balance – Generous Wisdom

6 week Yoga Class Series

Dear Yoga Friends,

We are deep into Winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and I was thinking it would be really supportive to play some yoga, supporting each other on our way to Spring.

I will be offering a 6 week series of live, online, interactive classes starting next Sunday evening, Feb. 14, and going through the second day of Spring, March 21.

Yes, Feb. 14 is Valentine’s day and many of you might have big plans. But this week was the Super Bowl, so it was tricky. I’ve decided to start on Valentine’s Day because I really like the idea of this yoga practice being a sweet gift to ourselves. (And you could always include the class as part of your date night!)

This series is called Yoga TLC: Deep Practices for Wintering through to Spring. You can expect lots of tenderness, loving-kindness, and, of course, care.

I’ve been studying polyvagal theory, yoga therapy, and a whole lot of figuring out what works in my daily life, and I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ve learned. Classes will include ways to access our inner resources, restore a sense of balance, and cultivate resilience in the face of difficulty. These practices are for times of challenge, dormancy, low-light, feeling out of sorts, and anything else that comes along with Winter. It is true that we’re also living through a pandemic, so these practices have become even more essential. We could easily call this series “Pandemic Yoga.”

Here are the details:

Yoga TLC
Sunday evenings
7:00-8:30pm (EST)
Feb. 14-Mar. 21
Online, Interactive Zoom
(Recordings will be available)

Because times are challenging, I’d like to offer these classes on a donation basis. Please only give according to your comfort level, and do not feel compelled to make any financial offering at all. We give when we can, and we receive when we need to. Both of these are necessary practices on the journey.

If you like, you may consider donating by class or by series. Each class will build on knowledge acquired in preceding classes, so the best experience is to attend every class in the series if possible.

Suggested Donation Tiers for the 6 Week Series:
$30
$60
$90
Yogi’s Choice

Suggested Donation Tiers per Class:
$5
$10
$15
Yogi’s Choice

Each class will begin with a discussion of the week’s theme and include centering, movement, meditation, relaxation, and reflection time (journaling or sketching). There will be time built in to the beginning and end for discussion if you feel comfortable asking questions or sharing thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

All classes will be followed by an email with extra resources and support for taking the practices through your week: recording link, journal prompts, encouragement, poetry, and music.

Click here to register.

Hope to see you soon!

Amy

The Universal Yogi

Free Online Yoga for Veterans

Spread the word! Share this info with your active and retired military service members and their families.

Free Online Yoga For Veterans ~ Mindful Movement for Resiliency

Saturdays, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Free

During this time of social distancing, we are currently teaching our Yoga for Veterans Classes live online through either Facebook or the Zoom platform. Please join the Veterans Yoga of Mid-Ohio facebook group to gain access to livestream. And reach out for details on how to sign up to receive a link to join if/when we try out interactive classes on Zoom. You can email me here, or message the Mansfield, Ohio Veterans Yoga Facebook page.

Veterans Yoga in Richland County was founded by Dale Warren as a way to support veterans and their families. Area teachers take turns leading free weekly classes for veterans, as well as their family members.

Yoga for Veterans ~ Mindful Movement for Resiliency classes will focus on mindful breathing and moving, the relationship between the body and mind, and the ways in which a regular yoga practice can help relieve stress and uncover a sense of balance and ease in daily life, as well as in particularly stressful circumstances.

We will explore various breathing practices, gentle movement and postures, deep relaxation, and gratitude meditation. All are encouraged to move at their own pace, take breaks, and ask questions. Please feel free to use any yoga props and supports you might have available, as well as a chair if you would benefit from a seated practice.

Yoga for Veterans Mindful Movement for Resiliency offers students the space and time to explore, remain curious, challenge themselves, be gentle with themselves, and ask for and receive support. This class is open to active military, veterans, and family members.

To find out more, please email questions to Dale at veteransyoga@aol.com and keep in touch with veterans yoga via facebook.

Please visit Veterans Yoga Project @ veteransyogaproject.org/practice for excellent tools to aid you in your journey.

Visit the Veterans’ Resource List for other helpful websites and books.

Photo credit: Pexels

This Week in Yoga: Precision & Stability

Hi, Yoga Friends,

If you practiced in the studio with me a couple weeks ago, you might remember our focus was precision and stability. Precision is the quality of being accurate, and stability refers to firmness, solidity, steadiness, secureness, & strength.

Being precise about how we position our base, the foundation of any yoga pose (made up of any combination of our feet, knees, hands, forearms, head or sitting bones) has direct bearing on the amount of stability we experience during the time we’re there. Giving each posture a good amount of time (or breaths) allows us to be mindful about where we place what, and in what way; and it also allows for curiosity and experimentation so that we find the best expression of a pose for our own unique body.

Given enough repetition, whether in the same practice session, or over weeks, months, or years, this precision and stability lead to knowledge imbued with wisdom and confidence. Acumen is the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, and aplomb refers to self-assurance when in a demanding situation. These are the fruits of a dedicated yoga practice. There’s a beautiful sweetness about moving from pose to pose as if it is what you were born to do.

However, nothing is permanent. So, regardless of where we happen to find ourselves at the moment, not only will our circumstances change, but we will change, too. This is practice in nonattachment, which is an acknowledgment of humility, impermanence, and letting go of control. There are nice things about nonattachment; for instance, when things feel ridiculously difficult and overwhelming, it won’t necessarily be that way forever. Alternately, there are challenging things about impermanence: when life feels smooth, easy, and sweet, we know it probably won’t remain at this height always.

This is why it helps me to think of balance as a verb. Instead of viewing it as a state of ease, equilibrium, stasis, and perfection, I practice balance dynamically, as an action, moving back and forth between extremes, honing in on what feels like center when and where appropriate and beneficial. And this is my invitation to you ~ consider balance as a verb; bend and straighten your standing knee in warrior III; sway back and forth often (as much as possible, really) in tree pose; find yourself forgiving and gentle when you drive all the way to your dad’s house and then realize you’ve forgotten the key that will allow you to prep for the sale on his behalf. Move between your extremes and find what feels like center to you; rest there for as long as it lasts; and when the ground beneath you shifts, shift with it; when your center slips, slip with it, precision & stability, acumen & aplomb radiating from you like the beacon of light and love you are.