If you can tell me where I was standing when I took this picture (street corner–that’s a hint–is sufficient; latitude and longitude not needed), your next Tuesday night yoga class is free. Please email rather than comment so you don’t spoil the fun for others. If you posts the answer no one else gets to play and that would not be sharing the yoga love.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
Holiday Weekend
Thank you a lot for providing
Remarkably special possibility
Always so brilliant and
Packed with amusement
To study the new secrets
At all times fulfilled
With remarkable principles
Completely the most suitable
We have all ever had
That would contradict
The affirmation they
Would make of beliefs.
It is an affirmation that my life suits me, when I am happy to be home (even working) after a spectacular vacation.
Dear Friends ,
As I went through the airport in each direction last week on my way to and from San Francisco to play and to visit with friends, I thought about how much our experience even of something as relatively ordinary as a trip through the airport can change by the difference of 15 minutes. On the way there, we got to the gate just as the flight was boarding. Had we been earlier, we would have sat in a crowded area, perhaps wondering whether the flight would actually leave on time or whether we could leave from home a little later next time. If we had been 15 minutes later, we would have been among those frustrated and harried late boarders whose bags end up over some seat 15 rows farther back.
We each have our own tolerance for sitting and waiting or being at the last minute, respectively. We go through life more easily if we pay sufficient attention to what makes us feel challenged and what makes us feel secure and grounded with regard to how we navigate time and space and figure out how to act in ways that are most supportive (without dulling awareness or denying how we could benefit from change and growth).
An important aspect of meditation and asana practice is how they can deepen our understanding both of how we tend to relate to things in our time-space continuum and how to optimize those relationships. For example, part of learning to sequence a practice is learning how the parts of our body fit together and how to change the order of movements to expand our strength and flexibility beyond what might otherwise have been possible in a safe and joyous way. In all my classes, I emphasize how to structure and sequence your own practice because I think it makes such a difference on and off the mat.
What triggered all this thinking about what a difference 15 minutes can make was that students have been asking for a later time for the Friday night gentle/therapeutics class at Willow Street Takoma Park. Starting this Friday, September 14th, class will begin at 5:45pm and end at 7:15pm–15 minutes later than it has been in previous sessions. The extra 15 minutes later start time can make all the difference in being able to get to class without feeling pressed. Ending only 15 minutes later still leaves open much of the evening. The class is a lovely way to transition from week to weekend–a Friday yoga happy hour and a half that is designed to heal and nourish. Although it is best to sign up for a class to get all the benefits of the progressive teaching method at Willow Street Yoga, drop-ins are always welcome. Do feel free to invite friends or family to join you.
New students of all experience levels are always welcome at the Tuesday night, William Penn House practice. Come by some time and join a wonderful, welcoming group of yogis. For more information, please check the classes page of the website.
Hope to see or speak to many of you soon in person or in the ether. And remember: spending even 15 minutes a day in meditation or yoga practice can make quite a difference in your relationship to life in time and space.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
Dear Friends,
Brrr. It’s cold out there. And if it is seeming colder than usual, you are right. There have only been five winters on record with fewer days above 50F in Washington, DC. Perhaps, like me, you have noticed that you are feeling just a tad sensitive or edgy or maybe a little blue. I recognize the symptoms; in my distant past, a therapist suggested that I might have “seasonal affective disorder.” My prescription for myself when winter has me feeling down? Do more yoga, keeping a focused intention on cultivating the light of inner awareness.
The form of meditation I practice is intended to allow the practitioner to rest in the light of inner awareness. One of the aspects of the Anusara principle of “opening to grace” for me is to open to the light in myself and others. On a more physical level, backbends will open up your heart and make room for the light; core work will warm you up by stoking the agni, the inner fire; forward bends will help you go deep inside to find your own light. There is a light-filled practice for every day of the week, every time of day, and every mood you are in.
Avoid the temptation to huddle inside, eating too many carbs and hiding away. When the sidewalks are passable, bundle up and take a long walk. When you come back inside, do a good therapeutic and restorative practice–it’s as good as hot chocolate (and no one said you couldn’t have the hot chocolate, too). Invite friends over for a potluck. Cook bean soups. Have hot cereal for breakfast and perhaps for dinner. Balance the warm food with the freshest of fresh food by growing sprouts on the kitchen counter.
Want to light up your yoga fire, sun, inner light with company? Join me and your friends and neighbors at William Penn House classes on Tuesdays at 6:30. Need a little R&R or found you have tweaked something shoveling or walking on the ice and snow? Drop ins are always welcome at the gentle and therapeutics class at Willow Street, Takoma Park, Saturdays at noon. Give yourself something to look forward to by signing up in advance for the second “Relaxing Into Optimal Alignment with Anusara Restoratives” workshop at Willow Street on Saturday, February 26th.
And plan for Spring with “Yoga for Gardeners,” the weekend of the Spring Equinox–yes, it is only weeks away. As has been my practice in previous years, my profits will go to support the Youth Garden at the National Arboretum.
Looking forward to sharing, expanding, and delighting in the light with you soon.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
Excellent example of why it is good to look and pause before taking action–such as picking a blossom.
