Featured
Acceptance
/
It’s the unfolding process of acceptance that will transform you. Doing fancy poses like handstand or the splits won’t make you a nicer person :)
Acceptance is hard. We want to do the fancy poses :) But as you read further, you’ll be reminded of the more powerful undercurrents of yoga. I miss you guys so much! Now, almost 4 months since we’ve been in the studio together, I’m sad that there is no clear path moving forward. I hope you’ll continue to practice yoga in any location and capacity you can. And I will treasure the return of live classes together.
We want to practice at a level that is sustainable and doesn’t deplete us. In this way we practice ahimsa, non-violence. If we push too hard, we dilute the benefit of the asana. This is not calisthenics; we came to do yoga. And yoga is not just physical. It supports your emotional health and your intentions for how you want to be in the world.
Being in your body and breath and heart develops: stick-to-it-iveness, patience, focus, self-acceptance, joy, might, balance, and maybe even humor! What do you need to call on to do Warrior 3 pose? It might be the same question you ask yourself …. “what do I need to call on do DO life”?
And when you say you want to do “side crow”, maybe what you really want to experience is: fearlessness, trust, determination, courage or gratitude.
Our peak pose was side crow. We started our asana practice in downward facing dog as a way to celebrate our embodiment. We deepened into our practice with balance and core. We vinyasa-ed through salutations and standing poses. We stretched and strengthened quads. This led us to the always playful, always challenging side crow. Yogis dug deep into this compact twisting arm balance.
Throughout class, I reminded students to think about what they wanted to “call on” to support them in the poses. Students shared that they called on perseverance, confidence and humor! Thank you. It was an honor to guide you in your practice. We closed with Namaste, a final gesture of gratitude and respect. Stay safe and healthy, Lynn
The joy of discovering not wanting more (80% rule)
/
Students were challenged to work at 80% today. Of course, if they felt great, they could go deeper, but the invitation was: try not to let “the wanting mind” lead the charge. Let the decision come from listening honestly to your body and it’s wisdom.
So, 80% is just a ball park. It’s a solid effort. From that place of showing up, students could assess if they wanted to be more mellow and pull back to 60 or 70%. Other students may have found they could sustain 85 or 90% effort. After Tuesday’s class, one student commented that an 80% effort allowed them to finish the practice strong and another student said it took the pressure off and made her feel capable of going more than 80%.
We did some poses twice. Yogis were reminded that the second round did not need to be deeper or more advanced. It was just a second round, do with it what you will. Later in practice when we were warm and open, we practiced kapingalasana. It is a variation of vasisthasana with a thigh stretch. The pose presented a perfect environment for finding YOUR 80%. Students could layer on support, or raise their top leg for challenge, or follow my cues and step their bottom foot in a little closer while stepping their top foot forward into a kickstand on the floor. As they deepened into the pose, students lifted their rib cage away from the floor, kept their gaze down for stability and raised their top knee into their chest attempting to grab that top foot and take into a thigh stretch. Core was sprinkled throughout, along with some twists, gratitude half salutations, and we ended with locust and pigeon. Peace, Lynn
Imagination
/
Imagine you could plan your perfect fantasy day (no Covid restrictions ). And that part of your day is to take a yoga class and its THIS yoga class!
Think of an intention of how you’d like your body to just play and explore shapes. Trust the first word that comes to mind. Close your eyes and breathe into that word 3 times. This class cultivated that intention or “feeling state” while doing the poses. It may be a feeling, a mantra, or a dedication to a person, movement, cause or a community. I dedicated my practice to The Black Lives Matter movement.
When I practiced this class on my own, I felt unmotivated. My word was energy. While doing the poses, I picturing being infused with energy. It worked! Another time my word was joy, and I found I was able to notice more things that brought me joy while I was in the poses. There is that power of asking for what you want and believing it will happen. As we use our imagination, we free our artistic side and we find out how we want to live in these poses.
The sequence changed a little from Tuesday to Thursday. I really love and so appreciate the feedback I’ve been getting from you guys. I realize that with shelter in place restrictions lingering on, we are all feeling drained. We miss each other and the energy we share in the yoga room. We miss our activities and routines. So as wonderful of a substitute that Zoom has been, it gets stale at times. It just doesn’t cut it. So we face these limitations straight on with honesty and grace.
Additionally, I’m finding that certain poses and breathing techniques just don’t translate through the screen very well. They will be saved for when we practice & celebrate in person ….. soon I hope!
Take good care of yourself. The covid restrictions and the cultural and political upheaval of this time can really affect us mentally and emotionally. Talk to your friends, reach out to me, nap, play, laugh, read, walk, watch a funny movie, do yoga :) I’ll see you soon back on the mat, Lynn
Fall in love with your practice
/
What’s to love beyond an “end goal” or “shoulds” (I should strengthen my core; I should stretch my hamstrings)? Or, maybe, what’s to love is:
a deeper steadiness
a lighter presence, feeling lighter inside
the Grace of the breath
being present (not needing things to be different or more)
your strength
devotion to loving your life
In this practice, students were encouraged to let go of any burdens they were lugging around and to get back to their essential self. I love to practice for an hour if I have time, but one thing that made me fall in love with yoga was only practicing for 10-15 minutes and still being able to tap into focus, softness, inspiration and positive energy. I knew there was magic in a practice that could transport a person in such a short amount of time.
But a key to transformation in the practice is to be “in it” for the love of it, not a chore to check off your list. Either way you’ll get strong and flexible. But when you do the good work and drink in every breath and shower yourself with appreciation, the cells shimmer. We practiced in real time across the miles, and we released our minds from “shoulds”. We softened and rooted into our practice and allowed it to be like a caring partner in life ….. something we care for that cares for us back.
The vinyasa practice wove in the “happy pose” (triangle) to open all parts of the body, and we balanced in Warrior 3, and we strengthened in dolphin. We closed with Hanumanasana and a silly balancing of a block on our heads as we sat down trying not to drop the block :)
Sweet yogis said hi and asked their questions at the end. My lovely assistant, Mikayla, shined in her practice. The light in me sees and loves the light in you. Namaste, Lynn