cold, cold winter

So, despite yet another delay at Pleasant Ridge due to the cold, there was a healthy turn-out for the 8:30 class this morning. We continued working on side body long and head of the arm bones back and it is very cool to see how much more folks are understanding from one class to the next. We practiced coming to the top of the head in preparation for Urdhva Dhanurasana, but stayed there working on plugging and unplugging the head of the arm bones with the help of a partner. Everyone made progress here, for some: Huge! The class theme was really undeveloped which was too bad, but seemed to turn itself around OK. My intention had been to discuss what the cold weather in its intensity is asking us in terms of will (ahh, there it is again…) and that we can really choose to allow this extreme cold to cultivate an un-relenting resolve in the practice. Kind of like ” yes, the cards are really stacked against me here, it is sub-zero outside, probably colder than I would like in the studio, and I could just stay in and sip hot cocoa, but I know that if I just get there and breathe and move in the good company of fellow practitioners something may happen that may warm my day like nothing else could, I may shift something in myself that will allow me to be more accommodating during this challenging time of the year.” Something like that at any rate. If that did not come across, better luck next time. And that is really one of the things that gets me so excited about teaching Anusara Yoga. It is not just next time I will aspire to do a better job instructing Suzie Q. in getting her arm bones back, but next time I will more clearly present and carry a theme that will inspire not only Suzie but everyone to experience the deep meaning in each breathes, each adjustment and each action. So we all become through the power of the theme, more capable and allowing, not only in our bodies, but in our hearts and heads too. So very very cool.

Other than this, I love laughing and playing with everyone in each class.

The Wednesday night basic class worked diligently on shins in thighs out, which we have not done in awhile. We must have really been connecting to something bigger too because we had a woman in class for the first time last night who has pretty strong hip pain every time she works out or does yoga. So shins-in thighs-out was the perfect class for her to jump in on. She had so much relief just getting her thighs back that I think it blew her mind a little. As it often does when we have been living with pain for awhile. So that was fun.

Thats it for now. Stay warm and I hope to see everyone soon.

Here we go

So amazing that it is still dark at 7 am… I am enjoying a cup of tea and gearing up to go and teach the 8:30 mixed level class. Ever since the new year we have really been working steadily with the theme of cultivating will. This has been very powerful (for myself at any rate) in generating the focus and passion that is necessary in even beginning to consider making progress in the practice. How cool and exciting is that? Not just that yoga feels great and you feel open and enlivened after class but you are actually going somewhere. Which is not to say that yoga is not all about the journey, it is after all called Practice. But when we talk about getting somewhere, what that really means to me is that every time I step onto my mat and generate any sort of intention, I am making progress in the direction of actually being able to sustain a conscious connection to my own self worth. That is the fruit. And it is so cool in my mind at any rate that we can cultivate that, even have this conversation, through the dedicated practice of asana (and several other practices ofcourse…). I really like the notion that the deeper the backbend gets, the deeper I can penetrate my own heart.

So we are certainly starting the year off well at Align with Nature in our sweet little town Viroqua, Wisconsin. We have a big year ahead of us: moving in to a larger studio; hosting some great teachers for workshops; and some folks are even beginning to contemplate enrolling for Anusara Immersions/ Teacher Trainings. Ali Certain hosted Desiree Rumbaugh (really one of my first and still favorite Anusara Yoga teachers) in St. Paul and a whole big group from Viroqua ventured up for various parts of the weekend. Paula was there all day on Friday, Jessica, Kae, Kristina, and Shelia K. were up Friday night through all day Saturday, and Bill joined us on Saturday. The weekend was really amazing on so many levels. Not the least of which that folks here realized that I am not actually crazy and that people are practicing this way all over the world. Everyone had such a good time and took their experience to a new level (Shelia’s awesome Urdhva Dhanurasana demo!). And really, I could not have gotten any more support in the generating will theme than Desiree provided.

So folks, we have entered the blogasphere… I hope that this will serve us wel. Thats it for this morning.

Love, Meg