Spring break begins...

We all have a little time off from classes for the next few weeks.
Many of you have told me you miss not having your weekly class. I on the other hand need this time to refuel and just hone my own personal practice. However you all are in my thoughts and I already have some great ideas for next quarter.

I have started the 2010 yoga calendar. I so appreciate those of you who signed up and are willing to come for a photo shoot. I am trying to get new faces into this calendar (those not in last years) with new poses and ideas. It is always fun and challenging at the same time.

Happy spring as we move towards equinox.
See you soon.

Restorative Poses

This coming week, Tuesday and Wednesday classes are "restoratives".
If you have not yet signed up there are still spaces in both classes.
Please bring at least 2 and possibly 3 blankets to class.
You will leave class feeling completely open and refreshed from the inside out.
See you there.

The Posture Never Ends

In our last class for spring quarter I read to you from a book entitled Meditations From the Mat. It seemed fitting to end our 8 weeks with something poetic. Probably we can all take away something different from this meditation. For me, I realize that my yoga poses are my opportunities to get current with myself, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. They are for me an imposed time in my day to look inward instead of outward, to be in my body instead of in my head. What then begins to happen over time is that I am in my body more and more even when I am off the mat. I notice my posture, my shape, my connection to the earth. I notice my old habits, and how I can interrupt and change those habits. I notice my ability to listen, to be present, to stand in another's shoes, to soften the space around my heart. I can choose to release the contraction of judgement, assumption, control or attachment. There is no "beginning or ending" to this presence, this awareness. When we begin to feel this and experience this more and more we are WAKING UP. As Rumi says, "don't go back to sleep."
I feel myself sitting squarely in my chair, both feet on the ground, my spine tall, breathing. The posture never ends.

Generosity As A Natural Act

Sylvia Boorstein says that compassion is the natural response of the heart.
I believe that is true. She says that it requires a quiet state of mind. When we are in that state we naturally feel another's pain. Often we are too busy or caught up with our own attachments to feel the vibrations. Yet when we remember the interconnectedness of all beings we can see and feel another's pain more clearly.
If we are born with a natural tendency for compassion the same must hold true for generosity.
When our attention and awareness is sharp and clear, we naturally become caregivers. We find that sharing is a totally natural act. There is no fear to hold us back. It is just what we do.
Sylvia says: "perhaps generosity is the word we use as long as we think there are donors and recipients. When sharing is a natural and spontaneous act, we probably call it compassion."
Many years ago I heard a quote from an anonymous source. "There is no giver, no gift and no receiver, only the universe rearranging itself." It makes me know that I can relax and that the natural response of the heart will know what to do.

Seeing the Light in Each Other

Our story, about the failing monastery and the monk who visited his friend the rabbi for advice, reminds me of how we fail to look for the beauty and good within each other. It is so much easier to focus on faults or flaws. Can we believe that there is a quality of light and goodness that exists within each of us? If we focus on that does it change the way we perceive each other? By seeing someone in a new light, does it change how that person responds to us. Does it allow that person to become better, because we have no longer pigeon-holed or labeled him? We can discover this for ourselves by changing our perceptions a little at a time.