The Blog – Page 40 – Generous Wisdom

A Perspective on Break Week

Hey Yogis,

Martin Luther King, Jr. day marks the beginning of our week away from studio classes (at least my studio classes!). I’ll be spending some time reconnecting with my closest people, the little ones, the medium one, and the big one. And hopefully trying something new to broaden my perspective. My invitation to you is to do the same: connect with your people & explore: Keep trying different yoga styles online and in person. Keep trying different teachers within the same tradition or style. Or dip your toe into a new movement practice like Qigong, Tai Chi, cross-country skiing or snowshoeing, or join your people in some of their favorite activities.

Speaking of perspective, when I find interesting quotes or pictures, I print them out and hang them on my walls, so I’m reminded to look beyond my present thoughts, ideas, and opinions. Currently, I’ve got a lot up there in the kitchen, as well as some random ones in the hallways.

One day I noticed markings on my signs, went up close to take a look, found that someone had been doing some underlining. A few days later I noticed the little one flitting around the house with her pencil, popping up to my “sacred signage,” and making marks!! I noticed that this caused me anxiety, as well as surprisingly strong feelings of attachment to these insignificant pieces of paper. After reminding myself that the pieces of paper are, indeed, insignificant (compared to my love for this little graffiti artist), I smiled, exclaimed my surprise at this turn of events, and kindly asked her to stop. At which point she sheepishly began erasing the underlines.

Two things happened: first, my ego-self immediately felt the sacred signage would be even more damaged by the erasures, and second, my true-self realized that I had been too attached and too harsh. So I told my little one not to worry about the marks but to refrain from making any new ones.

She told me she was sorry and explained that she’d only been underlining the most important words. I walked over to see which words she had chosen and found these: Pause, Courage, Mystery, Love, Admiration.

Wow! I thought, this was profound. “Emma,” I said, “You can underline the words on my signs any time!”

“Well,” she replied, “I really just wanted to try out my new mini pencil.”

There are so many different ways of seeing.

********

My prayer for all of us is this:

May we practice awareness,
look closely,
pay attention,
and suspend judgement.

May we pause,
take courage,
embrace the mystery,
and love one another
as though our lives depend on it,
as though we are extensions of the same Ground of Being.

May we take time
to look for the jewels
in our own lives and the lives of others,
even when the jewels are hidden in the dirt
and buried beneath the snow:

Pause
Courage
Mystery
Love
and Admiration.

…and try out something new…!

Amen? Amen.

Class Cancellations & Inclement Weather Policy

Happy Snowy Day, Local Yogis:

During inclement weather, class cancellations will be posted here.

For Saturday, January 19th:

Veteran’s Yoga at the Butterfly House is Cancelled due to snow storm in progress.

*****

Please stay warm and cozy, visit veteransyogaproject.org for awesome guided breathing practices, meditation, mindful movement, guided rest, and gratitude sensing.

*****

Typically, during the winter months when Richland County authorizes a Level 1 Snow Emergency, classes will be cancelled. If Lexington School district cancels, my daytime classes will automatically be cancelled; the evening classes will be decided later in the day.

During the summer months, our outdoor yoga class will be cancelled if rainstorms are in progress or are immanent. I will make a decision no later than one hour prior to class time.

If you would like to receive text messages regarding future cancellations, please follow these steps:

Enter this number: 81010

Text this message: @yogapr

Happy Practicing!

Last Week In Yoga: Both/And

Welcome to the “This Week in Yoga” Series.

I know, the title of today’s piece is “Last Week in Yoga,” but the idea has come a week into our first series, so, better late than never!

The concept we worked with last week is the idea that two seemingly disparate things, or, sensations, emotions, and thoughts, can co-exist. For instance, if one of your most physically challenging yoga poses is Revolved Triangle (parivrtta trikonasana) or Crow (bakasana), you might consider inviting a sense of ease into the pose by unclenching your jaw, or directing your gaze downward, lengthening the cervical spine.

Try it out (follow the links above for direction): once you’re in each of the postures, first, clench your jaw on purpose then let go; second, tip your face toward the front wall, ceiling or sky, then angle your nose toward the ground. Notice there is space between the upper and lower teeth, and space between the back of the head and back of the neck; tension is released, and ease is uncovered.

Now that you’ve created all kinds of space, notice how empowering it is to feel the strength throughout the length of your back leg, your side abdominals and back muscles, and your supporting and extending arms in revolved triangle, as well as your “everything else(!)” in crow pose.

The intention of practicing Both/And is to embrace the fact that ease exists alongside intensity. Our yoga practice doesn’t have to be “all intensity” or “all ease,” “all strength and high energy” or “all rest and relaxation.” This Both/And practice allows us to circumvent an experience of Either/Or: either complete boredom and atrophy, or, overwhelming strain and exhaustion in our mat-based (sometimes vinyasa) yoga practice. Instead, we get to experience our own power, the power to notice and acknowledge all that is present in the moment, which is no small accomplishment.

Keep in mind, our power is also a piece of this Both/And journey, for power is not strength alone, but a combination of strength and grace, and maybe even courage.

Happy Practicing!

The Catholic Yogi