I’m teaching gentle hatha yoga at Truly Fit on Thursday mornings. My focus is on noticing how the breath expands and relaxes the body, how it stabilizes the body and mind when fear and challenges arise.
Thursday Mornings – 8:10 to 9:15
Truly Fit
5200 E. Cortland Blvd, Suite A19
Flagstaff, Arizona 86004
928-556-0198
I am glad to watch this. I feel cracked open right now, and this is the perfect message I need to hear right now. I’ve heard it before, but I am hearing it more deeply today.
Movement (yoga, hiking, dancing, walking, biking), meditation, and pranayama (yogic breathing techniques) bring me into the moment and out of my default patterns of thinking. Many ideas come through while I am moving (or in stillness after movement). It is as if a channel opens, as if some of the filters of my mind have been removed and ideas and/or observations are more clear.
I’m continuing to look at the question of movement and art (or movement and writing). My friend and folk artist/musician, TJK Haywood, aka Wooden Thomas (and one of the first participants of Writing the Energetic Body), turned me on to artist Heather Hansen. She literally uses her body to make art. Her work is inspiring and exquisite.
I like exploring, and will try just about anything at least once. Of course, once I find something I like, I get into going deeper. ( I geek out). I like working/playing with the chakra system. After leading a few Writing the Energetic Body workshops, I have found that many people get almost weighed down […]
Rather than setting goals for the achievement of the mainstream idealized “yoga body”, why not allow yoga practice to be a foundation for building inner-strength and self-empowerment? As we become more empowered, why not allow our strengths to enhance our personal lives as well as our local and global communities? Whether we practice yoga or not, what if we began everyday knowing we are all doing the best we can with what we’ve got?
The thing that I am most happy about is this huge exploratory project on sexual healing that I am working on with Sydney Francis. It is beginning to take on a life of its own — and we have plans to see that it continues to grow. We are committed to seeing the writing project through and I am thrilled! Working on a deep creative project with another person is essential for my happiness.
Through the project, my energy for painting and drawing has returned. My desire to teach yoga and create more workshops has returned. Considering making music has returned. Being more grounded in my feelings is returning. Enjoying reading tarot is returning. All around, it’s wonderful for me to have a creative anchor.
These same principles apply not just to yoga and learning a language, but to anything. The process of learning, regardless if it yoga, a language, playing guitar, or knitting, is fundamentally about making your world a little bigger and your mind a little sharper. It is no different than a child learning to walk. It requires effort, and stumbling is inevitable. But we learn from every trip and fall. And regardless of our age, we know that this learning never ends. There is no real mastery, perfection does not exist. But true growth comes through the effort and the ability to make yourself vulnerable to the embarrassment of making mistakes, and to your teachers.