Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Post Weekend Workshop: June 24

So, it is my post weekend workshop with Christina Sell resolution to post more on this blog. Yippie. Things are in super fast change mode around these parts, but all of that is very fun and very worth sharing about.

The weekend was amazing! We had an intimate group, 12-15 people per session, so everybody received a ton of personal attention. Christina is just such a brilliant teacher, in my opinion, really one of the best. She does such a skillful job of leading people through a lot of yoga AND also getting a lot of teaching done concurrently. Does not always happen like that. We focused a lot on the difference between pelvic loop and outer spiral and did some great work really deeply rotating the leg in the socket and taking it all the way down to the foot. This led to some great, deep hip openers, hanumanasana and some fun arm balances. She also taught so clearly on the difference between opening the shoulders separate from the upper back, really fun hard work that we will be focusing on more in class in the weeks to come. There were also so many wonderful anecdotal little pieces that she shared throughout the weekend, little quotes that would spontaneously occur to her that really served to deepen everyones understanding of the yoga, from the UPA’s to the Grand Purpose.

My friend and fellow inspired teacher Tammy,from Port Washington, Wisconsin made the trip with a few of her students and that was great. She is such a light and so it was so fun for me to have her meet Christina, who I also adore. It was amazing to realize that I have been practicing with Christina for about 9 years and there is just such a wonderful depth to our relationship. She is forever my teacher, my mentor, and my dear, dear friend. We were able to spend a bunch of great time together, even had 2 fantastic practices together, which is really my favorite way to spend time with her. She is absolutely my favorite person to practice with! What a treat to not have to fly across the country to so it! (Well, that is not entirely true, as she actually had to fly across the country…)

At any rate, she will be coming back at the end of April 2009 to do another weekend workshop with us, and hopefully sometime in November as well. It is just so awesome to have my favorite teacher teach my students! I really saw it this morning in class. Pretty much everyone that had been there this weekend was in class this morning and to see how everyone has shifted already… very cool.

Summer session starts up next week, Monday 3:30-5 and Thursday 9-10:30. Again the classes are not going to run this session with less than 10 people, so be sure to sign up. I will know for sure on Thursday how it is looking and let folks know at that point. Also, I am hoping to teach a workshop toward the end of the summer, just a 3 hour deal on how to create a home practice. Should be great.

OK. That’s it for now. Go check out Christina’s blog!

Love.

Friday, June 13, 2008

June 13th

Maybe I will get into the habit of putting up the date until we are in the new format so that we can at least have a sense of how far apart these entries actually are…

So, the workshop is in 1 week. Holy Cow! We have an official venue and that is Carol Anne Kemen’s studio, actually down the hall from my own in the Landmark Building, 500 e jefferson street, viroqua, wis 54665. So the motto must be better late than never as registration forms are finally beginning to come in and it is looking like we will have a nice size group.

Also, registration is open for the summer session, running june30th through the end of august, 8 weeks with one week off. There will be a level2 class on Monday afternoons from 3:30-5pm and a level 1 class Thursday mornings from 9-10:30am. There is a 10 person minimum per class so please, sign up soon! It would really be sad to not have a class run!

I hope to post again over the weekend about recent themes etc… For now, I am off to enjoy the sunshine.

Love.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Too Long, Again....

While I am waiting for the website to be launched I am not posting as much. I apologize for this, but I just cannot be sure where the posts will land.

At any rate, summer is here (with some torrential rains) and things are certainly picking up as far as yoga goes. Align with nature is hosting its first workshop ever the weekend after next with Christina Sell. This is so exciting as she is a dear friend, my first Anusara teacher and really and truly in my opinion, one of the best Anusara Yoga teachers out there. She is so clear, precise and devoted, in all areas. Her understanding of alignment is unparalleled and her experience as a practitioner is readily apparent and accessible in her teaching. We are so lucky to have her and I hope to see many of you there. We are still a little bit up in the air as far as the venue is concerned, but that will all be worked out in the next few days.

As far as public classes are concerned, I have been sick off and on for much of May and the beginning of this month, and that has affected classes a bit. I have not been posting sequences which I apologize for and I hope to get back in the swing of that this next week. There are only 2 weeks left of this session but due to some cancellations, the Tuesday and Wednesday classes will meet again the following week. In other words, the session will be extended one week except for the Thursday class. If you have any make ups that you need to do, you essentially have 8 classes left to do them in. So come to class! It is actually really fun to drop in to a different class and just feel the way that the energy is a little different from your regular class.

Registration for the next session begins this next week. The schedule will be a little bit different for the summer, and the session is shorter, 8 weeks as opposed to 12, and $70 as opposed to $100. I will have the new schedule up on Tuesday. I am going to be a little more strict about classes running with a minimum of 10 students. That means that if you want your class to run, make sure you and your friends sign up.

As for other news in the region, Desiree Rumbaugh will be at Yoga View in Chicago on Thursday and at Yoga Werks in Barrington Friday through Sunday. Chad, who owns Yoga Werks says that this will be her last visit for awhile as her schedule is really full all the way through 2009. I know it is a bit of a trek, but very worth it. However, if 2 consecutive weekend workshops is a little too much for you, I would really recommend staying in town and walking to class with Christina all weekend. I cannot say enough about what an opportunity it is to have a teacher of this caliber in our own town. I literally fly all over the country to attend events like this, which is so much more time consuming not to mention expensive. And just think, for $170 you can attend 10 hours of world class yoga, then go eat in your own house (or at your own co-op), go swimming, spend time with your family, and basically share the vibrancy of your experience in class with your immediate community. How cool is that!

OK, no more sales pitch for now. I can’t wait to see you all in class this week. For now, stay dry and enjoy the fullness of the season.

Love.