BodyMindCircle

 I've had a lot of fun checking out various yoga teacher's classes on zoom.. I always learn something new to share with my students.  In my own zoom classes we are doing the 5 rites of Tibet and the moon salutation.  If you like to sing, we've learned a chant to sing as we.move thru the poses.  The poses are held for quite a while so it's not hard to sing . Singing is good for breath control!

 Moving into a new year!  Is there any way we can prepare ourselves?  Do you make new years resolutions ? It's good to set some intentions, but when we cling to the intentions we set and get disappointed and bent out of shape when they don't come to fruition, that is called "aparigraha", or "grasping".  That is what buddhism says is the cause of suffering.   Sometimes we set our goals based on our aversions.  We might not know what we want, but we clearly know what we don't want. Ie, I know I don't want that virus to permeate our lives anymore.  Yoga and buddhism teach us to accept whatever comes.  This is called "equanimity". Pema chodrin talks about equanimity as having a party and being ok with whoever shows up.  Well, we all have preferences,that is natural, but 2020 has shown us that we really cant choose what shows up in the end.  If we don't like what shows up, we can fuss and fume, but that reaction just increases our suffering.

 Svadaya (pronounced sva, die..ya) Is the sanskrit word for selfstudy. This is a practice that yoga encourages thru the oft repeated question of "who are you, really?" This whole life is given to us and everything we experience provides us with the fodder to help us know Ourselves better.  How do we respond in a stressfull situation?  It is not to judge ourselves as guilty of not fully living up to our potential. But rather to learn to notice and be aware of those times when we act unskillfully and to learn from them.  If I am one to become impatient or angry when I am stressed (I speak from experience) Then, by knowing that my pitta dosha is strong, I can have compassion for myself and for others who respond with anger or impatience.  Instead of beating myself up for having these responses I can say to myself, well, that was not helpful. Great Spirit, thank you for this lesson and please help me to do better next time. We all have formed patterns of behavior and these are ca

 We will have tues am yoga next week with a special theme: nonmaterial  gifts we can give or enjoy ourselves.  Santa will make an appearance! Bring your inner child.  Also bring  a tennis ball or two. And a firm, not slippery blanket. 

Keep the light burning in your heart.   For those who feel alone, without family this holiday, or just in need of some people to connect with,  I 'm going to set up a few zoom meets.  We can get together and talk about whatever  is on your minds/hearts.   I have one zoom set up for Christmas morning from 10-11am.   I am thinking that another in the week before Christmas would also be nice.  Or even as soon as tomorrow.   Please know that I and any others on the zoom are not here to play the role of a counselor and we can not fix problems.. We are just here to be an ear.  Sometimes, it helps just to know others are feeling the same as we are.  You can express joys, sorrows or hopes.  Let me know of your interest.   

 No, I'm not throwing in the towel. Just narrowing down my list of supplies since I just rent space out of a church now, instead of having a yoga studio with lots of storage space.. I have l ots of almost new yoga mats, music  cds, hypnosis cds ( for almost anything you can think of, from a smooth labor to quitting smoking, to sleeping well).  Eye pillows. Meditation cushions, bolsters. I will post a photo here periodically

  When I was considering Peace Church as my new yoga home, I was sitting in back by the fire pit.  I sensed something close by.  There was some ethereal movement in the woods.  Then I saw a gaggle of wild turkeys.  So I researched the meaning of Turkeys.  I'll add more about this later, but the medicine of turkeys is community.  They are really an incredible animal.  Like many people I know, I am trying to eat less meat...mostly because I hate the way that they are cramped into small spaces.  I'm glad that there is a movement towards small family farms where animals get to roam.  Bless the beasts and the children.  This is a sacred time of year. There is a lot of sadness about not being able to be with loved ones. When we  do yoga together, it is sacred time. We tune into the body and the breath . We pause as we hold the pose and between Poses... the goal being to slow down, ...get out of our mind.  In doing so, we reconnect with our temple, our body .  All of this ends with co