The Story of the Emperor...

What does resilence have to do with being in the moment, and bringing all your care and attention to who you are with and what love and compassion require?
In the story about the emperor that we heard this past week, there were three questions: when is the most important time, who is the most important person and what is the most important thing to do?
The answers were:  the most important time is NOW, the most important person is the ONE YOU ARE WITH and the most important thing to do is TO CARE. 
Try living this for a day or half a day or a couple of hours.    See what changes occur.
If you are alone, then the most important person is you and the most important thing to do is to show compassion and kindness towards yourself.

The Resilient Spirit

This quarter I will be drawing some stories and wisdom from the book by Polly Young Eisendrath entitled, The Resilient Spirit.    I think most of us are attracted to that quality of resilience.   How do we cultivate that in ourselves when we are faced with the obstacles and challenges in our lives?
This author helps us discover that.

P.Y.Eisendrath, PhD., is a psychologist, Jungian psychoanalyst and Clinical Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Universtiy of Vermont College of Medecine.   She write and lectures widely about human development and does research on resilience.

Yoga Watercolor Calendar

As most of you know I do a yoga calendar every year.   Because of health issues, needless to say,  I am way behind on my paintings.   At some point I had decided just to forgo the calendar for this year.
However,  that decision didn't sit well with me as I began to feel better.  Since then,  I have decided to go ahead with the calendar and mix in some of my favorite (and your favorite) previous paintings to make the needed total of 13.   I am finding once again that when things shift and change, we can shift and change with them.     Yoga is and should be adaptive!!!   Life asks of us the same.    Of course, not doing the calendar this year and feeling okay about that would also be an adaption.   "We always have a choice".    My choice right now is making satisfiying decisions that don't come with too much stress and pressure.   We shall see how that unfolds.  :)

Fall Quarter Begins...

A beautiful sunny week welcomed us back to yoga classes, Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.   New faces and old faces showed up in both classes.
I am so happy to be back teaching again after a well needed break.    Thank you those of you who sent cards and emails wishing me healing and wellness.   I so appreciated them.  I am gaining some of the lost weight back slowly but surely and am being treated symptomatically for migraines and nausea. The meds have helped to diminish and control my symptoms somewhat but not alleviate them.  However I am able to function better these days and that is a blessing.
Yoga teaches us to be present, taking each moment as it comes.   Life is a gift with a great deal of mystery attached to it.   

A Sense of Wonder

Everything comes to those who do not crave for anything.  -Ravi Ravindra

Fall Quarter

These past few weeks with all the ups and downs of health issues I have had to struggle with the decision of teaching my three WCC classes.    There have been times I felt I was just not going to be able to commit to a schedule and feel reliable and other times I was sure I could.
Recently my symptoms have become more manageable.   It may be because of a new medicine I am taking or it may be something else.   However,  I believe that I can commit to doing two WCC classes per week and that is Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.   I have cancelled the Friday class for now.   I am hoping that some of the Friday people might be able to switch to Tuesday.
I am still doing privates, so if that suits anyone it may be another option.  I feel comfortable with keeping the privates as I can cancel and reschedule them if I need to.
As most all of you know, teaching yoga is what I love.     Having a yoga community to practice with, continuing to grow and learn, has become a way of life over the years.     All of you contribute to that.     I am so very grateful for that opportunity.   I will make every effort to maintain that for as long as I can.
Looking forward to seeing you very soon.