King and Queen of Asana

Upside down and inside out!

What is the most unused form of movement our gravity-laden planet allows us to experience? Why, 3 dimensional boundlessness of course! We may not be able to experience that anytime soon, but going upside down on a regular basis can give us a hit of what it could be like. Join me on Sunday, November 4th for afternoon of Headstands and Shoulderstands. Learn how to safely approach these poses for your unique body and how to soar into a new relationship with gravity. Maybe next month we can explore life without gravity....

Atha Yoga Nusa Shanam: NOW is the dicipline of yoga

How to make yoga a part of you every day life: do it NOW!

Wow! What an amazing experience to have my 18month old son not only do downward facing dog, upward facing dog and burpees....NOW he can do warrior I and warrior II!!! How can you do yoga like my little man? Try this NOW!!!

Time for Warrior I

Stand up. Yes, stand up and look at your computer monitor. 

1. Give yourself a good 4 feet of space behind you.
2.  Place both hands on your hips and use them as guides to keep your hips squared forward (toward your computer monitor :)). 
3. Step your right foot as far back as you can while keeping your hips squared forward. You feet will remain about hips width apart side to side.
4.  Bend your front knee right over you ankle and check to see your front toes are facing forward. You back foot will be angled strongly so the outer pinky-toe side of you foot can touch the ground completely with your hips orientated forward. 
5. Holding your strong Warrior I stance stretch your arms up to the sky, lengthen your spine and waist and tip your head back to gaze beyond your thumbs. 
6. Hold for at least five deep breaths, then do the other side.

Time for Warrior II

Alright! Ready for Warrior II? Of course you are. Stand up again and get ready!

1. Again, give yourself about 4 feet of space behind you.
2. Step back as you did before, only plant your back foot so that the heal of your front foot intersects the arch of your back one.
3. Extend your arms out from your shoulders, in a T position from your torso. See that your ankles are below your wrists.
4. Keeping your hips open, bend your front knee over your ankle again. Look down to make sure you can see your front big toe and your knee does not collapse inward. 
5. Strengthen your back leg to help keep your hips broad and open and root down through the pinkie toe side of your foot again.
6. Stretch your arms from your shoulders and soften your shoulders away from your ears. 
7. Energize your fingers and smile! Hold for five deep breaths, then do the other side.

Feeling Warrior-tastic? Do it again! If an 18month old can do it, so can you! And the beauty of the little man's yoga is that he doesn't make a big deal about it. Rarely does he use a mat, dress in his fancy yoga tights and play new-age music. He just does it as a part of his ever day life. Lessons from the young!

Enjoy your adventures, yogi warriors!

Effective Content

How exciting! At this moment I am in a class to create effective blogs so I can better serve YOU...my readers...and help you bring the joy of movement into this delightful life. I will also be blogging for The Ski Journal magazine for Yoga for Skiiers! I welcome your coments and look forward to the inspired, intuitive, mindful and conscious human beings that will be inhabiting our planet, and sincerely hope that I can assist with this movement!

Yoga Fundraiser for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society!

On June 10th from 3-5pm I will be leading a donation yoga class as a fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! Please read about Dee Dee's story at www.littleminstrels.blogspot.com/2012/02/little-minstrels-to-benefit-leukemia.html
Join us at 3oms yoga, 1210 Bay Street in Downtown Bellingham ....they have graciously donated the space to use. No Pre-registration required, just be on time and be ready for an adventure!

Authentic Movement

   I am presently involved in a practice called Authentic Movement. It is magical, revealing, personal and community based. You move, you are witnessed and you witness. I notice how full circle everything becomes as I delve into this practice. How people move the same, with their eyes closed, almost as if it were planned. I pause and watch. How I long for both connection and solitude in my movement. Its very interesting.
   I notice this same sense of awareness in my everyday life, and that is the intention of this practice....to see your reflection in your everyday life. How I long for both connection and solitude. To be alone in nature and my being, and to be in company and witnessed safely. Surely I can not be the only one who feels this way.
   As I see people move the same unbeknown to them, I wonder who longs for the connection and the solitude like I do, I know someone has this same conflict. The balance of this conflict is what I presently refer to as home.
   Where do you find your home right now?

Spring into the unknown!!!

"Throw your dream into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." --Anais Nin


This quote was gifted to me, and as I re-read it on the eve of spring equinox, I am reminded about the dreams of spring. As Winter is a time of reflection, Spring is a time for planting new intentions and patterns for which to grow from. I'd like to pose the question: if you had a packet of seeds and they were unlabeled, could you plant them and tend them with the commitment of that who's seeds you know the identity of? Not only could you, but would you?
     These are the questions that I ask myself as I begin to plant a new crop this season. For me right now, these questions are related to meditation. I have had a meditation practice for several years, however its been irregular and not something I had much intention around. After attending a Yoga Teacher Training with Sarah Powers in late February, I have been meditating 24 minutes a day.... she had me vow to do so. For three months. 
     I have decided to plant meditation as a practice and have no idea about the outcome. I am tossing this practice into space like a kite and just trusting that someday this little seedling will bear fruit that will serve me. It is hard work, tending this seed. My son turns one year old next month and I long to give him my attention. Sometimes my practice is interrupted, but I continue on just doing my best with the unexpected. So far I feel more focused and patient. I am able to come into my witness consciousness more quickly and hold that awareness in other interactions as well. It has been a delightful journey, and one I hope continues for many, many more seasons.
     What are you planting this Spring?
    

Whole Sole: Try this NOW!

It is not uncommon for people to come to me with discomfort in their feet. Plantar fasciitis is inflammation in the fascia that connects from the heal to your toes. Its symptoms can include pain in your heal or arch, especially in the morning, when the connective tissue tightens up. Some people report it as burning or stabbing. When I have experienced it myself, I felt like there was constant tearing and my heal was so painful in the morning I would limp around for the first hour after I woke.
   "Why does this happen?"people will ask, willing to make whatever change to stop the searing in their foot. Athletic folks will experience Plantar fasciitis from running and jumping too much, especially in shoes that do not fit them well. I have noticed small flare ups in myself since moving to low-profile shoes and take several steps to keep my feet healthy. Non-athletes experience it for similar reasons: poor footwear, and also greatly influenced by the way one moves and works with their feet and particular biomechanics on a daily basis.

   TRY THIS NOW:
   If wearing shoes take them off. Ballerina point and flex your foot a few times. Now interlace your fingers with your toes. Spread them as wide as you can and gently pull them back toward the top of your foot. Now find something round that will roll on the ground: salt shaker, tennis ball, vitamin bottle, candle. A tennis ball is my favorite. Roll your foot on said object from base of toes to heal for one minute. Start sitting, and to add more weight stand up, hang onto a door frame and put more weight into your foot as you roll. Good, eh? Do the other foot too.
   Ok, now come onto hands and knees. Curl your toes under and bring your bootie back toward your heals. Pause when you feel a stretch in your feet and as your body invites you back, you may eventually find yourself with your bootie resting on your heals, toes curled under and torso upright. Stay here for at lease one minute (BREATHE!) then shift back to hands and knees. Bring the tops of your feet to the floor and give them a few slaps on the ground to release the fronts of your feet. Spread your knees shoulder width or wider apart. Sit back onto your heals and bring your torso again upright. Pull up on one knee, supporting yourself with the opposite hand behind you. Hold one minute, then change sides.
   Aaahhhh...doesen't your whole sole sing with gratitude?
    Till next time....