Bringing People Together

I recently learned about a new yoga in the park project in Des Moines. Free and open to the public every Saturday morning at 9:00 (weather permitting I'm sure.) You can check out details here.

I'm thinking this yoga junkie is going to have to plan an early Saturday morning trip to Des Moines soon!


namaste

A Different Kind of Practice...

Summer has fallen upon my household and with it a shift in our normal routine. A welcome shift. A more relaxed pace of life. No school for my oldest. Fewer classes for me. Activities that require us to be outside more...softball, gardening, lawn work. I love the ease of summer.

With the shift I find myself THINKING less about the yoga of life, and simply PRACTICING it day to day. In fact, I'm finding myself needing to remind myself to practice patience, compassion and non-attachment a lot these days. My brother is living with us for the summer into the early fall and with him has come a friend's dog. Both welcome additions to our family, but anytime you introduce someone new into a well established family there's adjustments to be made. And as someone who often over offers, over extends, and then at times feels overwhelmed when those offers are accepted, I have had to remind myself to find balance before things feel completely off kilter.

Additionally I am in the midst of figuring out how to move forward professionally. That direction involves returning to school. It's actually a direction I've been exploring for 9 years, only the little road bumps that one has to cross when making arrangements to return to school with a young family has kept me from seriously taking steps until now. I feel as though this is the right time to make this jump, but it doesn't mean everything is simply falling into place. I have to remind myself it will not be the end of the world if in 8 weeks I'm not packing my back-pack for my first night of class. I need to trust that with good honest effort, if now is indeed the right time, it will happen.

Change isn't always easy for me, even when those changes are exciting and welcome. And so my practice continues this summer to be more about my yoga off the mat...although I did start teaching a new "power flow" vinyasa class at the studio for the summer and I'm so enjoying the physicality and the heat and the fluidity of our practice. It's been a wonderful reminder of how I first came to know and why I first fell in love with the practice. It's been a nice (maybe even needed) change to my practice on the mat.

In unrelated news...many thanks to Brenda over at Grounding Thru the Sit Bones for interviewing me for her latest Yoga Journal article! I'm so honored to be included in her fabulous discussion of using, or not using as the case may be, chant in classes. As always, Brenda's piece is both thoughtful and thought provoking. Give it a read!


namaste

In the face of change...

The past several years have provided many opportunities for change in both my professional and personal lives. Some changes planned, others not so much. Regardless, change can be hard for me. I truly believe I have been able to face change with more open mindedness and optimism (rather than fear and negativity) because of my yoga practice. It has helped me to find perspective, and breath, when faced with uncertainty. For some people that strength comes from prayer. Others find it through meditation. For me it's asana, breath and attention to present moment awareness.

One of the panel discussions at the Yoga Journal Grand Geneva conference was titled Yoga as a Life Tool: How the Practice Can Help You Through Challenging Times. I actually didn't make it to this panel discussion, taking time for a bit longer lunch break between sessions that day, and am so glad that Yoga Journal has added video of the hour long talk to their Yoga Journal TV website. The panel discussion is broken down into 5 segments. Some as short as 5 minutes, one nearing the 20 minute mark. The messages delivered are important, strong messages. Ones I'm not sure I personally was in a good place to hear on day 3 of conference. (As you may remember that was my "I'm hitting a wall I'm so tired" day.) But I so much respect the individuals who were part of the panel and am so glad I (and you) have the chance to hear their words and reflect on how the practice of yoga has extended for each of us off the mat and into our day to day lives.

Do you have a personal story to share about using yoga as your life tool? Please feel free to leave a comment and share.


namaste

What is yoga?

"What type of mats are those?" asked the young high school boy who was helping me load groceries into the back of my car yesterday AFTER I had scooted a pile of yoga mats over to make room for my bags.

"Yoga mats," I responded.

"What is yoga anyway?" he asked.

Ummm....this is where I went blank. After all the times I've explained to people what yoga is, I couldn't for the life of me come up with a quick 30 second explanation that I thought effectively explained to my young helper the wonderful practice that is yoga. I finally settled on:

"It's an exercise where you do various poses that help build strength and flexibility."

"So it's not just stretching?" he clarified.

"No, a little more than just stretching." I said.

"Oh. I always wondered what yoga was." he said as he started to push the cart back towards the store entrance, wishing me a good day.

It was a brief exchange of words, but at the same time has made me ponder should it happen again, what will I say. How do you verbalize the wisdom of thousands of years of such an amazing and rich practice in 30 seconds or less?

I'm curious, what would you say?


namaste

And No One Left Early...

This past week I had the privilege of guest instructing in a PE class at Grinnell College. I was asked last semester by the instructor teaching the class, a conditioning class, if I would be interested in helping expose the class to yoga. I offered to teach 2 classes. One to dialog about yoga, the history, the practice, styles of asana practice, and to set some foundation (breath, grounding, etc) work for an asana practice during class 2. It was well received and I was invited back this semester.

It's a fun class and the students have been engaged and eager to learn. Both instructors mentioned before hand that there may be a number of students leaving early. But it didn't happen. Even though our class ran a little long on Thursday, everyone stayed quiet and relaxed through savasana and leisurely rolled their mats before heading out the door. It was lovely and peaceful.

I'm hoping guest instructor for this class can be a regular occurrence. It's been a great way to expose 15-18 college aged students, sometimes for the very first time, the the benefits of yoga. And even if they don't pick up the practice now, or ever, I hope it sparks a thought the next time they think about the needs of their whole being.


namaste