Some things we need to learn to adequately navigate the environment in which we are living. Some things we can choose to learn. And sometimes, life gives us the choice of suffering or learning from what life has given us.
Dear Friends,
A cool breeze is blowing through my window as I write, giving a foretaste of glorious fall weather to come.
Although already fully immersed in the throes of work after last week’s study trip to Oregon with John Friend, I am brimming from the teachings and comraderie. Such a trip reminds me of how crucial it is to study and connect to help bring the benefits of yoga off the mat and into my daily life.
This week is free class week at Willow Street Yoga. It is a great way to try out new classes or teachers or to bring friend who is been shy about starting or returning to yoga. I’ll be teaching both my 8:30am Level II and my noon Gentle and Therapeutics classes this Saturday, September 12th. Bring a friend and come check it out.
Looking for an extra class or one great to bring a drop in friend? Come join us for the Tuesday night class at William Penn House. All levels of practitioners welcome. Special prices for public interest workers, students, and seniors.
Wednesday night advanced/intermediate group practice proceeds are still 100% for charity. This month’s cause is “Yoga Salutes Non-violence” a yoga sun-salute practice that raises money for local domestic violence shelters. For more information, check out my friend Cheryl’s website at: http://www.heartofgraceyoga.com/YSNV.php
Upcoming Workshops: Next Saturday, September 19th is the next Serenity Saturday at Capitol Hill Yoga. Get ready for the shift into Fall with a sweet afternoon of deep relaxation and nurture. Can’t make it this month? Put October 17th and November 21st into your calendar for a great way to ease through Fall. To register, please go to: www.capitolhillyoga.com
Looking Ahead: Already trying to make your Thanksgiving plans? If you will be in town, plan to share your gratitude at the 7th Annual Thanksgiving Day fundraiser for Oxfam, which I will be leading at the Willow Street Yoga Center’s Takoma Park studio.
For more information on classes and workshops or to enjoy the blog, visit: www.rosegardenyoga.com or join me on facebook.
Peace and light,
Elizabeth
We did have practice at William Penn House, but I fell asleep before posting. Here’s the front window of William Penn House. We’re going to work on a sign for the yoga.
I’m sure there will be one today, too, though it might not be where I can see it.
I prefer the exhortations: be careful, be mindful, pay attention. It is good to heed what is around us, being open to the optimal next step on the unfolding path.
But if we get too wary or fearful, if we spend too much time watching out for and guarding against danger, then we may well miss opportunities to enhance our lives and those around us.
Peace and light, E — Posted with WordPress for BlackBerry.
This full moon is both the one called by some “guru purnima“–with rituals to honor the teacher–and also the relatively rare blue moon. I’ve been seeing lots of postings on social media about guru purnima by my friends who are engaged in the practice, study, and teaching of yoga. The variations in the postings about guru purnima are as wide as what the person believes is the guru–from recognition of a person who has been named a guru; to teachers, recognized as such; to simply the invocation of our own teacher within. Suggestions for ritual range from specific puja to just an invitation to think about the concept and to recognize those who have imparted wisdom to us that has enhanced our lives (even if we have to do a lot of work to know that).
I’ve never personally been called to have a guru (among other things, it is too counter to my unprogrammed Quaker upbringing). I do, though, have many teachers, some more formally serving in that role than others and I cheerfully honor them today.
I invite you to think about what it means to have teachers, i.e., to be a true student. How we might be living if we consciously interrelate with all around us, human and not, as both a student and teacher all of the time? What quality of listening and openness would that require? What might we be learning? What might we teach?
