know thyself

KNOWING YOURSELF......

The moment is....NOW,... you are dressed in your favorite movable clothing, on a special "magic carpet" costing anywhere from $10-$200....The room is dimly lit and you are flanked by stretchy, seemingly advanced practitioners of a great art form. The music is soft and unfamiliar, the scent is light but calls to mind what a far off land rich in wisdom may smell of.  The temperature is pleasant and the decor simple but evokes a joyous and peaceful response.  A voice comes from somewhere nearby and suggests that you start to contort your body in a manner in which you are unsure that you will be able to enter, no less exit... Your mind considers this and the obvious alternative, going to the bathroom or being reminded of a sudden emergency of having a latte'..... 

You decide to attempt to venture into this geometric shape that the instructor asks you to make with your body,... You look around and everyone seems to know exactly what to do EXCEPT YOU! ... How could it be?....You begin by following the instructions and ... whoa! low and behold, you almost look like your fellow yogi,... Suddenly, a warm, sensation works through your foot,... No, wait,... those are pins and needles because your foot is beginning to FALL asleep! and suddenly you are reminded of a time when your cousin Joey played a joke on you as a child and you start to relive this past experience, ... Oh no! your thoughts shift and you start tripping down memory lane, ... Oh! and then,... the instructor,... the horrible torture guide that she is...asks you to further cause discomfort to yourself and maneuver another portion of a limb into a place you are CERTAIN it was not intended to be...EVER! ......

and then,... the TEACHER... asks you to BE STILL,... in this annoying syrupy voice..... you sneak a peak and the other practitioners all seem to be perfectly happy and at ease,... some making sounds that appear to support the fact that they are actually ENJOYING themselves.... geeez!  What are you doing here?

Why did you decide to come to YOGA today !!!!????

and herein lies the ultimate question?

To stay or not to stay?.... You have to stay in the class,... it would be FAR too dramatic to get up and leave the CLASS! AAaaahhhh.... 

but, you could gently and slowly back out of this POSTURE... OR,..

you could stay.....So,... you first,... TAKE A DEEP breath,... and sit with yourself,... wait,... so many voices in that head trying to make a decision! ....stay, go, bagel, coffee, the dog, oil change, purple shirt, next year, last week,... oh my! 

So,... the decision is to release thoughts and open to the possibilities of sitting with yourself in this asana ( yoga seat/ yoga posture) or knowing that it is not the correct time( body or mind or spirit or hamstring) to stay and carefully, while breathing, release and exit gracefully from the shape.  Sitting with yourself in a shape ( yoga pose) can be VERY enlightening,...I mentioned in a blogpost the relationship with self,... this is where we are here.  Can you sit with yourself,... release the chatter, clear the screen in the mind,... calm yourself, release from sensory awareness, breath,.. observe.  I bring up the alternative ( exiting the posture ) because I truly believe sometimes, we need to just dissolve the ego and listen to the body,...( or that chattering little mind!) therefore, I remind students to HONOR where they are... and knowing thyself is  

the beginning of wisdom.  There is POWER in BOTH,...obviously as we become more FLEXIBLE in MIND ( the body is hopeful to also follow), we able to see more clearly that discomfort, challenge, these things PUSH our boundaries and here we are...BOUNDARIES...

should you stay or "SHOULD YOU GO?"

well.....Limits are, in my opinion a little less pliable... As compared to a "boundary".  Therefore my point here,...*wait, I am getting there! ha! My point is on the mat, we FIND our boundaries, sometimes our limits,... the boundaries, I feel,.. are set but you can negotiate at times with said boundaries.... We, as humans, constantly have our boundaries "tested",... this occurs on the mat ( because most things on the mat are reflecting or will be reflected OFF the mat in our daily lives),...So, "should you stay or should you go"? The next time you find yourself in a precarious position....This question MAY rise up...As yogi's, we realize there is great power in the KNOWING, great wisdom boils up at this crucial moments,... can you be AWAKE enough to SIT WITH YOURSELF,....? to LISTEN and to discern, ... through  the many voices that may be present and make a choice/decision for your HIGHEST good, in that moment to STAY OR GO.... The lessons will come,... even if you push them away,...they will continue to TRY to come to you.  Spending time with yourself on the mat, provides an opportunity to get to know yourself more deeply,... thereby giving rise to a chance to hear something to that MAY inspire you to get to know thyself a bit better.

.....take a deep breath, swing your leg around your neck like a scarf and relax.......peace!

 Namaste'

shine bright !

Good morning!  I have been asked many times in the past, "What type of Yoga do you teach?'....Some of the inquirers have vast knowledge of the practice and are interested in the lineage from which I was trained, or a teacher, a specific discipline of Yoga.  

Other interested parties have HEARD of Yoga and the variations but are asking questions that are more broad in nature,... With the availability of information now in our world and the popularity of the word "YOGA", some of the questions posed are of a different nature and the aspiring yogi is investigating what could possibly be included in the time spent "doing" Yoga.  

I have been sharing the practice of Yoga for 2 decades now and practicing myself for years beyond that.  In the framework of the teachings, sharings and self study ( we are ALWAYS students), my own needs and interests as well as the needs and interests of the students, have shifted... As is life, the only constant is CHANGE.  

Now, after 20 years of teaching, I feel the calling to offer a deeper training in this amazing art, science, study, practice.....In designing an "outline" (in the truest sense of the word), I reached out to one of my dearest friends and asked for her assistance in establishing the foundation ( due to her heartfelt passion in this area and EXPERTISE in sharing for many years)...I also had great support from another amazing person, as inspiration and a good motivator to "put it on a spreadsheet! " In the designing of a course a study, much time is spent considering, "What is it I would like to convey to a student?".  What can I share that has been pivotal in my own life and what do I see as supportive for a student to enhance and deepen their connection with self....( because here is where it all lies).  Once, long ago on an international flight, my son fell asleep and I found myself chatting with the woman next to me for quite a long time.  She was very interesting, a bit older than me and had alot of insight and wonderful things to discuss.  We talked for HOURS and as we landed and prepared to disembark, she looked at me and wrapped it all up ( not intentionally but nonetheless, it was a significant moment in life for me personally).  She said, " Life is really about relationships".  To this day, MANY years later, I find this to ring true in my daily life, my work life, my personal life and so on.  The first relationship of importance is the relationship to and with SELF.  This is where I just get EXCITED,... because THIS is what Yoga is about,....

Part of the beauty in considering "relationships" is that individually we can live in such illusion and unless we take time to slow down and sit with ourselves, we could live in a falsehood that our lives spiral out of control for no apparent reason whatsoever 

Relationships afford us the amazing opportunity to LOOK at ourselves HONESTLY,....There are SOOO many avenues to venture down in regards to this subject but for the purpose of this entry, let's just narrow the information....Yoga, ... especially practice "on the mat" allows for us ( the practitioner,... if we are open to it) the space to be authentic.  We are forced, on the mat to be with ourselves, deeply,... there is no one to blame ( you will definitely TRY to blame the teacher in your mind, but ultimately that will get you NOWHERE...ha,...) but we are faced with our strengths and weaknesses, we collide with our inner selves, we share a seat with our past and future, our monkey mind... We sit still with our tight hamstrings and inflexible thinking.  In today's day ( 2020), we have CONSTANT opportunity for distraction,... we have to seek out time to be with ourselves, to be still.  We CAN, ( and many do) AVOID this time with self,... but, at what expense....

And now,... let me throw confusion in here,... Yoga, as well as bridging the gap between self and self,...allows us to see the oneness.... We are able to acknowledge that we are not alone in our struggles, particularly in a class where many are battling judgement, ego, limits, boundaries, thoughts and so on.  We have a common thread that joins us and that connectedness in community soothes the wounded soul.  As we see ourselves clearly and look directly into our own being,... the relationship with self reveals truth.  There is really no where to turn or run and hide when you deeply set the intention to be present on your mat.  If you discipline yourself and make a commitment to continue to unite with your SELF... a great veil will be lifted.  The depth of the relationship with self can be very healing ( and very scary ) but, if you get to know YOURSELF,... your authentic self,... THEN,... As you are involved in relationships, there will be a sense of peace within.....Will you be completely at ease in all situations? Is this the key to INNER peace?.... No, sadly, no this is not the only answer,.. but it is crucial part of the journey,... As we lift the veil of illusion and get to a deeper place of understanding self, all of the interactions that we have will reveal levels of understanding....thereby deepening the understanding of your own consciousness.  

How do we tie this thread into the questioning of "what type of Yoga do you teach?".  My intent is to share a beautiful practice with those who are interested in the very intense journey of sitting in stillness with self and feeling at peace.  I have practiced and studied with a variety of "teachers" across the globe and made a choice to blend together a fabric of Yoga teachings that is eclectic.   I have worked with a vast majority of practitioners over the 20 years that I have been teaching and I try to weave together what feels right in the moment, for the audience involved, based on my own background... This is what I can do be be authentic in my teaching.  I am a forever student, ... working daily to clear the chatter in my own mind, to work to understand my inner relationships,....and in so doing create a compassionate heart with which to offer guidance on the great journey.  I have always been a passionate person.  I am a lifelong student... I try to be reminded that even as my experience hopefully allows me to encourage others, I am brought amazing lessons daily that come in the form of relationships.  So, in closing, ... what type of Yoga do I teach?  The Yoga that allows you to journey inward and shine brightly forth.