Late Night

I am amazingly done with my day, but wanted to put up a quick note on classes.

It was fun to see familiar faces at the Basics class last night. We really have not had that class for quite awhile but everyone jumped right back in with just as much enthusiasm and readiness as ever. Amy came to class again which is always good to see and she even brought her daughter Maddie which is so cool. We have a few mother-daughter combinations that come to the wednesday night class. That is so fun to see for me as yoga is something that I very joyfully share with my mom too.

That class worked primarily on shoulder loop in a variety of poses: lots of down dog, salabasana, uttanasana, vira 2 , prasarita padotannasana and supta padangustasana. We worked with the theme of creating an energetic matrix around your practice that supports what we work to cultivate on the mat when we are not even necessarily on the mat. This is something I have been thinking about a lot more lately that was really fueled by something that John said in Tucson and then Christina rephrased so beautifully in terms of creating the time and the space that supports your endeavor. This really makes me smile because on the very 1st piece of marketing material that i put out for Align with Nature almost 2 years ago I said that I wanted to create “a space to hold the energy, and an energy to hold the yoga”. Something like that.

This morning at 8:30 we did a nice vinyasa class moving in the direction of backbends with some nice stops on the way in Pinca prep, ardha chandrasana, vasistasana, and bakasana. We looked agian at the theme of Shraddha, or faith, because i was so inspired by Christina’s (of course - she is just so on fire right now it is hard to not be deeply affected) blog entry on how she has been working with this theme in classes this week. One thing that she wrote that really struck me is: ” We have to trust our help to help us get to the place where we trust ourselves and where we are actually trustworthy. True faith can bear questions, can bear scrutiny, can bear moments of doubt and uncertainty along the way. When our heart is placed optimally, then we are able to withstand the ups and downs that come our way in a life of practice.” To me this is really acknowledging to movement of faith as something so much more powerful than a projected sentiment or emotion, it has suddenly become purposeful and indeed of vital importance in our own dharma. If our ability to truly trust in ourselves is not being deepened through our practice, that it seems to me that we may be way off track.

Isn’t this fun? It is to me and hopefully to you too if you are reading these blogs. I just love that there is no end point at all, that the conversation is ever continuing and expanding. We may loop back around to something again, but it is never truly the same because it is always more. Chit Ananda.

My friend Tammy the Rolfer is here offering that work to some lucky folks in town. We have actually put together a very full schedule for her. She worked on 3 folks this afternoon, and will see 5 more people tomorrow. So she is busy and that is fun. Hopefully we will find time to practice together while she is here. Aside from being a fantastic body worker, she is also a talented Anusara-Inspired yoga teacher.

OK. Night, night.

Home groove

So things are plugging along here. My immune system is a little bit depressed after so much travel and a busy schedule so I am balancing my time between napping and getting ready for the studios spring transitions. Also, I am hosting my friend Tammy Limbach from Port Washington at the end of this week. She is a really fantastic yoga teacher and rolfer and she will be up to work on Chris and I and a few other folks. i am very excited about this. I am a pretty big believer in this work. I went through the 10 sessions about 4 years ago and it really fascilitated a dramatic shift in my life not to mention was a big part of helping me move out of chronic lower back pain (that and the sure-fire Universal Principles of Alignment, naturally). So, I am quite thrilled to offer Tammy to the community here. Who knows, maybe some peps will sign up for the 10 and we will have her on a regular basis. (Chris actually is going to do the 10, so if anyone is interested you should definitely let me know).

I taught this morning for the first time in about 2 weeks and it was great to see some of the regulars right back at it. We are only having class this week and next before we take a lengthy 3 week break to transition into sessions. So if you have been missing class you should definitely try to make it now before this long break.

I haven’t taken a break like this since I started teaching in Viroqua and it was actually not as hard as it has been in the past to jump back in to teaching. that probably had something to do with all of the learning that took place in Tucson, but truthfully I usually feel a little overwhelmed with information to offer anything with very much clarity right off the bat. I think that I really have this community to thank for the clear transition this morning. We are just building such a nice little yoga scene here, it is so fun to be a part of. And obviously there has been a lot of mindful community building in Viroqua long before I arrived on the scene, it is just really splendid to be a part of the community unfolding.

I actually filmed class this morning, and I think that it may be the best class that I have recorded to date. I got some fantastic feedback from John and some friends while in Tucson and i really feel more supported and clearer than ever. It is such an honor to even be in the process of certification with Anusara. No matter how many detours I have taken in the last 5 years, moving, getting married, having a baby, opening a studio, the Kula still really supports everyone (including me) and holds me up to the highest. And even though this process has been incredibly frustrating at times, I would so much rather continually strive to be the best Anusara Yoga teacher that I can be than have those standards lowered so that i can hang a certificate on the wall. Hopefully this is serving as a little pep talk to those of you beginning to humor the idea of walking down this path, because it is magnificent. Few other endeavors in my life have brought me so close to the edge of all of my crap and all the while held me in total Grace. I would not trade any of this for anything.

On a more family oriented personal note before I head off to bed: I took Maple back to the Dentist today to check out how the decay is in some of her teeth. (Many of you know of the adventure that has been Maple’s teeth). He said that they look great. There is a little bit of decay in the front bottoms but they are not soft and he said that whatever we are doing is definitely working so keep it up! There is so much joy in this for me. And I really want to acknowledge everyone who has supported us and guided us through this process. Including our family and friends and very specifically Dr. B, Dr. Funk, Dr. Scott (thank you Kathy O. for connecting me with him- he has really been the final link in the puzzle) and for the wisdom and clarity of Craig Williams who simply revealed the simple reality of dairy in Maple’s life (thank you Christina for leading me to him).

Its all yoga after all.

Love.

Sunshine

It is so nice to arrive back in Viroqua on such a sunny day. It actually feels warm here which is kind of a surprise after spending the last week in the desert. It definitely snowed while we were away and I hear that more is on the way. The icicles coming off our roof are incredible!

So the last few days with the community were fantastic. The groove that you get into when you have a long stretch like that with John and a large chunk of the community is pretty much beyond words. But it is a palpable difference from how you feel on the 1st or even the 3rd day. In the Flow.

I feel very juiced up now and ready to share with the gang here. We have a lot of great things to look forward to in the coming months at Align with Nature. After taking a big break for most of March, we will start classes up again April 1st (roughly the same time that the website is formally launched!). When classes start up again we will have transitioned to a session format, which means that all classes will be a pre-registration format and will have a minimum of 10 students in each class. Drop-ins will still be available, but the majority of students will be registered for the entire session which will allow for a lot more progress to be made in each class. This is really exciting to me because it means that we will be able to establish a much deeper understanding for the Anusara Yoga method in each class, as each class will build upon the last.

Which is so fantastic considering that we are going to be hosting some fabulous guest teachers this summer! Christina Sell is coming June 20-22 to teach a weekend workshop and I just set a date with Darren Rhodes to teach August 22-24. We are so lucky because these are both nationally recognized Anusara teachers who frequently assist John in his workshops and to host them in Viroqua is truly incredible.

In fact, Anusara Yoga and John Friend are headlining the Estes Park Yoga Journal Convention this coming September, and both Christina and Darren will be teaching at that. This is basically going to be a 7 day celebration of Anusara, with all of our most prominent teachers, including asana, meditation, and philosophy gathered together to Light the Sky! (Light the Sky being the theme of the 2008 Merry Band tour). If any of you are at all inclined to head out that way, I support you all the way. I am hoping to be there for at least some of the week.

So, I can’t wait to see folks again this week in class. I learned so much that I look forward to sharing, but what I am mostly filled with and want to make offering of, is John’s Grace and that of the entire Kula. I am so fortunate to have something so beautiful to share and offer up in this sweet little corner of the world that we live in together. So thanks to each of you for always being so supportive and appreciative. I take a little bit of each of you when I go and truly it is you that I continue to learn the most from. Maha Blessings!

Homeward bound

So today is the last day and we are headed back to cold winter land. There is one 4 hour session this morning and we are leaving mid way through. John has promised backbends, we shall see what happens. He wanted to do backbends yesterday morning but the day unfolded with a lot of Q&A, which was really perfect. A lot of important questions got answered so that was good. I have more to write on yesterday, but we need to get going now and begin a big day of travel. I will try and catch up to speed tonight or tomorrow. It is sad for the week to end, but over all I learned so much and am really excited to share with everyone at home. See you soon!

Day 3

There is a lunar eclipse happening right now which is the perfect set up for tomorrow’s lecture. John will be talking to us about the malas which are the 3 cloaks that conceal the truth of our hearts from ourselves. I bet I will have something more to share on this tomorrow. Today we talked primarily about the gunas and the rasas, both of which I totally love, especially from a Tantric perspective. The way that I understand the gunas is that they really exist along a spectrum with rajas at one end and tamas at another. Rajas guna is expressed as heating, stimulating, expanding and dynamic. Represented by air and fire. Tamas Guna is stillness, quiet, inertia, cooling, condensing etc. It is more like water and earth. And then Sattva Guna is balance and luminosity. And Sattva can move along the spectrum between rajasic and tamasic depending on the context. The example that John always gives is that at night when you are getting ready to fall asleep, it is sattvic to have heavier, slower, more tamasic energy. So content is really not as important as context.

I really love this and probably most of you have heard me go off on this more than once. The rasas are like the flavors of life or the emotional spectrum. They correspond with the Doshas and with the elements. One thing that is really important to understand about Anusara Yoga philosophy is that the way that we interpret principle is relatively flexible (refer back to context not content). That the answer that you get today may not be the answer that you get tomorrow because the situation will have changed and the factors will be different. This is not to say that Anusara is loose, because in fact it is anything but and you really need to know your information. But when we look at something like the rasas and start talking about specific emotions, every one has a place at the appropriate time. Even ones that we may have considered to be negative, like anger or fear or depression. They all are important in the appropriate context. In fact they actually assist us in moving up the scale to other emotions such as compassion, courage and wonder and on toward peace, love and joy. John spoke a little bit earlier in the day about creating a time and space matrix for the practice. That is to say that the consistency in the specific time and place that you set up to do your practice actually contains and further cultivates the energy of the actual practice, even in the time between. This is very cool, and not only because it speaks to regularity but also to the intention that you create around said time and space. See none of this is arbitrary… Christina asked a great question about the 25 tattvas of the relative world which brought a lot of clarity to my understanding about that. Even though it is the relative world that we are talking about, it is still pre-manifestation, so the jnanendriyas, karmendriyas, and tanmatras are energies moving toward specific manifestation in the form of the mahabhutas, the 5 elements expressed in the form and functions of the human body. This is really kind of out there, but very, very cool. Those were basically the highlights of the day. Rachel, Chritina, Maple and I went to Fujiyama for dinner and that was very fun and yummy. I am getting ready to leave the city though, and so is my little bug. It has been fun, and one part of me is very sad to say goodbye to friends and I love the intensity of this much practice and study, but I am also feeling the call to restore balance to my family. Plus there are so may exciting projects that I am working on at home that I am eager to return to . Before saying goodnight I just have to express my infinite gratitude to my mother. She has so selflessly supported me over the last 2 years as I have travelled to study with John. She takes time out from her life and her business to come and basically be a single parent to Maple (OK it is not that bad- but this is a grueling schedule and it is really tough on little ones). It just blows my mind how much she believes in me, and I can feel it so fully through her love and support. Thank you Mom from the bottom of my heart. I can only hope to be as supportive and loving to my own children. I love you! OK. Goodnight all.

Master Immersion Day 2

I did not post last night as I was in bed at 8:30 and I think actually asleep before Maple.I woke up this morning feeling totally refreshed and very set up for a great day. Which really is exactly what unfolded. But before I get to far into today, a short recap on yesterday.It is always interesting when one training moves right into another and because there were so many folks that both stayed on from the weekend and were just arriving yesterday, there was a mixing of energy that took a while to settle into one another. Also, the nature of the weekend was more intense than the immersion, what with the Spanda Karikas and the individuals in attendance. Very sophisticated, very refined, and a lot of experience in the room. The master immersion on the other hand is John presenting the heart of Anusara Yoga philosophy, which I totally love because it is like coming home to why I love this method so much.So we went right in to talking about the 36 tattvas, which are basically the world view for Tantric philosophy. It is so fun because I have heard this lecture so many times and seen John’s chart so many times, but every time that I do, my understanding not only penetrates more deeply, but I inevitably hear something (or many things) for the first time. I love that. We just get to keep going deeper and deeper into the same information so that our understanding is truly ever expanding. It is a living tradition.Then John asked what the 6 attributes of the Supreme are. Whenever John ask for an exact # of something, that pretty much means that there is a list that you were at one time given and should have memorized. you do not know when you will be asked to repeat the list. The 6 attributes of the Supreme are: 1) goodness or auspiciousness 2) chit (it is self-knowing 3) ananda (it is ecstatic) 4) spanda (it pulsates) 5) purna (it is fullness) 6) swatantria (it is absolutely free). Today we did a little bit more yoga which was great. It was Patrick’s, who is from Hong Kong, birthday today, so the practice centered around 35 surya namaskars in honor of him and then concluded with a bunch of Urdhva Dhanurasanas. My body felt great today, my heart flowing and my head clear. In part to this being Day 5 of intense yoga and study, but also from a great nights sleep that unfolded into one of those classic Tucson days where the sky is just so clear and so vast that you really get a hit of endless expansion. Totally perfect. Down here these days are almost a dime a dozen, but coming from the winter that we are having at home, a day like this is pure ecstasy. And it really reminded me of so many adventures that I have had in this part of the world where I have truly been enveloped and carried by this clarity. Very Sweet.John taught today on Adhikara and the 5 qualities of studentship as expressed through the 5 elements. I love this teaching, because again it honors the unique qualities of the individual without losing sight of finding balance within the universal. Then in the afternoon he talked about the 5 acts of Shiva, and Monoush, who is the man with the Murtis in the Anusara shri-tale department told a great story about Patanjali and Nataraj, and that is always fun (this particular story was masterfully interwoven into the teaching). The 5 acts of Shiva are: 1) creation 2) sustaining 3) dissolution 4) concealment and 5) revelation. Fabulous.I am having dinner with Rachel and Christina tomorrow, but I will try to post when I get home (temporary Tucson home. I have not forgotten that I live in Wisconsin where it is -15 degrees and there is over a foot of snow on the ground…. I have to say it is awfully nice not to have to put a snowsuit and boots on Maple every time we head out the door. Oh well). Tomorrow I am hopefully firming up the date that Darren is coming to Viroqua so that is exciting. Also, Geri is working on a flyer for Christina’s workshop so those should be out soon. That really is just right around the corner in June. Perfect time really because planting will be done and everyone will just be settling into the long days of summer. What better than a weekend of yoga and good company?Night, night.

Day 3

The Advanced Intensive is officially over and tomorrow begins the Master Immersion. I have no photos to post tonight as it turns out we are not supposed to take pictures. Oops. Maybe not a bad thing as I have not quite figured out how to easily put up photos. Not so savvy with the technology. I know. It should be easy. And I suppose that it is. Just not yet. Spanda after all. But I will take other interesting photos. Like of people that I like with Maple. And of cactus.Today was really a good day. I was in Noah and Christina’s group for reviewing the stanzas today which was very interesting for me. They both think, and process information in a way that is so different from me and it is exciting where that can take me in my own interpretation and understanding. Also John gave us his translations and commentary on the Spanda Karikas and so far I enjoy the clarity of his presentation. Also given that this is the school that I am trained in, it makes sense that his interpretation would be one that resonates for me. John also lectured in the afternoon about the rasas as the full spectrum of emotion as they arise out of the 5 elements and relate to the doshas. Very cool.The asana was very fun. We did a lot of handstand and pinca variations and I worked a lot with Mary Kate who used to live in Prescott too. Her hubby and mine (both named Chris) used to work with each other at Kelly and Christina’s coffee shop, so that was neat. It is very fun to work with a capable partner and just really feel their support as you venture into some unfamiliar territory. And it is so fun for me to have new things to work on. I love that.Tonight Maple and Mom and I ate at Ghandis. One of my favorite Indian restaurants. We all enjoyed our meals immensely and I am scheming on how to get back there sometime during the week. That is one thing that I so wish that we had in Viroqua. Good Indian food. Yum.So some new folks arrive tomorrow, among them my great friend Rachel. I have known her from the beginning. She is also a Kapha goddess which I adore because it totally balances Christina and I out. Even though Christina and I love to practice with each other, my vata can aggravate her pitta and vice versa. So when Rachel arrives, we place her in between us and have a perfect tri-doshic sandwich. More tomorrow.

Advanced Intensive: day 1

We had a slow time getting the internet set up in the house that we are renting but hopefully now things will run smoothly there. I am pretty tired after a full first day so this will be brief and then it is off to bed. Sounds like there has been a lot of snow at home. It has been raining steadily here with pretty cold temps for Tucson. We have actually been pretty cold. Kind of ironic.The first day was fantastic, a much more mellow vibe than in years past yet still with mind-blowing asana. It is truly amazing to look around a room and see everybody doing a difficult posture without much instruction, a prop or a partner. (Christina took some great photos and they are up on her blog). One thing that really struck me is that something like viparita chakrasana (handstand to Urdhva Dhanurasana and back to handstand) that in the past has always been a partner pose, half of the room was able to do on their own. Whoa... All of my friends that I practiced by were definitely laying it down and I would wait for them to be done and then come over a spot me. Totally amazing! Of course, now I am thinking, how can I: a) learn how to practice this at home on my own with no spot, or b) teach someone to spot me. The cool thing is though, that I really got the feeling of oh yeah, I can do this, and in the past I had really written something like that off for my practice.Really and truly the energy of the group is so great. There are around 145 folks in the intensive and everybody is very kind and full of joy to connect with old friends and make some new ones too. The invocation is so beautiful with this many people, especially because everyone is so sensitive, really tuning into one another and looking for the harmony, not trying to stand out on their own. John is to credit for this, as well as the sophistication of the community. But he really sets the dominant energy and everyone aligns to that. And his energy is very powerful but perhaps more gentle than I have ever experienced it. There is no pushing or forcing, just a lot of waiting for the opening and going in with reverence and focus.That was actually the theme of the afternoon. The way that the days are broken down is that the first hour of each session we spend going through the Spanda Karikas, one of the main texts of the Tantric tradition. Then we do 2 hours of asana (which really ends up being around 2 3/4 hours, so I do not feel so bad about perpetually ending class 10 minutes late!).So now I must really go to bed. I miss you all. I hope that you are enjoying the snow. More later. Love.

Day 2

For some unknown reason, I drank green tea at 9pm last night and was up until midnight. The other side of that coin was Maple’s wake-up at 5:15 this morning. (I should really just do a whole post on mothering and yoga study- because that is really in many ways the hardest part of this training. Our sessions are supposed to be 3 hours but end up being more like 4, and for a little girl and mama who are used to spending most of their day together, this is a big adjustment. I may be worse of than her though. I got home tonight and she was singing and dancing to a new kids cd with Gramma).We spent about an hour and a half on the Spanda Karikas and then dove right in to the asana. The funny thing about the advanced intensive is that John really doesn’t have to teach the poses, he just calls out the names and people do them. He stops when it is necessary to show us something really wild that maybe we have never tried before, but that is about it. Throughout the practice today he emphasized taking rest between poses (efforts) to dive deeply inside. This in general really makes the rhythm of even a very challenging list of postures much more calm than usual. I love that. Good for the Vata girl who is doing her best to keep all neurosis in check. Which is pretty hard when the body gets stimulated, the mind really has to stay a few paces behind for everything to be OK. And it is OK. Actually, it is great. My body feels great, it is so fun to be with good friends doing something I love. The only challenge (other than the afore mentioned mothering bit) is that I am really not finding the time to enjoy all of the wonderful foods that I remember from living here. In fact, we have prepared all of our meals so far. Isn’t that funny coming from Viroqua? Oh well. I will have to work on that. Oh, if you read the previous post, you will be happy to know that we worked on chakrasana again this morning, and i actually think that if I focus on it a bit that I will be able to do it on my own soon. So that feels good. On to the photos. These are all pictures of Gandabherandasana. Except of course for the one of Pokapoke, Maple’s silly squirrel, wearing her shoes.

Out of the Cold

OK gang. We have one more class tomorrow. And then, I hate to say this, but I’m out of here. Don’t worry. I love you and will be back. In fact, back with lots more juice to share with each of you. But I will be posting regularly while I am in Tucson, so do check in and see what is happening. Also comment! I would love that.