Yoga Retreat in Montana

I will be going to Feathered Pipe Ranch in Montana the end of August for a yoga retreat.
I am wondering if any of you would like to join me there????
It is Cyndi Lee's retreat week. You can read about it at www.featheredpipe.com.

I have been to Feathered Pipe many times. It is a beautiful place, wonderful food, great accomodation, delightful people. It is structured and yet you are always free to do your own thing when you want to . There are body workers there for massage treatments that are exceptional.
Talk to me if you are interested.
Wouldn't it be fun if a bunch of us went together????

Susan Hanson's blog...

For those of you following Susan's blog, there have been changes and you may need her password again. It is "zeldamarie".
Susan is in the Wednesday morning class and she is going through chemo treatment.

Spring Classes Starting...

Yes, ...excited to be starting yoga classes this week! I have missed you all.
This quarter our sign up is the highest ever. Most of you are returning students, only a few new folks. Such dedication... I am impressed and grateful.

Blink- the book

Recently I saw Blink, The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, by Malcolm Gladwell on a booklist for Restorative Yoga teacher training. I had an idea of what the book was about, but had not read it. I decided to see what yogic insight it might have to offer. These are some of the insights that I found interesting. Firstly, we make choices with our conscious analytical mind and with our unconscious mind... deep from within. The latter I relate to as my inner knowing, but it can also be our prejudices and unconscious belief systems. (We have deep beliefs that often we are not aware of.)
The author guides us around the area of snap decisions. With experience we can make quick decisions that seem to just come from a gut feeling, a knowing. What I have found as I grow and change is that I have more of an intuitive sense in my decision making and find it easier to plan and problem solve. The author suggests that our decision making ideally comes from a balance of these two places, the analytical and the intuitive. What is particularly interesting is that he suggests that for the less significant choices in our lives we do better with the analytical mind and for the really big decisions, marriage, where to live, a career etc, we should trust our inner sense, our inner knowing... what we sometimes call a 'gut feeling'. He also says that often we are on information overload and therefore have too much information. Information does not equal knowledge.
I believe if our lives are less cluttered and we create more space in our days, our bodies and minds, the truth of our inner knowing bubbles up and is more accessible, to us. We can trust our snap decisions more easily, we can make more accurate assessments in any situation and use our analytical mind where it is appropriate.

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.