January Theme: Become Well Rounded.
This month we explore the idea of becoming WELL ROUNDED. Practices will not have a peak pose but rather guide you through a thorough exploration of movement in all directions so that you can articulate the body in diverse movement pathways. Like walking into a house and flicking on the lights in every room and dusting off the cobwebs from all the corners, these practices will leave each part of the body feeling activated, opened, and awakened.
This month is a return to our foundations. Simple but not easy. Many students inevitably lose the consistency of their practice a bit in the shuffle of the holidays. Many students long for clarity, discipline, structure, and joyful connection to the practice as a compass to orient them into the new year. In the Zoom Room we are joined by new students and old alike. It is a wonderful time to reconnect to our roots. My deepest intention this month is for practice to feel deeply grounding, well-rounded, potent, thorough, and clear. All are welcome. This is an open armed invitation to join us and dip your toes back into the healing waters of your practice. It’s been a rough 9 months. It is time to move and be moved. Reconnect to your vitality. Reclaim your practice. Atha yoga-anushasanam. Now begins the practice of yoga.
1/10: It starts with the breath. Our first practice of the new year I always return to the very center of this practice, the part that will make or break your experience on the mat and that can transform the ordinary into the extraordinary: your ability to harness deep presence through the ujjayi breath. In my class breath is linked to every transition, every movement, every posture. The way we breathe has a tremendous effect on how we experience sensation in the body, how we dial down into our nervous system, how we expand our innate capacity to relax within intensity, and how we hone our capacity to observe show up and listen to the depths of our experience.
1/17: Get grounded. What does this mean to you and how do you spread your roots and build a scaffolding to substantiate your practice? The way we align our bones and joints in postures has everything to do with our ability to dance with gravity, locate a plum bline, and release unnecessary effort and strain. The more advanced we become as practitioners we understand this is a practice of letting go of excess and unnecessary tensions and adornments rather than learning new tricks. Stand into your power. Stack your bones. Open your feet, legs, and hips. Build a solid foundation. Find your center.
1/24: Visit your Valleys. In any exploration of becoming well rounded, we must choose to notice not only what comes naturally and feels incredible but ALSO what does not come naturally in our bodies and what does not feel amazing? As practitioners we need not shy away from the nutrition this information offers. The postures we dislike the most can often be the very same postures offer the best medicine to our body’s individual needs. In this practice we will begin by choosing an area of the body to track throughout the practice where we feel disconnect, pain, or tension. We will become curious and compassionate around what aspects or posture categories of this practice feel most unattainable and start to break down a gentle and cumulative approach into these blind spots. How can we stay open in the face of challenge? How can we cultivate the “‘right effort” so we do not become rigid and disembodied nor do we become lethargic and bypass the opportunities for growth and transformation that these valleys in the practice invite.
1/31: Light it up. Lila. Divine play. As human beings, we learn through play. Spend some time with my three year old and you will see it right away - we are wired to learn through play, experimentation, mischief even! If it does not spark joy we will not keep it in our lives, and that goes for your yoga practice as well. As soon as the practice becomes a chore, something to get better at, to prove to ourselves we lose the luster that draws us to the mat. As we return to our foundations we return to our optimism, earnest nature, and joy as practitioners. This is the key to a thriving, regular practice. In this energizing, uplifting practice, we will sweat, flow, play, and connect to pleasure in the practice. My first teacher used to say, “this practice cannot be taught. It can only be caught.” Today we will connect to that ineffable heart of the practice.