By Amy Robinson
“Good Riddance 2020” and “I can’t wait for 2020 to be over” are messages I’ve heard often (including in my own head)! I think what we are really saying is, “I can’t wait for this pandemic to be over.” Even though the calendar has turned, we are still in the midst of a pandemic with the light at the end of a long tunnel. We must continue to persevere, trust our resilience and reach out for help when needed and to help when possible.
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By Elizabeth Ruff
I love the solstices. Summer, winter. The two bookends. The beginning and the end. Which one came first, I wonder??
Regardless of the one in the beginning, we are here now on the cusp of winter solstice. For years I have led various workshops around winter solstice, wanting to share its significance with others in different ways.
This year, we are not going to be together, so I wanted to give you some ideas for a little home retreat. An offering to the space between us, that is the space inhabited by all, the we-space of union, of yoga. The collective. And the anchor we all share, regardless of the ability of your body, the color of your skin, your geographical location, the extra money (or lack of) in your bank account is our breath.
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By Gentri Watson
Wow, what a whirlwind of a year it’s been already, and there are undoubtedly intense times ahead. You might find yourself feeling burned out and engaging in old familiar unhealthy habits. Maybe you’re riddled with anxiety and stress or just “blah.” Now is a time for gentleness combined with tenacity, for incredible patience combined with perseverance, for great self-acceptance and radical self honesty. You might be thinking sarcastically, “Is that all?”
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By Katie Cassidy
The stress is building and it feels like I’m in water up to my chin. ‘I’m a good swimmer’ I tell myself, ‘I can handle this’. There are moments when it feels manageable. There are even hours or days where everything feels ok. And then…one more thing causes the water to rise just a few more inches and I find myself under water, overwhelmed and panicking. I’m unable to catch my breath. I’m unable to show up for myself or anyone else. It sounds silly now, but it took me until my 40s to name this sensation…anxiety.
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By Beth Rusk
Have you ever had a hard time getting on your mat? We have all had those days, weeks or even months where the idea of rolling out our mat seems overwhelming. I, too, struggle with this, even though I dearly love and appreciate the practice of yoga. And this is why we call it a practice, every day is an opportunity to set new intentions and become better attuned to what is actually happening in our lived experiences.
We all show up to yoga for our own reasons, in our own time and in our own ways. As we recognize our own uniqueness we can begin to give ourselves permission to create our own unique daily practice. This way we allow yoga to be received as a gift and not another chore or thing we “have” to do.
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By Amy Robinson
NO FEAR reads the bumper sticker on the loud truck that backfires as it speeds by me. My body jumps and prepares to flee as my sympathetic nervous system kicks in with a rush of adrenaline telling my body to get to safety. When I realize that I’m not in danger, I laugh at the irony of the bumper sticker and continue walking to my yoga studio. It takes me 20 minutes into the class to calm down, feel my breath deepen and my heart rate slow, and for the cortisol rush to subside.
This is by no means an exhaustive or comprehensive list of the many organizations and individuals out there who work tirelessly in the name of racial justice. But these are a few we as a staff have found helpful in educating ourselves, learning and listening to black people and their lived experiences, and our ongoing work of taking our yoga practice off our mats and out to create meaningful change in the world.
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By Dani Colito
Like many of you, I am just starting to settle into the flow of being at home, working at home and now practicing yoga solely at home. At first creating a home practice can be a little intimidating, very much like walking into a yoga studio class for the first time. Creating and feeling comfortable while practicing at home, with the support of online classes can be a positive that comes out of all of this. I want to share some tips for creating and sustaining a home practice. .
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Every morning I drink a cup of water out of one of my (many) favorite mugs while I stand and look out the window (seeing how the lilac grows) and let the hot water kettle get my coffee water boiling. After that I put on a wiggly song and get my coffee brewing and stretch out my shoulders and sleep-stiff body while I wait to push down my coffee and have a hot cup all ready to go. Often the little blonde and pink bobbed heads of my daughters are milling around me, a dance partner might join in, and the kitten threads my ankles as I find a forward fold across ancient wood floors. I’m present. The interruptions, voices, and little lips stealing first sips are all part of the ritual. My presence, reverence, and deep breaths invite them in.
By Sondra Matara
The line at Costco was long, and as I settled in for the wait, I defaulted to the modern day way to mentally check out – I took out my phone. As it lit up with new messages and notifications, I saw one message that made my heart immediately sink into my stomach: I realized I had sent out a glaring mistake in one of my own professional communications. It had gone out to thousands of people, and had clearly been noticed. My sense of embarrassment went through the roof. My chest tightened up, my face grew hot, and I couldn’t focus on the mundane task I was in the middle of. I was immediately the center of my own “shame storm.”
