insurmountable troubles, but really and truly I think yoga is the cure for what ails us. Yoga teaches us that we can bend and move and breath in ways that we would never have considered. Yoga provides flexibility in body AND mind, so it is perfect for helping us step back, enabling us to listen and discern and learn.

So when you start to feel that the bad news of the day is just too much, I encourage you to get on the mat. Use your yoga practice as a starting place to be still and allow the wisdom within you to show you what your next steps might be. Do some powerful Ujahi breathing, stand in your strength in a few warrior poses, and see what comes. At the very least, it will get you out of your head and into your wise body. Any warrior pose can help you feel stronger, more grounded, more confident. You'll be in touch with your own breath, finding quiet, feeling spacious, and developing strength and capacity. Nothing says "Hey, I'm here, I am standing strong and have a right to be here" like a Warrior Pose. And what is a warrior anyway? Is a warrior someone that jumps into every battle, or is a true warrior a strong, quiet, patient individual who waits and acts with conviction and integrity and thought-out precision?

See if your yoga practice helps you feel stronger and steadier. See if it helps you discover what is truly valuable and important to you. Then take the next step and go out and be a Warrior for what you believe in. Move from a place of love and wisdom, not fearful impulse or judgment. Be strong and confident and open to learning and listening. Be a warrior for peace and love and a model to others who are fearful and looking for someone to show them how to stand in their own strength.

Just a reminder.....

No yoga classes this week at either site! Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July week! Take a few moments to connect with your breath and be thankful for the freedoms you enjoy. Be well.

One Month Away.....

Wow....Summer is now moving full speed ahead!
Make sure you take some time for yoga this summer. One of my favorite things is to practice yoga outdoors, so I am holding a "second annual" outdoor yoga class to raise money and donations for the local Eagan food shelf called Open Door. The class is now one month away, so be sure to mark your calendars so that you can participate.

Here are the details:

Tuesday evening July 19 6:30-7:30pm
On the lawn at All Saints Lutheran Church, 3810 Lexington Ave S, Eagan MN
Suggested donation:$10 per person and items for the food shelf
Men, women, and youth 14+ are encouraged to attend
Rain or shine (we'll move indoors if the weather doesn't cooperate)
Bring a yoga mat or beach towel, water, and a smile!

Peace, Love, Yoga!

As is true for all of us, my heart is heavy after yet another deadly shooting of innocent people. I hope and pray that this time will be the "tipping point," when good people collectively shout ENOUGH!
May we all speak calmly and reasonably to one another. May we seek to understand various ideas and perspectives and to try to make a difference to end the senseless violence.

For now, I pray for guidance. I will return to my yoga mat to practice being still and quiet, trying to discern and be open to how I can individually be part of a larger solution. Yoga is about unity: a bringing together of body, mind, and spirit. It is about shared community and an understanding that we are deeply connected to one another as a human family. So I will begin with my own yoga practice as a way to seek peace and deeper understanding.

May we all work for peace. May we find ways to love and support one another over feeling frightened and separate. Small things done with great love are important and make a difference.

May all people be happy. May all people be healthy. May all people live in peace.

Form and Asana

Some of you may wonder why I talk and provide so much verbal cueing related to the tiny details of yoga poses in class. I wonder sometimes if this gets misinterpreted to mean that if somehow you managed to get each detail "just so" then it means that you are a good and accomplished yogi. I have said, and maybe don't say it enough, that there is no such thing as a perfect yoga pose. Sadly, magazines and Instagram pics of skilled yogis may reinforce this idea that rocking an asana or yoga pose means you are somehow a more proficient or closer to perfect yogi than someone else.

I cue little details of poses for a couple of reasons: one, for safety. Good alignment and basic body mechanics will help to avoid injury. My number one goal as a yoga teacher is to provide a positive yoga experience in which everyone leaves class feeling better than when they arrived. So this goal is not realized if students feel overly sore or injured after completing a class.

The second reason for all this cuing and detail, and one that is much less important to me, is that if you practice postures in optimal alignment, then you get more bang for your buck. In other words, you use and build muscles more effectively or get a better stretch. Again, I would rather see my students enjoying a class and feeling good about their body and practice over attempting to make sure everyone gets a "good workout." That's only one aspect of a yoga practice; yes, it can help us build strength, stamina and flexibility, but I am going for contentment, stress relief, and peace of mind as well!

The third idea behind all of these verbal cues about good form is about trying to get students to pay attention to sensation and how their bodies feel in a particular pose. In the world of trauma-informed yoga, instructors are taught to invite students to try out a form rather than naming and describing a yoga posture at all. The idea is to allow students to make their own decisions about how and if they will move their bodies and giving control back to the individual who has experienced victimization by someone who exerted power and control over them. So cues are about choices, and staying present with body sensation. I like these concepts as I think all of us can benefit from feeling good about our bodies, making choices and decisions that make sense for us, and providing room for variations in our practices on the mat. I love nothing more than seeing a variety of movements and postures in my classes as it tells me that people are honoring their bodies and paying attention to their own practice.
I hope to always make it clear that everything is optional in class. Feeling pushed, coerced, or urged to compete with other students in the room moves us away from yoga's power to change us in subtle ways, from the inside out.

Please feel free to share with me if there are ways that I can make you feel more comfortable in class. My goal is to provide a safe experience, in body, mind and spirit and I am open to feedback about how to effectively provide this for you. Thanks for your participation and the warmth and energy that you bring with you to class!