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ON RETREAT
It is already day 3 of the yoga retreat at Alam Indha. Hard to imagine! Time is such an unusual entity. I remember as a child, how endless summers were and how slowly time passed when doing chores on the family farm. That slowness doesn’t seem to exist so much any more
BALI BEGINNING
Bali is beautiful, abundant and resplendent with the creativity of nature. The air is sweet with the scent of flowers and offerings are everywhere. Bali is Shri.
The culture here is built around devotion to the three pillars: nature, family and God and grounded in the cultivation of gratitude.
TO TOUCH
When we teach, we touch. It is what teaching is designed to do. With our intention or objective, with our words and language constructs, with our eyes, voice and touch, we reach out across space and we reach through layers of form, experience and resistance. We reach through the layers that cloak as we seek to touch the essence beyond the barriers.
A MOMENT OF WHOLENESS
Today I fully executed a pose that I had up until now only glimpsed. It is not a pose I regularly practice, and it was not even a pose I was consciously working toward – today or in my repertoire of poses. Instead, on a whim, I tried it today when I was not particularly inspired or having a remarkable time on the mat.
INTEGRATION: A COMING BACK TO THE SOURCE
There are many voices inside me and yet only one of them is mine. Life seems to bring with it a collection of influences, perspectives and beliefs that end up clouding and distorting my voice. My thoughts, feelings and actions can be interpreted within me through the lens of another.
THE EFFORT TO BE EFFORTLESS
As I scroll through the Instagram feed or check out the latest Facebook posts, I am flooded with images of yoga asana. The pictures are beautiful. They are great angles of adept yogis with coordinated outfits, often in beautiful outdoor settings or with curtains blowing. And this is not a description, not a judgment. After all, some of those photos are mine. And these photos are inspiring.
TEACHING AND TRUST
On Saturday, I taught the last workshop in a four-part series on the intermediate backbends as defined in Light on Yoga. This one focused on dropping from Sirsasana I (headstand) into Viparita Dandasana as the beginning stages of Mandalasana. Dropping over backwards into unknown and unseen territory is scary and as a teacher preparing to help people approach this pose, I started thinking about fear.
GOING HOME
“Are you ready to go home,” my father asks the family dog, who is startled from his nap by the abrupt and emphatic question. My 86-year old father has dementia and his thoughts loop around the current thread. Right now, the loop is about going home. It is immeasurable sad for me to hear this question and also fascinating.
SEEING THROUGH THE BODY
I am just finishing a weekend workshop with senior Iyengar yoga teacher, Kevin Gardiner. It was a great learning experience as these times of study often are, and yet they are not easy. Teachers of the Iyengar method, in my experience, demand of the students an unwavering presence and a continuous commitment to being with the teacher and with the instruction.
SPACE TO FEEL
I read this beautiful article about holding space (share link) and it has prompted recent class themes. One class, I talked about how our yoga practice is the invitation to hold space for ourselves. At the end of class, one student left the room in tears. She then shared this: I spent the whole yoga class moving through my anger (about a particular event) and creating and holding space for my sadness.