Being With Yoga

A Little Less Light

2011-10-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

Body resting on the floor.
Almost half covered in the earth, like being partially buried in warm sand.
Eyes slowly open and see the prayer flags directly above, bathed in light.
The light coming through the window illuminates the back of the flags as the front of them stay semi-shaded.
Noticing that the light has bleached the back of the material, it looks weather worn and faded.
The part that gets more shade looks richer and the shades of red, yellow and blue really show up.

The back of the flags look like they have grown tired from too much light. They look like they are at the end of their life, exhausted from the shine.
The darkness and diffused light that the back of the squares have received has kept them well, they look closer to being alive.

Love
Lydia

2011-09-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

Our marriage happened last weekend.
Here are some of the quiet moments.

Stepping into a circle of rocks carried to the cedar alcove by family and friends.
We slide out of our shoes to enter the sphere.

Bare feet, blades of grass intertwine underneath our soles/souls? like lightly closed eyelashes. The earth meets our feet, allowing our roots to grow 9 feet deep and incline towards each other.

Not even a breeze, gale force love. Long beams of light.

"I do"

I promise to see the mystery in you each day.

Close enough to smell each other. Feeling the warm smile of mothers and fathers wrapping a supportive cloak around our backs, that we can lean into.

Toaist Tadasana. Taking lessons from the trees. Feeling the shine of the unapologetic daisies. Learning how to stand together.

"Yoga is not standing on your head--Yoga is standing on your own two feet."

From this day forward, I want to live in the flow with you.

Lydia

Treasures Untold.

2011-07-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

Lying in summer sunshine,
so far from my home.
I am beginning to feel like this whole life is a dream.

I can't remember what life was like before Finn.
and, I can only imagine what it will be like when he is gone.

Garden discovery walks.
Each morning we stroll through the green carpet,
waking from the oblivion of another sleepless night.
Reading Basho's simple journal on the porch
At this pace, I have time to watch the flowers grow.

To watch a baby,
is to look into the eyes of the earth -
to find moment after moment of perfection.
Life as it is,
in an imperfect world.

Perhaps this is reality?
raw emotion
and true love
in every breath.

Everyone has gone from the porch.
Only the two of us remain,
mother and son.
And, the wise sounds of the wind blowing through the trees.

You are still here,
like an oasis of love, awake for another day.
And, i think?
you will still be here even when you are gone.
For you are greater then time.

Looking inside,
it feels like the world is racing
and spinning all around me.
Often out of control.
So much has happened in the short time i have been gone.
Forever has passed.

Looking outside,
these eyes are gazing and open
flowers bloom,
slowly beside the lake, and then die.
So much has happened in the short time i have been here.
The world looks different everyday.

Every moment that i smile
and he smiles back at me,
there is an instant where the future doesn't exist.

Imprint your soft smile on my heart,
so that when i am quiet on the inside,
years from now
we can smile together at the trees.

I can feel him sharing with me from inside his cocoon.
'One day there will again be innocent joy'
without knowing why?
or how?
or what is going on?
Because, everyday Finn whispers secrets to me with his eyes.
and, I believe him.

thx endlessly to everyone for all the love and support.
lv sarah scotty finn and chinook

A Photo Essay

2011-06-08T12:22:00.000-07:00

Amidst so many moments of sadness
there are jewels of joy
intense deep love, immediacy
eye contact -
and then stillness.

Red cardinals
painted with morning sunshine,
living in a lakeside fairytale.
Here we are for a while,
beside our families
dancing in and out of sadness
flowing in and out of bliss.
Maybe not all stories have happy endings?
Perhaps all stories have happy endings?

grey days
driving south through rain and smog
sitting between two boys,
a warm wind and a sleeping beauty.
Staring in the mirror,
connecting with the soft blue eyes of a papa.
In my heart we are a family,
lost in this wide open flat space.
Missing the cedars,
loving each other.

A few moments to myself,
staring at an inverted horizon across the lake.
Upside down on the dock,
new perspectives,
but the truth is still the same.

Living beside this lake for a while,
our simple life fits this place.
Endless open space for the warm wind to blow,
and calm waters shelter us from stormy minds:
as we paddle our canoe.

Hand creases.
Foot prints.
Molded forever in black paint
stored with birch bark
signed with the initials of a baby.
F.R.E.

The trilliums are gone,
another cycle goes round
another year of life and death on the forest floor.
The innocent beauty of death
stares at me through the eyes of the forest,
year after year.
Yet, nothing prepares us for the death of a child.

Old friends gather,
memories of half a lifetime.
I am amazed, yet again,
by the ability for one short life to inspire love,
to bring out the best in people.
Near and far.

Without a word,
without knowing,
barely two months from the womb,
this son of mine is teaching us how to live.

Sitting again, wrapped in a koala bear
breathing heavily on my chest.
Bodies touch.
I kiss his sweet forehead
and watch again as little Finn finds his way to sleep.

with lv.
Sarah (Scotty, Finn and Chinook too)

The Play of Light

2011-05-05T14:57:00.000-07:00

Something traumatic has happened in the life of my best friend. I feel stuck in time and space, like I am living two lives. Who is in this body?

Someone has taken over and is dealing with the interfacing of this body and the tasks that need to be done.

Some of me is standing still, watching things whiz zoom and buzz by.

I completely embodied the still being today for a short time. For the first time in a few weeks I noticed the way that the light streams through the studio window and dances with the dust. It was almost like that moment lasted for an eternity. It was like the silence was an entire musical piece. There were so many layers upon layers of delicate sound that made a symphony of silence. I could feel the warmth of the sun. Bird sounding through the open window. Curtain blowing in the wind caught in the periphery.

Oh yeah. Enter here, I thought. This moment is all right.

Oh yeah. There doesn't have to be any meaningless meaning.

Oh yeah. I thought. Just love.

Lydia

Sirsasana Series

2011-05-02T10:20:00.000-07:00

Here is a short sirsasana series sped up. Usually I take 5 long deep belly breaths in each asana. Please let me know if it is too fast. The standing series video is still a work in progress right now.

I like this headstand series so much. It is strong but calming. Stirha and sukha.
I am still working on many aspects of it.

Salamba Sirsasana 1 (headstand)

Parivritta sirsasana

Parivritta Eka Pada Sirsasana (I take my front leg a little too far forward in this one in the video, the heels are supposed to be the same height. I can get a good perspective on it when I do it in front of a full length mirror. Very helpful for shoudler alignment too!)

Parsva Eka Pada Sirsasana (one leg down and out to the side)

Eka Pada Sirsasana (one legged headstand)

Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana (lotus)

Parivritta Urdhva Padmasana in Sirsasana (twisted lotus)

Pindasana in Sirsasana

Prasarita Padottanasana in Sirsasana

Baddha Konasana in Sirsasana

Vajra Sirsasana (legs in thunderbolt)

Parivritta Vajra Sirsasana (twisted legs in thunderbolt)

Salamba Sirsasana 2 (tripod)

Mukta Hasta Sirsasana (straight arms on backs of hands)

(Variation on the thumbs)

Urdhva Dandasana (pike)

It is amazing to practice and feel and see where the body is holding and ever so gently... love it. Love is to let something be exactly as it is and to give open support for what ever arises for it. If the support is there the undoing of old habit patterns can start to happen.

Where is the body bright?

Dull?

Where does the grief hide in there... the pain?

Where do your parents live in your body?

Where do you store memory?

Where is the most liberated place?

Can you send the breath to all these places?

Can you trust your body?

Can you trust your life?

I have found that a profoundly intricate part of the physical practice is to observe how you treat yourself. This can be an amazing way to observe how you treat others. Also, how you trust yourself. Sometimes a teacher will give you advice on how to move your body, but do you check in and really ask yourself if that will work for you?

My ongoing question right now is - how do you trust your life?

Somehow and sometimes there is the feeling... when you are really quiet... of knowing how. It may not happen all the time, but with practice and the intention of self study, it starts to inform us.

Chidananada Rupa Sivo Ham Sivo Ham can be translated to -
I am the open spaciousness of the mind.

I hope you are all steadily on your way...

Love,
Lydia

ay

Hand Mudras

2011-04-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hand Mudras. They may not look like much, but we ceaselessly use our digits, and it feels so good to give them some appreciation and a gentle stretch. Plus, your lung, small and large intestine, pericardium and triple warmer meridian all end in your finger tips.
We do this series often. This little practice is very practical. You can take it anywhere - waiting on a bus, at the airport, in the cue at the market...
This is most of the series, there are a few more that are not shown. Many of the mudras come from the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga and they are compiled in a special way by Gioia Irwin.

Standing Series

2011-03-16T21:39:00.001-07:00

Hello Friends.
The video last posted is being updated. My teacher asked me to slow the video down so it is easier to see the essence of the practice.
This is a theme that keeps coming up these days. The feeling of having so many things to do, so many scheduled events, moving out of my home, planning a wedding, planning work... planning a life. The challenge is to keep the stillness underneath all of the twirl and whirl of the moving world. Having a practice to slide into has been so fundamental. And the practice is sometimes just stopping and smoothing out the mind. Four deep breaths and a feeling that all the activity... doesn't mean anything at all?
I am amazed at the mind's ability to say... "ah hah! This must be important!" over and over again.

In the mean time,
here is a poem I like.

WHEN I AM AMONG TREES

by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,”
they say, “and you, too, have come
into the world to do this, to go easy,
to be filled with light, and to shine.”

Lone Bird

2011-02-24T17:20:00.000-08:00

photos by Sonnie and Lydia
Dedicated to the human spirit

The Peace Underneath the Storm

2010-11-29T16:24:00.000-08:00

A friend recently sent an email and asked for a suggestion for a mantra she could use for meditation. I thought about this and could think only of one mantra I could suggest. The Ajapa (total awareness with the least effort) mantra. The mantra of the breath.
The aliveness that has mesmerized me for all these years seems to be inextricably linked with the movement of the incoming and outgoing breath that weaves it's way through the little rivers of the body - and the complicated web of thought.

Have you had the opportunity to spend some time with your breath?
Sometimes it feels like sitting down with an old friend. Old in knowing - and in connection to you. Never tells you what to do - in fact makes you listen very keenly in order for you to pick up any sort of clue that illuminates the present moment. Speaks in riddles and also knows how to uncover very old emotions and patterns in you. Somehow wants only the best for you, there is a very warm and tender undertone that is the current to each cycle. Grandmotherly.

I recently spent some time in the desert in Moab, Utah. I was there while a storm hit Indian Creek. I could watch the tumble weeds coming from afar, one after the other, and following them small dust tornadoes and the wall of darkness. The scene reminded me of the mind. The tumble weeds being the thoughts, the dust storms being the turbulence of the uneasy breath that preambles a storm of anger or sadness in the mind. Coming out of this storm it settled me knowing that the earth has these conflicts.

I once heard that the quality of the mind is just like the wind blowing through the trees. Completely random, coming from all directions. Completely natural.

After the storm the wind calmed and the breath of the mother settled and there was this tangible sense of peace.

Even the earth has short and long breaths and she embraces both her darkness and her light. She realizes there is an undercurrent of tenderness and love underneath. She IS that undercurrent. The sound of silence between all the sounds that is always there... the quality of the equanimous blue sky that is behind all the weather patterns.

It is all beautiful. It is all happening.

Anapanasati Sutta

1.Breathing in long, know breathing in long.
Breathing out long, know breathing out long.

2. Breathing in short, know breathing in short.
Breathing out short, know breathing out short.

3. Breathing in, experience the whole body (sabba kaya).
Breathing out, experience the whole body.

4. Breathing in, calm the body-conditioned breath (kaya sankhaara).
Breathing out, calm the body-conditioned breath.

5. Breathing in, experience joy.
Breathing out, experience joy.

6. Breathing in, experience happiness.
Breathing out, experience happiness.

"Blow firmly and very slowly into the hole of the thunderbolt with a suitable hollow stalk to allow air movement."
Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Metta for Healing

2010-09-28T22:52:00.000-07:00

There will be a healing meditation for someone who is sick tomorrow morning Wednesday Sept. 29th at 8:30am - 9:00am in the morning and another one at starting at 9:00pm at night.
If you are sitting... please send out healing thoughts.
If you are not sitting. Please take a few breaths at these times - center yourself and send out a healing thought.

For all Living Beings.

Living or not, beings or not,
inside or outside of time.

Thank you

Sticking Around for a While

2010-07-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

I was perusing Banyan Books some short while ago. There was an older fellow manning the front desk, he may have been the owner of the store to my limited knowledge.
I was looking for a book by the name of "Opening the Energy Gates of the Body" by Bruce Frantzis. (A book my teacher Gioia keeps reading from.)
I asked the kind gentleman if he knew if they carried the book (this particular store has an immense selection of books, video and audio for the mind body and soul... "the watering hole for the spirit"). Without a glance at the screen in front of him or even a moment lost he said "yes" and immediately escorted me, padding his way on the orange carpet, to the glossy new book. He slipped it out of it's shelf and gave it to me. It felt like what Christmas should feel like.
I was impressed he located it so effortlessly and commented. He replied, "You stick around long enough and you learn a thing or two."
He had shiny eyes and they seemed to be portals to some experience that I have not yet acquired.
I smiled with appreciation and nodded silently, grateful for brushing up against someone in an age group that seems like a phantom limb to me, and for the words of wisdom.
On the way back to Squamish, past the arbutus trees and the soaring bald eagles, I rested in the gentle feeling of contentment. The subtle yet powerful feeling that comes from committing to a good friend, a relationship, a practice, a community and a home. Some things that I humbly hope to learn from sticking around for a while.

Thanks to Ben Moon for photography.
Thanks for reading and please contact us if you would like to participate in The Yoga Jam class with senior teacher Ron Reid on August 5th at 5:30pm.

Love!
Lydia

Bowing Down and Touching the Earth

2010-05-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

At the end of a yoga practice we often place our hands together and bow our heads down to touch the earth.

The simple act of placing the palms together could be a ritual of yoking the energies of the self into one place of pure presence. Have you ever felt like there are layers of you in different places? For example you are having a conversation with someone and your mind is involved with someone else... or worse yet... yourself?
Bowing could be surrendering the ego.

I have found this gesture useful. I am happy to come out of the drivers seat for a moment in time (because this isn't an easy thing for me!). I am pleased to use the moment as a dissipation of my thoughts. There is a possibility there to be opened by the moment and able to let go of self referencing.

I end my practice with this even if I am alone. Sometimes the act means that I am bowing to the center of my heart. It is always quiet there, vast, confident and completely free. It is the teacher.

Touching the earth with my forehead is also a reminder to me that I am part of the natural world. The earth shed a piece so that I could discover myself... and she will take my vehicle for exploration back some unknown day. It is easy to feel this in The Yoga Studio when I am gazing out at the great granite rock that blesses our space. This thought helps me stay aware of interconnectedness.

For some people this gesture might be a little weird feeling or even frightening? In a low grade, lukewarm sort of way. Maybe it even brings other sticky stuff? Mild aversion or repulsion or... whatever? Nothing is wrong with that.
Maybe there is a possibility that surrender or bowing in humility is not a part of our culture. Ritual or creating emphasis on the sacred may not be either.

If anything brings up peculiar emotions or brings up little waves of questioning - it is always skillfull to look deeper into the root of what is happening. This is the job of a yoga practitioner. To get to the root of things, record the data, find the closest thing that makes sense to the truth in that moment...
and prepare for that truth to perhaps have the fluid quality of change.

xoxo
Lydia

Slug

2010-03-30T10:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,
Thank you again for reading.
I took the time to go on a personal meditation retreat for a few days at the Sea to Sky Retreat Centre. Wonderful place.
In between the emptiness and the fullness of my mind I came up with a poem I want to share with you.

Slug.

Somewhere between cinnamon and turmeric.

Slugging at the pace of a puddle drying up.

Crossing many interesting paths, but sticking to your own with your personal adhesive.

Leaving slick traces of yourself behind, not even embarrassed about it, or trying to cover it up.

Feeling your way across cedar mulch and spirited green moss with your gelly belly.

Almost stepped on your dark brother, and back there your bodacious mother.

Noticed your talents in one leap over a lively green maple vine.

Steady

Sticky

Unshakable

Genius.

Some of you may wonder why Sarah and I post about things that may seem unrelated to the Yoga practice. We believe that Yoga can be a set of techniques to open up a pathway that brings us more into awareness of all of life. This pathway may be grown over at times. Yoga gives us the tools to clear out excess debris... but also the utensils to be kind to ourselves while we clean out the muck and the viscosity.

So Yoga encompasses each moment of life that we share. Each contemplation and each interaction. A Yogic mind is simply aware without pushing or pulling.

The journey is delicious. In a healthy way. Bitter, sour and pungent may be as good for us as sweet, in different times of our lives.

In hopes that our study of being alive may be enlightening. Together.

Lydia

Healing for Haiti

2010-01-20T15:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all that attended our Freedom Class to enter 2010. Here are a few photos.
Huge thanks to Sasha Cecile (Healing Drums) for creating the beat that we could all feel in our hearts and with our breath!
We are going to feel those good vibrations again with a fundraiser for Haiti on January 29th at 5:30pm. A Level 1 Ashtanga Class to Sasha's drum beat. The class runs as normal and donations may be given on top.
All donations will go to Haiti.
After, at 7:15pm, a led meditation. After that a silent auction with a few items given by our community.
Please show your support in an expression of joy and movement with the intention of bringing about world peace and restoring balance.

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Ashtanga Invocation

2010-01-04T21:20:00.000-08:00

I have attached a video taken during the teacher's intensive with Richard Freeman in Boulder, Colorado. It is a call and response recording of the Ashtanga Yoga Invocation. Enjoy. Sarah

"Yoga is Resting in Residue, Not Knowing" R.Freeman

2009-12-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

Rest in Space.
between here and there,
me and you,
earth and sky.

Hear the Residue,
time stands still for a moment - in the SPACE.

Alone not lonely.

A few weeks have passed since I returned from studying with Richard and Mary in Boulder, Colorado. Words seem like a futile form of thanks - but still worth it - so Thankyou to all who helped me to leave and study for a month, it is a gift to have such an opportunity.

It has been months since i have sat down to write a blog (aside from the odd short clip or picture) - below there is a collection of things that seem to be surfacing for me, perhaps it is useful?? For now, i'm not going to add dialogue - rather I just want to share some of the tidbits of things i am working with in my practice.

And when I say practice, i mean my life.

In any moment of true deep listening (thank you Sarai for inspiring this path of observation):
- the breath stops (kevala khubaka)
- the eyes soften and open to the periphery (drishti manifests)
- there is no objectification of the world, and the possibility of open transformation exists - maybe??

Asana:
Sometimes in stillness, the body disappears.
Sometimes in presence, time ceases to exist.

I've been working with spaces and hollows in the body (inspired by Gioia Irwin and Richard Freeman). The depths of the groins as they relate to the cave of the sacrum and the softness in the back of the palate...my practice is slow, breath deep - less poses, longer amounts of time. Less feels like more right now.

Sitting Practice: practice of getting to know myself
Mind as a muddy pond.
Let water be water.
Let earth be earth.
Let fire be fire.
Let air be air.
Let space be space.
---then the flower can emerge---

-watching the way constructs of language seek to define and limit experience, and the way the ego function seeks to stir up the muddy waters...let water be water, let earth be earth...etc.

Anjali Mudra
Holding a seed - two thumbs together beside the heart
prana and apana
together unite.

The residue of my time away is extensive and vast. It is all the ideas that don't fit into the concepts and all the thoughts that remain that are yet to be understood. It seems so simple to just reduce the residue to the formula, but within the residue, within the muddy waters lies the unknown. And within the unknown is where i find the most humble learning.

'Yoga is resting in the residue, not knowing' R. Freeman

have a wonderful holiday.
love sarah
p.s. the photo i posted is a picture that Dan Schmidt took while i was away.
p.p.s. the recipe below is for Chocolate Coconut Macaroons...gluten free...easy to make!!
pre heat the oven to 400
1/2 to 2/3 cup of oat flour
1 cup brown rice syrup
1/2 cup coconut milk
3.5 cups coconut
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisens/dried blueberries/cranberries
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
mix wet ingredients with dry ingredients and bake for 15 minutes (approx. till browned).

Moving towards Balance.

2009-11-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Photo by Ben Moon. benmoon.com

It is November in Squamish.
The rain is a massive and opaque shield between us and the sun. The sky has been falling without mercy for a week. However, we live in a world where there are two sides to everything, and where everything may ALREADY be balanced, so the rain also has an incredibly soothing effect. There is a rhythmic sound but also a quiet to the world. As if the earth were perspiring, it's musty fragrance is seeping from it's flesh. Half of me wants to incarnate into the dark ground and half of me wants to ascend on a beam of light to where my skin can drink the sun.
But I am here somewhere in the middle, after 2 sunny weeks in Boulder City, Colorado. What a wonderful trip!
So I find some way to "make the best with what I got", (as my friend Martin says about coming to a Yin Yoga class with a broken foot).
The practice of yoga continually takes my breath away - and gives it back fully - with a wave of appreciation. It seems the ancient yogis could diagnose almost any mundane affliction with some sort of magic yogic antidote.
So we know that the damp cold might bring our mood down and make us slump a little bit, caving in the sternum and compressing the lungs and heart. Shortness of breath may arise and a slackness in the center of our anatomical universe. Forward head and winging shoulder blades. Not to mention the increased time on the computer or in front of a screen. Innately, we know we need to pick it up.
Yoga is a practice of inquiry into the paradoxes of life. Often, it prompts you to look in two directions at the same time or to see opposite points of view. So simultaneously as we pick it up, we can see that this is a time of rest and quietude. The darkness asks our terrestrial bodies to rest, digest and contemplate.

Medicine:
Supported back bends on a bolster to start practice. Neck roll under the head to support the neck and elongate the back of the head right where the cervical spine meets the occiput. Take full pranayama inhales and exhales into the buoyantly lifted heart and chest area. If you have a sand bag place it on your thighs to ground the tops of your femur bones into the floor. This will release your hip flexors and calm your mind. Tune in to the rhythm of your body and breath. Ask yourself with a curious and gentle mind, "Do I have to control my breath or will it take care of itself?" 10 minutes.

Many Sun Salutations. Sweat and breathe whatever it is - out!

Standing poses to strengthen the legs and direct energy up the spinal channel.

Active back bends. Salabhasana, bhekasana, dhanurasana, ustrasana, urdhva dhanurasana.
For those of you who speak english as well, these translate to: locust, frog, bow, camel and upward facing bow or wheel postures. Back bending is proven to enhance mood, and aid in curing chronic depression.

Make sure you are back bending with a strong contraction of energy to the center. Be aware of the bandha areas and press out through your periphery. Create a container for yourself and then expand and free your central axis - the front of your spine.

Properly close yourself down for final relaxation:
Long holds and long breaths in the closing asanas (postures).
Eating too much dessert before the main course will ruin your appetite and skimp on the nutrients. As much as it is amazing to uplift yourself and open your heart and lungs, it is just as important to wind down well.
Postures like paschimattanasana, salamba sarvangasana, halasana, karna pidasana, viparita karani.
Forward fold, supported shoulder stand, plow, ear pressure pose and legs up the wall (inverted) poses. These postures increase blood flow to the brain, and calm the nervous system.

Meditate: Sit quietly with a not-too-loose and not-too-tight posture. Give your breath attention without asking for anything in return. If you stray, escort yourself politely back to your breath as if guiding a blind person down a busy street. Patiently be with your breath again and again. Ask yourself, "Do I have to control my breath or will it take care of itself?"

Savasana: sweet surrender.

Open! + Close. = Moving towards Balance.

It is a great time of the year to come to class and breathe in synchronicity with others who are experiencing the same thing as you.

We are all in this thing together, we ARE this thing together.

Enjoy the rain and I hope to bump into you soon.
Love!
Lydia

A little clip of The Yoga Studio.

2009-11-08T06:46:00.000-08:00

A big thanks to Alex Lavigne who made us a little video to give people a taste of Squamish and the little yellow room.

Check it out by clicking here.

I am enjoying Boulder, sunshine, stillness and learning from Richard and Mary.

Many ideas but for now, i am letting things simmer and observing the residue between the thoughts.

shanti.
sarah

Thank you Life

2009-10-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Photo by Ben Moon

What are you thankful for?
These words came from my father, sitting at the head of the table, Thanksgiving dinner. One big dead bird in the middle of it.

My parents live in 100 Mile House, B.C. A place that, when I was a teenager, seemed to be the most desolate and soul sucking crater in the universe. While driving there by myself a few days ago I was amazed at the quiet and engrossing beauty of the places I encountered on the way. Every piece of scenery that I encountered on the drive north struck me with the same holiness. I was amazed at my change of perspective. I was a part of every tree, mountain, every dancing leaf and tumble weed. 100 Mile House seemed like a place of pilgrimage. I thought... thank you Yoga. My practice is working.
I labeled it good.

My ego was swiftly and comically heeled. I got to my parents house glazed in happiness. Soon after we were all interrupting each other, telling the same stories, forcing our opinions, and ignoring each other - I was irritated as can be, and I realized how un-enlightened I actually was.
I labeled it bad.
I had to laugh.

What are you thankful for?
It seemed like something opened space with that question. It was like I actually listened to the question without circumnavigating the moment. Because the question cut through all the bull %#$@.
I am very thankful.

For life- and that means my parents.
Thank you Mum and Dad, for giving me this life. You are both wonderful.

No matter what I think - it is still just thinking - but the feeling of gratitude is beyond words. Beyond good or bad.
I felt it standing there by the misty lake with my two sisters by my side. No words, no thoughts, just drinking the morning sun through our frosty skin, and opening our ears to the big silent ohm.
One heart between us.

What are you thankful for?
Lydia

Finding Balance.

2009-10-12T12:39:00.001-07:00

A big thanks to Rameen and all those who joined to explore movement, breath and stillness in the context of balance, freedom and happiness.

Below are some pictures from the weekend workshop - more in writing soon!

love sarah and lydia

The Yoga Studio and Friends at Good Time Farm

2009-09-22T11:53:00.000-07:00

Volunteering our support and giving back to our love for organic vegetables.
Thanks to Erin Urton, Scott Everett, Sonnie Trotter and Kathryn Weiler for their amazing help!!
It is so beautiful at the farm. If you or anyone you know would like to lend a helping hand for a few top notch veggies and a magnificent view... please contact us at theyogastudiosquamish@gmail.com.

A Spark

2009-08-28T21:26:00.001-07:00

My boyfriend Sonnie got appendicitis last night.
I came home from a long day at the studio and I was too tired to do anything but lay on the couch. As he complained about abdominal pain, he proceeded to give me a foot massage while I fell asleep.
The next morning he was in the hospital. I cannot believe his generosity for caring for me while he was curled up with pain that I was too sleepy to notice.
Seeing him in the hospital struck a chord in my heart that had not been sounded for a while. Maybe never. Even though he was fine I was hiccuping with emotion. Surges of feeling. Guilt for not giving him my full attention the night before and being awake to his suffering. The tears were a spark for me.
Why is it that I can not fully appreciate the people that I love the most all the time? Why can I not feel this strength of love for all people? Compassion for all people?
Why can I not feel the fullness of gratitude for this precious life in each moment?
I don't want to lose someone to find out.

Now that I sit here contemplating the day's events, I am happy to be suspended in the questioning. I am happy that this experience has illuminated these questions for me. This experience has brushed the dust off of life.
I may not find these answers quickly. I know that there is a spark for the need to be more awake. I know my practice must, in some way, help brush off the dust and cultivate compassion. This is the real stuff.
Leg behind the head and then standing up (durvasana for example) is a way of teaching the body to let go. Asanas practiced with commitment may also give the energy to act when feeling empathy for others. Asanas clean out the laziness! But after asana... when in the field of life, there is much more to practice.
If you can take a moment and feel gratitude for your lover... or someone whom you feel very close to... let that be a spark for you to fully appreciate them. And let that spark turn into a flame for all.

Lydia

Vinyasa: Placing things in a special way, step-by-step.

2009-08-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

Sincere thanks goes out to Ron Reid from Downward Dog in Toronto for coming to share and visit with us here in Squamish. And also to all of you who joined to move and breath through Ron's 2.5 hour Yoga Jam class! Thankyou.

At the start of Ron's class on Saturday he spoke about the Sanskrit word Vinyasa.

Often I use the word Vinyasa in relation to its' role in the dynamic ashtanga yoga practice. But, I had never really broken down the roots of the word to really understand what it menas. I love (albeit challenging at times) when it is brought to my awareness that something I say or do actually means something different then I am thinking.

In Sanskirt
"Vi" means "in a special way"
and "Nyasa" means to place.

So Vinyasa means "to place in a special way"

Ron translated Vinyasa in his own words as STEP-by-STEP.

The actions we take, one foot in front of the next.
Not merely the jump-backs we take during the physical yoga practice, or the label our culture has given to the idea of flow yoga.
But rather, a sense of the yoga practice on a much deeper level -
the way that all actions in our lives are part of a step-by-step process,
what we do today, does actually influence the next steps which unfold in our lives -
real listening is vinyasa yoga, as listening needs 'to be placed in a special way' before any notions of understanding and wisdom can begin to blossom.

The way we move and breath in each moment of each pose
The way we transition between postures with intelligence and awareness,
Staying present with our lovers, and our mothers.
It is each step that we take and every mountain that we climb -
this is all vinyasa yoga, if we choose to see it that way.

Now this isn't profound, of course - as i have long been open to the idea that yoga happens on and off of a yoga mat. It is just curious that a word i use so often is loaded with much more depth then I ever stopped to explore.
Perhaps it is also curious for you??

Ron started a yoga studio 15 years ago and seemed excited to return to the grassroots of starting up a yoga studio by teaching here in Squamish as well as at a new underground ashtanga studio, Babylon, in Vancouver. His passion and curiosity towards the process of yoga in our lives is incredibly inspiring.

This is just the beginning for The Yoga Studio here in Squamish, but Ron's words reminded me of the importance of beginning things with intention - placing things in a special way - one step at a time.

Thankyou all for being a part of this journey in the early steps (both those reading from afar, or those enjoying the rain today here in Squamish) - we look forward to having more experienced teachers visit to teach and share with us in the months to come.

sarah

p.s. we have updated the website with a number of fall courses and workshops...check it out!

Quiet thoughts, and an upcoming workshop with Ron Reid

2009-07-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Morning everyone...

Below is a poster we've made for an upcoming workshop with Ron Reid (click on the poster to make it bigger!).

He'll be in Squamish in a few weeks and anybody who is around and interested in learning from one of Canada's most innovative and experienced yogi's should come join!!

The heat is on here in Squamish!!
One day after another of bluebird skies and intense afternoon heat - not to mention the amazing lightening storm that exploded over the chief a few nights ago.
The sky was yellow!!

Yesterday Lydia and I went on a walk in search of quiet shade. A place to sit and be with the damp, misty forest after the stormy evening. We found a great spot by Alice Lake, and after an hour or so of silence we wrote a poem together. Hope you like it!!

The sound of this world.
shh, can you hear it??
Soft white river rushes by.
Barren tree tops pointing out new directions.

Drip, Drip, Drip - from above.

Wet earth, the smell of leaves,
mind settles into the forest floor.

Little river outside, little river inside.
flowing, moving,
changing - breathing.
as the cool wind weaves a blanket for us.
reminding us that everything we need is here.

Emptiness and fullness together,
in the sounds of this world -
and the silence of this moment.
Shhh, can you hear it??

thanks for reading.
stay cool - breath deep - enjoy the sunshine.
sarah

A Poem from Long Beach

2009-07-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Where does the beach end and the ocean begin?
When does a seed become a plant?
At what point does this experience turn to memory?
and, that memory into a story...?

My story versus your story,
This truth or that one.

Which is right or which is wrong?
either -
neither,
both -
together.

In a culture so obsessed with absolutes,
this world is so full of blurry lines.

Starring into myself sometimes, there is ME.
often, there are endless vivid questions,

Where does mind end and body begin?
Can you -
or me -
or we,
touch the blurry line at the edge of our ego's?

And, realize for a moment -
You are me
I am the ocean
The beach is the ocean
The ocean is me.

-

and now i'm back in squamish

this morning I ate
peas
tomatoes
raspberries
red lettuce
from the earth behind my house.

thanks for reading, have a wonderful day!
Sarah

Metta

2009-06-24T17:20:00.000-07:00

I would like to share with you a creative meditation practice that is a staple in Buddhist practice. It is called Metta Meditation. In Sanskrit the word is Maitri.
Metta means love or kindness. Maybe even compassion or friendliness. I like the translation of "an active interest in others." (It is often difficult to translate Pali into English because of the differences in the language and culture, so sometimes it is nice to have many translations so that you can get more of a feeling for the word.)
Metta Meditation is a practice where you make up phrases that wish well towards yourself and others. It develops good feeling towards others. It helps you understand that we are all similar. It helps you deal with sticky relationships. It helps you dig yourself out of the sludge and muck of self centered existence... which could be disguised as depressive tendency.
I had done a little metta in the past, but when I started practicing it more regularly with my meditation teacher Lisa, I didn't feel much at all. It was quite disconcerting for me. I wasn't sure if it was an inability to concentrate or an inability to wish well for others. I got really interested in it because of the knot it gave me mentally. I felt like something wasn't flowing. I started practicing it exclusively for some time. I am still a raw beginner at this practice, but I was amazed at how quickly I started to feel changes. Shortly after I started practicing it consistently I attended my brother's wedding. The amount of pure love for my family that I had when I was there was so strong. I was amazed that I went a few days without thinking of myself. I actually remember the first thought I had about myself that weekend, because it was so obvious.
I attributed the way I felt to my metta practice.
I am not sure how many of you feel disconnected to people at times, or have had dry spells of feeling towards the important people in your life. This is a practice that may help you. It really seemed silly to me at first. Even annoying. But over time it may flower into something that is very energizing.
You start with saying these phrases towards yourself. Then you can pick a friend whom you really like to repeat them for. Then you can choose a person that you have neutral feelings for and repeat the phrases. You can finish repeating the phrases with someone you don't like (which is a very interesting practice!).
You can also start with yourself and proceed spatially. So the second grouping could be the people in the room, third the people in your town, fourth the people in your territory, country, whole world, and lastly, the universe.
The phrases are done internally, not out loud. The whole practice may take as little as 10 minutes to upwards of 1 hour.
These are some phrases that my teacher Lisa uses. One of them is Micheal Stone's.

May I be free from harm.
May I be healthy and strong.
May my mind be peaceful and happy.
May I be free from any form of lack.
May I live with ease and joy in this life.
May I awaken.

After this you can substitute "I" for the next subject.
Example: May Sarah be free from harm. etc.

Persistence and patience are key in this practice.
All the best to you.
Lydia

Long Summer Days and The Yoga of Food

2009-06-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

This time of year is incredible in the northern hemisphere.
Life and energy are everywhere,
inspired by the green forests and the unwaivered strength of the sun's rays - it is rare that i find myself in front of this screen.

Having said that, I feel like i have lots to share;
ideas brewing
bodily sensations unfolding
steeped in this journey from the tips of my toes to the depths of my heart

but, where oh where to begin??

The little yellow room that is The Yoga Studio here in Squamish is continuing to amaze me. We had over 20 people come to join us for an Intro to Meditation and Buddhism course on Monday night and i was drenched in a deep smile for the community that is taking shape as time passes.

The more that time passes, the more i am grounded in the idea that we are not trying to build a business of yoga here in Squamish. I really believe in the idea of building community and allowing the people and energies that share in the community to be a guiding force behind the directions the community chooses to go. And, on many levels this is foundationally different then the modern western model of building a business. I think??

In this vein, I am equally amazed by the small classes I teach.

Where there are a few intrigued souls who come in with an open mind and dense curiosity.
In these moments I really truly realize the inability to plan for what to teach,
Rather, I have to look people in the eyes and allow the learnings i am experiencing, in my own mind and body, connect with where people are at in a given moment in time.
And the result is that I feel like i am really getting to know the people who come and go from the yellow room, real connections are made - and this is the foundation of any lasting community.

A month ago I posted a link to a CBC talk on the industry of yoga. Another interesting link is just below. It is an interview with Richard Freeman on The Future of Yoga, worth a listen if you have the time.

Richard Freeman Interview

I've also been exploring and playing lots in the garden lately.
What an amazing way to connect with the food you eat...grow it yourself!!

The more i learn, the more intrigued I get. Scott and I have eaten big salads from our garden on many occasions recently and we are also spending time helping at a local organic farm in the Squamish Valley - Good Times Farming. I feel compelled to share about the dedication and passion that Stephan and Nick (the brothers that opened the farm) put into each and every day on the farm.
When we go out there and share in this energy it is incredible to feel the dirt wiggle its' way between my toes,
it is meditative to plant rows of seeds that are growing so close to my home
and I am scratching the surface of understanding the complicated nature of food production...

Where does your food come from?? Are there local farms you could support or just visit to learn from?? Do you know what chemicals the food you buy at the grocery store comes into contact?? How much gasoline is used to bring your food to your table??
Supporting local food production in Canada is hard when we have grown up with mangoes, banana's and avocados all year round...Yoga is grounded in practices of morals and ethics and i think food is one of the many things we can take the time to stop and think about and maybe let go of habits, attachments, aversions...or maybe not??

Are you not willing to have some parts of you be sponged out, erased, canceled, nothing? If not, you will never really change.
D.H. Lawrence

The Summer Solstice is this Sunday - if you are in Squamish, come join us for the 108 Sun Salutations to Celebrate the longest day of the year!! All proceeds go to charity!

shanti.
Sarah

Guruji

2009-05-19T06:59:00.000-07:00

Sri K. Pattabhi Jois passed away yesterday, May 18th at 2:30pm Indian Standard Time. He is the man responsible for the making the Ashtanga Vinyasa System available to all of us. His passing has sent a huge universal wave of compassion out from all of those who practice yoga today. Somehow it brings us all together.
I remember meeting Guruji in 2007. I was in Mysore, India while he was finishing his last year teaching. He was 91 and still dropping big men into backbends every morning! His presence immediately blossomed smiles. He was playful, and his fire blue eyes danced. His head wobbled with comic fatherly disapproval all the time, which was nothing short of hilarious. A father with hundreds of children! The Mysore room often had 250 people entering and leaving it in January. At any one time there were 70-80 people practicing at once! Besides his vibrant demeanor, robust energy, fantastically erect spine and giggling eyes... I noticed his feet. His feet were like elephants feet. Very wide, soft and like the earth. After practice the students might touch Guruji's feet before leaving the practice room. This is an Eastern tradition of honouring "Lotus Feet". The lotus is a metaphor for spiritual development, creation, purity and rebirth. In the act of falling at the lotus feet, touching them or even gazing on them the ego is said to be subdued in favor of awareness.
Coming close to his feet I was amazed. They were quite beautiful!

To learn more about his life visit - http://www.kpjayi.org/biography.html

For some more information and a few lovely videos visit -

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2009/05/sri-k-pattabhi-jois-founder-of-ashtanga-yoga-passes-away-at-age-93/

Let us take a moment of gratitude for all the things this man has done for the yoga practice as we know it today. He has taught this method for 67 years! And another moment for his family. It is hard to lose a beloved.
xo
Lydia

Practice and all is Coming

2009-05-16T12:17:00.001-07:00

Isn't so funny how our minds see things in the context that it wants us to?
Yesterday I was going for a steam at the Brennan Park Rec Centre. My friend Cait was going to come with me but decided against it because she thought $5 was a bit much for a 10 min. steam (and she had some packing to do as well). True that. I concurred. However, I was still seduced by the thought of the heat penetrating the fascia in my legs and upper back, so I ventured out. When I arrived there was a $1 special on. It turned out to be the best steam of my life. I was smiling ear to ear. The entire time I was contemplating... is it so good because I got a deal?
That evening I had to go pick up my boyfriend Sonnie at the Vancouver airport. The traffic was heinous, as it usually is in Vancouver. I was slightly bitter at being cut off by an over-stimulated young driver. I found myself thinking Vancouver was SO not the place for me, and longing for the lush forest and homey feeling of Squamish. I got to the airport and I was not smiling. Seeing Sonnie allowed me to have a great reversal. He drove me back home. In the passenger seat I was amazed at the beauty of Vancouver. The playful city lights at twilight. The hundreds of people all wearing something that expressed a little of who they are. The vast landscape of peaks in the distance and the shiny peaceful expanse of ocean. I was smiling. Hmmmm. Same city. Different experience.
It got me thinking. Wow, the mind and it's conditions. The mind and it's context. Why can't I see things with that shining sacred light on them all the time? I think I know why - and I can intellectualize it. My intelligence (buddhi) knows. But my mind is still immature at times. Playing the great game and flitting and flirting with instant gratification, self love and self loathing. It still covers the brilliance of my heart with a little opaque sheath at certain times.
The practice of yoga has been an amazing thing for my heart. Even through the murkiest of times when my mind is poisoned by my conditioning, I have been able to step onto my piece of rubber, latex and microfiber, and move and breathe with this feeling of reverence for the life experience. At least I have tricked it into (or maybe it has tricked me) into seeing that my mat is not just a toxic piece of waste. There was a time in my life when I looked at my body and saw it as a repulsive object. I wanted to change it. I wanted out of it. That started to change when I started to practice yoga. For 2 hours of the day my body was a vessel for hovering. My body was an instrument that was used to precisely harmonize with gravity. It was silent and vast. Spacious and enlightened. The feeling would pass quickly. But the little residue of it started to penetrate my life.
Presently I feel like I am working more with my mind. The meditation cushion or block is taking on a sort of phosphorescence. I am hoping that the small minutes when I see my mind as a vibrant part of me, and also as no different than the natural power of wind and waves, will start to expand and deepen.
What about love? When we fall in love we see the other as brilliant as a diamond. The other renders us speechless at the best of moments. We become quiet with appreciation. In the moment of looking into their eyes we feel everything and have no opinion. As the years go by we begin to project on to them. Make expectations. Why should this happen? It never did in the honeymoon stage!
What about our parents? Do we really have to see them as parents? As some strange alien prototype in which to dump blame on?
On the same note, I had an aversion to The Yoga Journal for a little while. The flashiness of the advertising. The way I thought it made some people feel like they weren't pretty enough or fit enough to do yoga. Sonnie got me a membership a while ago and I stopped reading anything but the anatomy section for some time. Today I was waiting for Sonnie in a coffee shop and I had the latest issue. I ended up reading the whole thing cover to cover and being completely impressed. I also was completely amazed at my aversion patterns. There was a beautiful article on meditation called Presence of Mind that articulated many different mindfulness techniques. I still had some discriminative awareness about some of the advertising, but on a whole, I was very pleased by the magazine and felt much appreciation for it's publication.
We have the opportunity to see everything as sacred. We just have to engage in some sort of practice that allows us to see the perfection of everything. Some practice that curtails the mind's aversion and attachment patterns. Slowly we can sculpt the mind into peaceful happiness. Then it can drop into the cavern of our heart, and the union will open up the gates to freedom.
Pattabhi Jois said, "Practice and all is coming." He is not doing so well right now, so let's put our hearts out to him. He has contributed so much to the integration of yoga as we know it here in the West.
Keep practicing something!
xo
Lydia

Tension in the Body - Pain vs. Suffering

2009-05-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

'To be in a Body is to be in tension' Lydia

Last week I went to a few of Lydia's yoga classes and her words above have sparked reflection, research, contemplation and now...this blog. Lydia, thanks for being such a wonderful inspiration, teacher and friend!!

So, let's contemplate this idea...

As long as we are living and breathing in our bodies we will experience tension, discomfort and pain. At the same time, as long as we are alive we will experience freedom, space and joy through our bodies.

And, despite what you may think, the practice of yoga is not going to make the reality of tension/pain in your body go away - even when you can put both legs behind your head and move into the most advanced backbending asanas - you will always feel tension/pain in your body.

'To be in a Body is to be in tension.'

So, then, why practice yoga??

In the Buddhist philosophy there is a teaching on the psychology of pain called 'The Two Darts.' In this teaching, the Buddha articulates the difference between the ideas of pain and suffering.

The first way that you know there is sensation in the body, is that you can actually feel that there are sensations arising in the body. You feel your toes wiggle, you feel lonliness when a relationship ends, you feel tension when you stretch your shoulders. These physical sensations you feel describe being hit by the first dart.

It is good to recognize that these feelings exist all of the time if we are living in the present. Both the good feelings and the difficult ones - it is a part of being alive.

Interestingly, it is common for people to believe that the yoga practice will take them out of feeling pain in their body (this could refer to the physical or emotional body). When in reality, the yoga practice, expands our awareness and deepens our physical capacity to feel in our bodies. At the same time as our ability to feel expands, we become more and more aware of acute tension and pain and joy that exists within our life.

Yoga expands our spectrum of feeling.

The second dart is what the mind does with the feeling sensations of the first dart. This is where the buddha makes a distinction between the experience of pain and the experience of suffering. The second dart is of your own creation.
As such, we can begin to see that suffering is not built in to pain, suffering is one way to react to the sensation of pain inside of the body. Furthermore, within a culture that has so many aversion patterns to living in the present, many people live day to day without any real sense of what is going on within their living, feeling, breathing bodies yet they are suffering. They are living through the second dart which is the minds construction of reality....and if we are disconnected from feeling then we are living out of reality, out of our truth of being alive.

At this point, we can really begin to see the way that these ancient practices (Meditation, asana, pranayama) are designed to effect our mind-body connection. Yoga is beginning to happen when we can see shifts in the way our minds react to the sensation of feeling within the body. Most often here in the west, this begins with the exploration of the physical body - but it transcends to observing the way our minds react to emotional feeling. In this process of observation we can begin to observe the minds tendencies towards pain aversion - rather then being present with the pain without suffering.

If we accept that the feeling of pain is an inevitable part of being alive - then we can begin to transcend patterns of pain aversion towards a greater understanding of our own individual patterns of suffering as a result of pain. And maybe, somewhere down that road is the gateway to freedom, samadhi, enlightenment - whatever you want to call it??

This is an ongoing dialogue - thoughts are appreciated always!! And, thanks for reading.

be in your body - feel whatever is true, for you!!

Sarah

p.p.s. I have posted a link from a CBC program on the commercialization of yoga. Interesting dialogue and good food for thought, especially as we begin to grow together in this Squamish yoga community. The program is 90 minutes but the yoga sections starts about 30 minutes in...
CBC Radio - Yoga Podcast
p.s. Our garden has begun to grow - we have little kale leaves!!

The Heart Sutra and a little song.

2009-05-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since i've written....again.

But such is the way of springtime. I've been gardening and climbing and pondering the amazing ways the earth changes, practically overnight, as season's change. I have been lost in the forest, lost in my dreams, lost in conversations and enjoying a bit of a hiatus from this cyber-world - at least as far as blogging goes.

I have two things I want to share with you today...both a product of my amazing sister, Tessa. She is truly one of the most inspiring and creative minds i know. She also studies yoga, and has recently been exploring a Buddhist text, 'The Heart Sutra.' She made a little video that everyone should see that emphasizes the teachings of the sutra and will also make you smile.

Click this link to see her creation...

The Heart Sutra Movie

Tess has also been writing and singing songs for a long time...she recently recorded her first song in a few years and I attached it below...enjoy!

Tessa's Song - At Last a Song

The real depth of our learning, in any practice, shows itself in the actions we take in our day-to-day lives.
We must time and time again revisit the question, how is this practice deepening and enriching my life??
Otherwise, what's the point??
Or, perhaps there doesn't have to be a point??

Tess will be out here at the end of may and will teach a class or two, and perhaps sing us a song at The Yoga Studio!!

Happy Spring Everyone.
Sarah

p.s. below is a picture of Scott and during a hike we took last week...

Softness

2009-05-02T08:22:00.000-07:00

I had an discussion with a friend a few days ago that left me with a feeling of failure.
Doesn't it seem like when it rains it pours??
On top of the energy out-put it takes to start a new business, the overwhelming feeling of being a new home owner and the long days that provide us with more eyes open and less rest... I am feeling like I am spread a little thin.
I have always been of the type of animal that takes on guilt. (Remorse as well, self criticism and self judgement!) It is a dark night for me when I feel like I let someone down. More and more I am realizing that this is inevitable. I can't make everyone happy. Also, I can't continue to relish in making people happy. Some neutrality most be there to conserve my life nectar! What a relief it is to admit that I can't be what my perception of perfect is. It is far nicer than what I think it is!

So, I told Sonnie (my boyfriend) about the discussion I had with said friend in an agitated way. He told me to

just be soft for a moment.

My resistance to his comment suprised me. It was the best advice, and I knew it, but I felt an exoskeleton piecing itself together around my heart when he said it. It is sometimes hard to hear the best advice from the person you love the most! I reacted with a little bit more agitation, but a little drop of that comment infected my life for the next couple of days. It turned into my mantra... be soft, be soft, be soft.
Softness/ or compassion and friendliness (karuna and maitri in sanskrit) means malleability. The ability to be OPEN. Receptive. Loving. The word took on many profound meanings to me over the course of 48 hours.
Rigidity /or dullness, (styana in sanskrit) is one of the biggest and baddest obstacles to real yoga! Sutra 1.30.
It is amazing how difficult is can be to accept change and adapt to new situations!

Life has had a few little challenges lately. Small and insignificant in comparison to the world, but also little bubbles of opportunity to be aware of in my universe.
When life happens... I am thankful for my yoga practice. Without challenge there would be less contemplation for me. Yoga could turn out to be something like gymnastics. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that it is so much more.
We all face these challenges. The amazing thing is that we are in this life thing together. It leaves no one out.
I hope we can all have the courage to be more open and less rigid.
"The play seems to be, once again, to increase the capacity to allow for the feelings and thoughts to arise without having to accept or reject them. The neutral resistance to the usual pathway seems to create a friction or heat that generates the required spaciousness."

Thanks to all those people who help me see more clearly.

By the way, life is great too!! I just think that it is cool to open up the lines of communication sometimes that are not so flowery and sing-songy.

Sonnie and I are also looking for a room mate (or a couple) for June to September in a lovely town house 5 minutes from down town Squamish. Sunny deck, open concept, great room mates (us!), no pets unfortunately. Pictured up above... Squamish... BC's greatest secret.

My email is lydiazamorano@hotmail.com.

Love!
Lydia

Best Yoga Teacher Ever

2009-04-13T07:43:00.001-07:00

If you have a moment,
check this out...
Even though I am more into the cloth diapers... haha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIEYEG4zFXg

Have a beautiful day!

Savasana - Learning to let go...

2009-04-02T15:10:00.001-07:00

Over the recent weeks i have found myself pondering and exploring, mentally and physically, what it means to let go.

Letting go of old thought patterns, old habits,
exploring the edges of my own existence
and then fully letting go of it all so that i don't get too attached to new ideas and new ways of being.

Why are we are such creatures of habit?

And ultimately the depth of our yoga practice,
exists where one idea joins another,
it transpires as practices merge
and occurs as relationships in our lives become more intimate.

What, then, is the role of 'Savasana' in the yoga practice?

Why is it often referred to as the most important pose?

And, is it okay to fall asleep in Savasana?

I should preface all of my insights with the notion that i am just sharing my ideas, some of which are based on reading and teachers and others that are simply grounded in my own human experience.

Savasana is directly translated as the corpse pose and in the literal sense it symbolizes the way that we are all dying a little bit every day. Regardless of how long we live, as each day passes we are one day closer to our deaths. In Western culture the notion of death is often avoided or treated in such a way that it isn't appropriate to talk about. Perhaps down the road Savasana can help bring us to a place where the ideas of aging and death are not feared or loathed but rather seen as another example of the way things are always shifting and changing to become something else?

Nothing is static.

Lately I have been exploring Savasana as the place where the physical yoga practice seeps into the deeper essence of my being. Many of us have an intuitive sense that yoga is about more then changing our physical bodies. We feel inside of ourselves that there is something deeply meaningful about this practice, but it is sometimes hard to put our fingers on exactly what it is. This is where i think Savasana has a unique and very important role in the asana practice.

It is a chance to be still and focus our energy inward.
Unsure of whether we are awake or asleep,
we can feel our heart beat
we can watch the mind race
and we can choose to let these things go (even if it is only for a brief moment)
and settle deeper and deeper in the essence of who we are.

And the scary truth is that most of us aren't really sure who we are,
and so Savasana is hard because it asks us to face that uncertainty
and in facing 'not knowing' maybe we can begin to really truly relax?
but more likely at first is figetting, itching, talking to ourselves,
and waiting for the bell,
or perhaps we fall asleep to avoid the uncertainty?

It is important that we don't latch on to a certain ideal Savasana experience. Every day is different and every moment and every breath brings a new opportunity to explore relaxation. If we accept this then we can move past expectations of Savasana being some blissful state we drift off to each day at the end of our practice.

A friend, and teacher, once told me to look for the edges of relaxation. Once you think you've found it, go deeper - surpass the limits your mind places on what it means to be relaxed. In approaching relaxation this way i have yet to find real limits, there are endless possibilities...not only for relaxation but so many things in this life - learning, love, giving, laughing.

Where are the edges of the mind?
Where is the end of your internal smile?
Can you let go of another muscle?
Can you observe your thoughts and then watch them drift away?
Where are the edges of letting go?

Enjoy your next Savasana.
Sarah

Below are a few pictures Sonnie took at The Yoga Studio while we were playing, check out the website for more new pictures of the little yellow room where we breath and move.

Thank you Power of Foodies

2009-03-21T18:25:00.000-07:00

To all of you that attended Adam's fascinating workshop, thank you! I had a great time, and am very excited about food processing, oat groats and those date power bars. Eating mindfully can truly enhance our capacity for being resourceful to all of those around us. Also, it makes us feel WONDERFUL.
If you don't know Adam his website is www.poweroffood.com.
I just wanted to leave you with this little exercise.
Please feel comfortable to come and visit The Yoga Studio at any time. There is a class suitable for all bodies and all ages.
Namaste!

Hey all of you, I think this is Cool.

2009-03-19T16:09:00.000-07:00

I love this! Also love how he talks about "the brain" and doesn't link it to "the self".

Enjoy

Muscles Only Relax When the Brain Says So
By Patrick Moore

Patrick's love for science, nature, and spirituality was apparent from an early age. In Oregon, he was a Boy Scout camping every month, snow, rain ... ...

Article Word Count: 1391 [View Summary] Comments (0)

What is a knot? A knot is when the sufferer feels tension, and reaching his hand to touch the spot, he feels a raised lump of muscle.

What is the lump made of? If he rubs it back and forth, it feels crunchy, as if there were some substance in there. This crunching has lead many to guess that there are "calcium crystals" in there. When this image is believed, clearly the way to cure the knot would be to "break up the crystals." This requires "stripping," "breaking," and generally mechanical forces from outside the body to "tenderize" the meat of the muscles, like one of those wooden mallets used by thrifty cooks to tenderize cheaper cuts of beef. Of course, after mechanical force is applied from outside, he feels sore the next day. This is why he is advised to "drink lots of water." But what if a knot is not made of crunchy crystals?

I believe a knot is nothing but smooth muscle, raised to a wrinkle because it is pulling so hard. It is like rope that you twist and twist, until finally the fibers kink in the middle.

Why do I think this? Any muscle will soften in seconds when the person's brain changes its mind. After thirty seconds of softening, when I rub the muscle back and forth, there is no more crunching. If there were crystals there, where did they go? If nobody broke any crystals, how did they soften?

If instead, knots are only muscle fibers kinked from tension, then when the brain stops signaling it to "pull", the kink naturally flattens out without any mechanical force from outside.

The nice thing about relaxing muscles from within, is that there will be no soreness afterward. There will be soreness after "crystal breaking" or any mechanical force intended to break something in the muscle. When you intend to break something, something will break! Soreness includes bruising of the skin, bruising of the muscle, and little bits of broken muscle fiber. Of course you need to drink more water for a few days that the immune system needs to clean up the broken fibers and heal the bruises. On the other hand, when muscles relax from within, there is no need to drink more water because nothing was broken.

How do muscles relax?

Muscles respond only to brain decisions. (Well, that's mostly true. There are mini-brains in the spine that can also signal muscles to contract or relax temporarily. But after the spinal reflex is finished, the muscle will return to the last instructions the brain gave.) Muscles relax for good only when the brain commands them to relax.

In the absence of new signals from the brain, muscles will continue to do as they were doing. Muscles will actively contract (or "guard"), day and night, even after death, if this was the last command heard from the brain. (for this reason, animals who know they are about to be killed tense up, and the meat--which is only muscle--will still be contracting when it gets to your plate, you'll be eating millions of "tense up" molecular messengers sent from the animal's last thoughts to its muscles.)

We need to figure out what the brain wants, so that it will choose to relax.

Here is what does not work: Lengthening muscles by force. The brain knows that force is being used and so it will subconsciously choose to relent temporarily, returning to its previous tension settings by the time the person wakes the next morning. Worse, the brain now subconsciously mistrusts whomever used force to overcome its guard.

How To Invoke The Brain To Relax The Body

If we want the brain to freely choose relaxation, then it cannot be forced to change.

Instead of forcing change, why not agree with the brain? When you find you can't rotate your head to the left, don't force it! Turn your head to the easy way. Contract lightly in the directions of comfort for about twenty seconds then gradually let it return to neutral. Do this a few times a day. If your body wants to go into a curled or bent position when you sleep, allow the body to go where it wants and help it. Get into a pool and let the body bend and curl in any direction it wants.

When it feels it has been heard, the brain feels honored that someone has taken the time to listen without judging the guarding as bad. It feels supported that someone is on its side and actually wants to assist its plan.

How Does It Work?

Once the brain sees that its limbs, joints and muscles are in the fullest contortion of guarding, (something happens within and) the guarding releases like magic. What happened? Maybe the brain has a sense of humor and needed to see how silly the guarding really looked when it was allowed to do what it planned. Maybe the most guarded position is a secret key that unlocks the double-lock vault where the tension was originally stored. Maybe it is just a playful time that allows the brain and body to lighten up. Maybe the symbolism of guarding as far as one can go, wears out the original command and it simply runs out of steam. Probably all of the above and more reasons too.

The Importance Of Immediate Feedback

Every muscle treatment I give, I ask the person, "Hey this muscle is softening, do you feel it?" Before the question, her brain had monitored relaxation only subconsciously. When a person has enough experiences noticing her own muscles relax, she gains conscious influence over her own muscle tension. Soon enough, she no longer needs outside assistance from a massage therapist, she can relax her own muscles from within, all by herself.

Complaints That Benefit From Invoking Brain To Relax Muscles

(please understand I am not a Doctor, I am not licensed to diagnose, and I am not saying that any disease would be "cured.") Relaxation From Within Helps With:

* Aging (triggers PNS parasympathetic nervous system) gives back years of quality living, healthier skin, nails, hair, better digestion, lower heart rate, better blood pressure, lower anxiety, deeper breathing, etc.
* Asthma, Allergies, Histamine Reactions, Chemical Sensitivity, Hyper Sensitivities
* Athletes: those specific cramps at mile 22, low back pain for black belts (psoas muscle), Tendinitis (relax the muscle attached to that tendon), Tennis Elbow, Golfer's Elbow, etc.
* Atlas and Axis: by relaxing obliquus inferior and superior muscles that were jamming these two joints
* Brain: TBI brain injury, Stroke, MS, ALS, Encephalitis, Lyme, etc. (by boosting brain-muscle communication, intra-brain communication is enhanced)
* Dancers (psoas)
* Emotional Release (release not in outbursts, but gradually and constantly leaks away, a gentle rivulet of release), PTSD, "Shell Shock," automobile accident trauma, major surgery (traumatization can reside for decades after anesthesia and surgery), past life trauma (encapsulated in pearl gray capsules in the hippocampus and medulla oblongata, regulated by the centrum and the cerebellum)
* Fatigue, CFS, Fibromyalgia, Candida, etc. (reducing muscle tension without the next-day soreness, ends the pain-spasm-pain loop)
* Hip Rotators and Shoulder Rotator Cuff (tendons heal faster when no longer under tension from muscles)
* Irritable Bowel or Poor Digestion (colon has spiral muscles that need to relax to move the food smoothly and effectively)
* I-T band (which is the common tendon of the Tensor Fascia Latte and Gluteus Maximus muscles)
* Job-Related Injuries, Stress, Overuse Injuries, Tendinitis, Carpal Tunnel (more likely wrist extensors), Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, tingling in the fingers, numbness, (pectoralis minor, scalenes, atlanto/axial joint, subscapularis), Sciatica, Bursitis, pain down the leg, numbness or tingling in the foot (piriformis, pectineus, TFL) (muscle tension restricts vein, artery and nerve flow)
* Low Back Pain: (relax the lumbar sidebenders and psoas)
* Lumbar Rotation, sometimes diagnosed as rotoscoleosis: (tight psoas muscle can rotate lumbar spine)
* Type "A" personality, SNS (sympathetic nervous system) always on, "Fight Or Flight," Adrenaline Junkie, High Blood Pressure, Hypertension, Cold Hands and Feet, Sweaty Palms, Anxiety, Tongue Tied, Butterflies In Stomach, etc.
* Yoga Practitioners and Teachers: overstretching injuries, low back pain (psoas,) loss of hip medial rotation (piriformis too tight, TFL too weak)

We live in a generation of dramatic change. Force never really worked well. We never really needed to depend on an Authority Of Healing to fix our knots, kinks, and ailments. It is time to use the gifts within.

Patrick Moore, L.M.T., B.A. is an educator for both undergraduate and licensed massage therapists. Specializing in the brain-muscle connection, he continues to develop new technique, publish articles, and maintain a small massage practice in Phoenix, AZ

In 2001 Patrick rediscovered the idea that muscles relax when the brain feels safe, and began publishing and teaching what is now called, "Melting Muscles"

As an NCBTMB educator, he travels Nationwide to teach Melting Muscles, Reiki, tendinitis treatment, and an Ethics class on Equal Relationships

Patrick would like to organize a fan club for the obliquus capitis inferior muscle

His articles have appeared in Massage & Bodywork magazine and Massage Therapy Journal

Melting Muscles technique at: http://MeltingMuscles.com
Class dates and new classes at Patrick's blog; http://meltingmuscles.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Patrick_Moore

The 5 Koshas

2009-03-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

What is self realization?

First of all, you don't have to have your serious face on to ask this question.

What does it have to do with learning how to do Downward Dog more efficiently or lying on the floor at the end of a sweaty yoga class?

At first it may seem like a lofty spiritual goal to ask this question, but I think that it is as much a part of your everyday life as washing the dishes and walking to work.

It may not seem feasible at first, but yoga is a way to tap into an uncovering of the layers that are superimposed over who you truly are. Yoga encompasses many other things than just asana (posture) practice. However, for practicality's sake, we start with that. We start with the tangible - our body.

In Yogic philosophy there are 5 sheaths (or bodies) that enshroud the true self. They are called the 5 Koshas. You can visualize them as the skins on an onion or the rings inside a tree's core. We will look at them from the most obvious or gross to their most subtle.

Annamaya Kosha: This is the anatomical body. It is the most obvious (like feeling your hamstrings in your first forward fold!). This body is composed of muscular and connective tissue, and bones. Anna means food. This body needs food for it's maintenance.

Pranamaya Kosha: This is the breath body. It is also the subtler aspects of of the energy body. You could call is physiological. It encompasses moving the air to all the vitals and bringing the anatomical body (your own skin bag!) to life. It also contains the nervous, lymphatic and endocrine system.

Manomaya Kosha: This is the mental body. It is how you perceive the world through your 5 sense organs. Eyes, ears, nose tongue and skin. It also involves your feelings, emotions and how you organize your experience.

Vijnanamaya Kosha: This is the intellectual body. Also called the wisdom body. This body takes the mental body one step further by being the framework for how you make decisions. Past karma (your actions) and environmental and social conditioning influence this body.

Anandamaya Kosha: This is the most subtle body. The inner ring of the tree and the closest to who you really are. It is the causal body and is responsible for the cause of everything. It is like a blank projector screen that remains blank even though the movie is playing on it. It is untouched, unchanging, and the only real truth. It is the sense of contentment that you feel when you are laying on the floor in savasana and everthing aligns, even for just a moment. It is the one breath that you can follow completely, all the way through inhale and exhale. It is the feeling of watching a sunset and actually being the sunset. It is vast and unexplainable.

Ever experienced this before??

Yoga asana (posture) is a way of connecting all of these bodies that make up you. After some observation there is the realization that all of these bodies interpermeate. The breath affects the mind. The mind affects the breath. The body affects the decision making. When you look deeply into the past conditioning you find anxieties that make knots and grooves in the body and the psyche. When all align, there is a moment of pure clarity. Right?

Try a sitting practice and checking in with the 5 Koshas. 5 minutes of checking in with the internal landscape. How does this affect your knowledge of your self?

Try aligning virabhadrasana 2 and checking in with the 5 Koshas. How does this influence your posture?

Remember in these explorations you don't have to come to an answer. You don't have to be right. You can hold many different vantage points and postures.

Let your yoga practice take you closer to who you are. Daily.

Lydia
The Yoga Studio Squamish

The time is now - Stretching Kindness

2009-03-06T20:33:00.000-08:00

So, tomorrow morning we will host the first few classes at our new studio in Squamish. The past few weeks have been so busy and so full that it has been hard to fully comprehend the reality of my days. And, even crazier to look back and believe that I moved to Squamish barely 2 weeks ago.

Today, for the first time since i got here we found ourselves with nothing on our list of things to do...so we sat on the massive roof top of our studio and marveled at...the granite peaks, the warm sunshine and the company of a good friend who has come all the way from Canmore to join us for the opening. Erin, it means so much to have you here.

The space is beautiful.
The time is now - to share and breath and grow together.
The time is now - to share and grow with this remarkable planet.
And if the time isn't now, what is it we are doing with our lives??

All classes this weekend are by donation and %50 of the proceeds will be donated to Pacific Wild, an organization dedicated to raising awareness and protecting the west coast wildlife and forests. You can find out more about their efforts at www.pacificwild.org

Also, if you like...check out the link to an article in today's Squamish Chief with a little more information on the opening weekend. Thanks to Neil for helping us to spread the love for yoga in Squamish.

The title on the cover of today's paper was amazing - Stretching Kindness!!

http://www.squamishchief.com/article/20090306/SQUAMISH0604/303069997/1064/SQUAMISH06/yoga-for-a-cause

Thanks again to all of our supporters!
Sarah

The Yoga Studio Squamish...coming to life!!

2009-02-18T04:12:00.000-08:00

So, i've been in Squamish barely a week and Lydia and I have been working non stop to bring The Yoga Studio Squamish to life. Last Thursday morning we walked into the studio space - the walls were barely drywalled, the floor was cracked cement and there were terrible florescent lights hindering the incredible views of the Chief and the Squamish harbour...

And now...

First we painted.
Then we floored.
Then we taught ourselves about electricity so we could put in some new lights.

Big thanks to Sonnie for being there with us and helping us every step of the way...and Scott, too, for taking the time away from school when we first arrived to help us get going on the reno's. You guys are absolutely amazing and we love you!!

We had our first practice in the space a few days ago and despite still needing more heat it was incredible. Words can't describe it, but the space is magical and Lydia and I are so excited to share it with whoever wants to come and be a part of it!!
Everyone is invited!

There is still a busy week of work...the finer details of the space, building momentum and energy. But this process is teaching us so much. Each day we practice patience and hard work. We breath deep and stay calm as we spend more money then we normally spend in a month in a few days...we enjoy the moments we have to move in our bodies after a long day of physical work. And we take the time to sleep and eat and breath...although we are admittedly a little tired after a week of long days. The practice is every moment of our day and each moment of each day is teaching us in ways we never thought were possible.

And, i couldn't imagine working and making this happen with anyone else but Lydia - thanks Lydia for inspiring me to come to Squamish and create our shared vision into the reality it will soon become!!

I am flooded with excitement,
Steeped in a dream
Filled with a deep sense of purpose for something other then myself.

And as far as i can tell there is no beginning and no end to this journey -
just a deepening sense of connectedness,
so many new souls to meet and teach and learn beside.

Hope to see you all next weekend for the grand opening - There will be by donation classes next Saturday and Sunday (march 7 & 8th) at 10 am and Noon.
Sarah

The Art of Not Trying...

2009-02-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

So, it's been over a week since Rameen Peyrow was in Canmore for a workshop. Over 55 people joined in the yoga lounge to soak up a little of Rameen's contagious inspiration, to move and breath, and to connect to some deeper sense of this path of yoga.

When lots of ideas are presented i often want to let things simmer for a while to gain a real sense of what is really meaningful for me at this point on my journey. Immediately following workshops we are often flooded with information - and it is through this simmering process that we can let go of holding on too tightly to somebody elses ideas. And through this, space is created for our own ideas, our own authentic teacher to begin to grow inside of us.

Rameen spoke often last weekend of his 'art of not trying.' He commented on the way amazing things happen when we let go of this notion of trying. Now, on the surface I think this is a hard thing to understand or rationalize? Clearly there is effort as we move and breath in our asana practices, some intention is necessary to begin to explore the depths of a seated meditation practice, and deepening relationships is not an easy thing...surely we must TRY??

What on earth is Rameen alluding to with his 'art of not trying'??

Letting go.
Creating the space to observe and learn,
without expectations or judgment.

The ability to settle into this present moment,
as what IS,
while maintaining a connection
to the reality of ever present and constant change in our lives.

Trying without trying.
A world of contradictions.
And within this a world of truth
and freedom
and happiness.

maybe??

This morning was the first day of a two week mysore workshop I am running here in Canmore. It will be my last teaching here before heading to Squamish. I woke before 5 to head down to the lounge to do my own practice before teaching...except i couldn't find my car keys anywhere. Ahhh!! It's super early and i don't want to wake up Scott so I TRY really hard to find my keys quietly...of course in the process of TRYING so hard nothing ever happens, and in the moment where i surrendered and decided to stop looking i found the keys...ahh, the art of not trying is everywhere!

Another theme I have taken from Rameen's workshop relates to my recent curiosity with the pose Salabhasana. The locust pose (i.e.Lying on your stomach - hands by your side, lift shoulders and feet so that there is a gradual curve along your spine). This is a great pose for strength and support along the spine. I have been spending time over the past month holding salabhasana for long periods of time, followed by cobra, then upward dog. In every vinyasa. Some of Rameen's Satva sequencing followed on this theme. It is an amazing way to explore opening the upper spine and shoulders without compromising the lower back. Also, explore keeping the legs slightly internally rotated, groins deep and bum broad...pictures and video of this sequencing soon!!

Thanks again to Rameen and Sarah for joining us last weekend, you are both a wonderful and inspiring gift! I can't wait for you to visit our little studio in Squamish in September. To find out more about their yoga studio and Rameen's teachings check out www.theyogaloft.com.

ciao.
Sarah

A lesson in expectations - yoga for everyone!

2009-01-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a story.

Over the past month I have been teaching two morning classes a week and the cement plant, Lafarge, just outside of Canmore. As a part of the company's heath and wellness iniative all the workers (over 100 of them) have the option to participate in, and get paid for, morning "stretch" classes every day of the week.

Deb Boucher, a local pilates teacher and busy mother put enormous amounts of energy into getting this program going and I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with such a diverse demographic.

Prior to teaching my first class, I was nervous and full of expectations about how the union workers would receive my classes. I was wary of being a lone female amidst a crowd of men. I dressed in baggy Carharts, boots and wore safety goggles to meet the warehouse standards while teaching. I was somehow convinced in my mind that these men would be resistant to moving, breathing and stretching - i couldn't have been more off!

As the weeks progressed, I added stretches and often there were over 70 men in the warehouse stretching at 7:15 in the morning. So amazing! Many of the workers made a point of saying thanks, asking questions and letting me know that they were enjoying the program. I am fairly sure that none of them will ever read this but i am sending a huge thanks to all who joined for showing such openness in something that was clearly challenging and new for many of them.

As for me, i am still learning and reflecting on the way my mind manifested ideas and judgments about the way my classes would be received at Lafarge. Every day our minds create situations that are not actually true and i believe that so much suffering and many challenges result from the energy we put in to these false realities...

I share with you this story in hopes that we can all move a little closer towards a truth that is free from the clouds of judgment that often sneak into our lives in ways we don't even realize.

As for yoga - more so then ever the time I spent at Lafarge has shown me this practice can reach out and enrich the lives of anyone, if the opportunity is there.

more soon.
Sarah

Sit Still and Enjoy Going Deeper

2009-01-27T07:58:00.000-08:00

The French Philosopher Pascal said that all human happiness comes down to the ability to sit still in a room alone.

Why do you think that is?
We're together on this one.
The simple act of sitting by yourself without distraction. Distraction from what?

(Where ever you go there you are)

Yourself. But maybe more than that. Maybe just what is. A percentage yourself and a percentage the world around you. The very amorphous moment that is now. Contact with this gives an unexplainable sensation of peace. Quietude. Continuance.

I once heard that if you don't find sitting still interesting, than sit for longer. 5, 10, 15, 60 minutes... things become more interesting. True that! I strongly recommend that you try it.

Sitting still for elongated periods shifts your awareness from the gross to the subtle. Yoga shifts your awareness from the dense to the refined and ethereal. Yoga shifts your awareness from your external sense environment to the internal environment of your mind body matrix. Once this is established and explored it expands you back out into your environment- without losing your awareness of the inner world. Then you are moving in two directions. Expansion happens. Amplification. Vertically you are ascending to your natural potential and horizontally you are interconnected with others and the earth the way you innately know you can be. Openness happens in the mind and body. You can be in a relationship that is harmonious with yourself and the other. Give/receive, love/be loved, inhale/exhale.

Sitting still for elongated periods you can help you to be more in tune with your body and mind. Where do the thoughts come from? Where do they go? Can you do this without thinking about the proper answer or what someone else would say? Can you not only feel the skin but the flesh? The place in your chest where your heart is... in front of the spine and behind the sternum? Can you feel it beating? Can you be in tune with one single cycle of inhale and exhale? Which nostril has a more open channel for air? Which lung expands more freely and is it related to the weight on your sitting bones?

How interesting.

While sitting with your eyes closed you don't care about what you look like or about what others think of you... and it is not like you don't care because you are too smart or good to care about such things, but just because you actually DON'T CARE. The way you FEEL is much more interesting and enthralling.

Who knew?

I was hiking up a trail the other day and I ran into a nice gentleman and we struck up a conversation about yoga. He was telling me how he really wants to get back into yoga but the type of class he was looking for was specific. He really hates it when the teacher asks the students to feel the relationship of their anus to the roof of their mouth. He just wants a good stretch.
No judgement on that! A good stretch is an amazing experience!
However, these things may seem silly at first but with a bit of practice they seem completely valid and interconnected to the state of the asana. If you can feel the dome of your perineum and the dome of your palate and their striking similarities... chances are you are not entangled in a cluster of tricky thoughts that are distracting you from the moment- and from actually living your life.
And.... (this is all stuff I need to be reminded of, so when I'm talking about you I am not pointing any fingers, I'm really talking about us)
Maybe the next time you go to the store you will actually remember those eco reusable bags. And you won't forget that really nice person's name. (Doh!) And when you are listening to someone tell their story of sadness you will be totally present with them and will give them the space to tell it. And when you are angry with someone because your own agitation levels are in the red, you will take a deep breath and not say the nasty little thing that is on the tip of your tongue. When you are climbing you will be absorbed in the upward flow without thinking of falling. When you are riding or skiing or biking you will hit the tranny without hesitation. When you are hanging out with your child you will understand the primal, ready and uninhibited ways of an innocent youth... without getting angry. When you have an interaction with an animal you will be able to speak to them without uttering any sounds.

Hmmmmm.
And you won't take yourself too seriously for making any mistakes if you slip up... you'll know they are in the past, which has no business in the present moment - that you can observe as you sit still in a room alone.

Lydia

Asana Tip for the Day (Inspiration from Patricia Walden):
In Salamba Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand) press the OUTER shoulder down into the mat. Press the outer elbow down into the mat.
Be aware of the shoulder blades and press them onto your back so the upper spine curls in to the space behind your heart. Don't let your middle back be dead in the posture. Lengthen strongly the latissimus dorsi muscles on both sides and sharpen your inner leg so it journeys UP to the ceiling.
Spread your toes and soften your facial muscles.
Lift your chin a small amount so that there is a space between the back of your neck and the floor and the C7 is lifting away from the floor ever so slightly.
Breathe.

Authenticity - Who am i??

2009-01-23T14:20:00.000-08:00

Whoa - that's a big question? But perhaps a good one??

On some levels seeking an authentic human experience should be easy, we are after all human, so aren't all of our experiences authentic??

Maybe...but there is something innocent inside of each of us that intuitively knows certain experiences are deeper and more meaningful.
They effect us into our core.

Certain conversations that are more from the heart then from the head.
Some days we are more present in our lives then others,
Filled with a sense of purpose and freedom
Accepting fears and flaws without fleeing into avoidance of truth.
Humbled by the harshness and magnificence of the world.

Breaths are deeper,
postures flow beyond analysis or judgment.
Stillness is everywhere.

I accept that the depth of these experiences shines in comparison with a world that challenges us daily with consumer culture, media, small-talk and an excess of intellectual analysis.

But, in accepting that, I am also striving to daily dive deeper into real experiences that deepen my human experience. I believe this is a conscious choice and even within the world of yoga one we need to be mindful of.

Recently i've been reading and listening to the ponderings of an inspiring yoga teacher Michael Stone (centreofgravity.org). Below is a quote from his recent book, The Inner Tradition of Yoga.

"The heart of yoga is the cultivation of equilibrium in mind and body so that one can wake up to the reality of being alive, which includes not just joy and health but impermanence, aging, suffering and death. A yoga practice that excludes the shadows of illness or aging cuts itself off from the truths of being alive. Similarly, a practice that focuses exclusively on physical culture and the performance of yoga poses at the expense of psychological understanding and transformation is a one-sided practice. Without the balanced practice of all eight limbs, and a path rooted in the first limb (morals and ethics) especially, yoga practice can easily become another form of materialism."

I'll leave you with that for today, more soon! I'm off to another workshop with Rameen Peyrow - this time here in Canmore. Sattva is the name of the workshop, perhaps the title of my next writing...three weeks till i head west, getting really excited for the coast and the little studio which will soon come to life!

chanti
sarah

Good Grooves

2009-01-17T20:13:00.000-08:00

When deepening one's practice of yoga one penetrates or becomes aware of different layers in the psyche and the body. Like peeling back the skin of an onion to reveal another strikingly similar layer. Yoga is a psychosomatic practice, it pertains to the mind and the body. For example, a yoga practice may make one feel stress free, buoyant and bright, but may also make a person become painfully aware of a deeper layer of their psyche that contains guilt and embarrassment. When a person becomes more aware of themselves they start to become more aware of their surroundings and their impact on their surroundings. Similarly, a yoga practice may make someone feel like their hamstrings and shoulders become more pliable and supple, but this level of progress will expose deeper layers of restriction or weakness in the body... for example the achilles and the iliopsoas.
The restriction in the mind and the body in the form of patterning is referred to as Samskaras in Buddhism. Samskaras are the fundamental impressions left on an individual, which are acquired in the present and the previous lives through various experiences. These samskaras prove to be the coded form of the entire life of an individual.
Everything we do or think leaves an imprint. Samskaras are like psychological and physiological grooves or slide paths that become harder to break or cease flow of as they get stronger. We all know how hard it is to break addictive habits!
For example, I was making a ginger beet soup yesterday and I decided to chop the fresh ginger root into tiny pieces using my left and less dominant hand. I couldn't believe how awkward and difficult it was to chop 1/4 of a cup of the stuff. I strongly kept wanting to switch hands and I became a little agitated. While this process was going on I was just observing the way my mind reacted to attempting to break a physiological habit. The groove was very deep. It made me wonder what kind of psychological grooves I may possess that I am not yet fully aware of.
There is much work ahead for me.
No one has ever said there isn't a little pain on the path to freedom. But maybe the pain doesn't have to be YOUR pain or MY pain. Maybe it is just pain, and it is universal.
In each moment we have the choice to create another samskara (volitional formation) through dullness, negativity and habit patterning. We also have the choice of making a good groove (mental disposition) by just observing reality as it arises with awareness of our impact on others and the earth. We have the choice of making good grooves.

My experience thus far has been that as soon as I feel like I have "gotten somewhere" with anything pertaining to becoming more liberated in my experience of life there is another layer waiting to be explored and peeled back to expose another. Ambition to become enlightened could either leave me perpetually unsatisfied or it could be balanced with the wisdom that I can be free in each stage of the path by realizing the true and pure nature of perfect awareness without judgement or self reference. There may be steps to take, slowly and persistently, but freedom can be in each step and with each breath. The balance is tedious, and my mind continually wants to label and own things as they come up into my experience, but I feel the most progress when I appreciate and observe the small things and when I act for someone else's benefit.

The mind and body is a wonderful apparatus isn't it?

Speaking of which we went climbing in the sun today! The first pitches of the year... and I was free when I observed the sensation of the first sunlight hitting skin after a few long weeks of winter.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

For my Mother

2009-01-13T15:37:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone, and happy new year!

It has been a while since i've written - so inspired but lost for words of how to describe the gift of life and learning. I've also been busy, settling back into the Rockies after an amazing holiday with my family in Ontario. Just over a month in these mountains, surrounded by a wonderful community that has given me so much. I am enjoying every moment!

And, within each moment i am becoming more and more excited for the new adventure in Squamish.

Tomorrow is my mother's birthday.
If i could give her a hug and walk by the lake with her i would, but with provinces between us - i'll share my love for her below.

Gifted with grace, openness and a true passion for life she teaches me each and everyday.

In love with her garden
her books, her family and her children.
So much so that i often wonder when she makes time for herself.

Amazed by the simplicities of this often overly complex world.
Patient and so unconditionally giving of her love and her energy.

Over the holidays someone commented that we would turn our heads for a moment and my mom would have another gourmet meal on the table.

Yoga is so much about surrender to the truths of being alive.
And within surrender is absolute freedom.
So many of the lessons i am humbled by in this life my mother embraces in a simple, modest way.
Friend, mother, sister and lover - you are so beautiful.
I love you.

The photos are from the time i spent by Lake Ontario with my family over the holidays.
Thank you to all of you for being such an inspiring part of my life.

Family can mean so many different things to different people. Either way, it is the people who are closest to us that can teach us the most about ourselves in relationship to this world. As long as we have ears to listen??

love to all of you!
Sarah
p.s. Our website is all updated, feel free to check it out and share your thoughts. www.theyogastudiosquamish.com - less then two months until our opening weekend!

There is no Secret Ingredient

2008-12-31T07:16:00.000-08:00

Have any of you ever seen Kung Fu Panda? (The movie)
I was just hanging out in Toronto with Sonnie's 4 nieces and nephews and had the opportunity to watch it. WHAT A GREAT MOVIE.

Well, 2008 is coming to a close. Sonnie and I got home from the airport yesterday to a car that wouldn't start. We spent all day looking for a new vehicle in Vancouver and conversing with seemingly desperate and mildly pushy car sales people. Today we are going to do the same. I guess it is a logical end to the year... to trade in the car and lease a new one. This will be the first NEW car I've ever driven. Not to mention the first 4 year commitment I've ever made- save my commitment to Sonnie. We bumped into a friend on the way to the city and she commented on the decision... "sign of growing up,) she said.

All the travel, turkey and wrapping paper made my head a little fuzzy. I'm pretty happy to simmer down into my life as it is again and hear the noise fade to a pianissimo. Christmas is really about the kids. Even though it was a little hectic with long nights in the airport, and capricious weather that had everyone not knowing (could that be bad?) I found it nice to go a few days without thinking of myself very much.

The first time I went to India I was with my dear friend Mindy. We spent New Year's Eve together and both chose a word that we would contemplate and come back to throughout the year to come (instead of a New Year's Resolution). I chose commitment that year. It proved to be a year with less doubt, more direction and a decisiveness that I was looking for. The next year Mindy chose my word. Lucky. I found myself in Bangalore, India, with Sonnie, at 3 am in the morning on Jan. 3rd, after 36 hours of traveling, and staring at our hotel sign that was blinking and sputtering in the dark and rat infested streets. It read "Lucky Hotel".
I knew it would be a good year.

This year Mindy will send me a word and I will also choose my own. My word will be Sonnie. A name, yes, but a very good one.

What will yours be?
If you feel like sharing please post.

And remember, there is no secret ingredient... you just have to believe.

So much love to all of you that read and share. This is going to be a good year.
Lydia

Two heads are better then one....the dream continues!

2008-12-21T08:16:00.000-08:00

Happy holidays to you all!

It's Sarah and Lydia writing together, amazing!

We've spent most of the past week drinking tea, brainstorming, registering The Yoga Studio and crunching numbers for the startup of the new adventure...we've also taken long snowy walks, sat still, practiced with Ron Reid and Micheal Stone, laughed till our stomachs ached, enjoyed amazing food and played scrabble way passed our bedtimes.

We've also been loving the company of the Cooper's Hawk (we think?) that seems to have taken a liking to my parents property.

It is so amazing to be together!
Two heads are indeed better then one.

As I write, Lydia is searching for grant applications on the internet so that we can reduce the start-up costs of this project. If anyone has any suggestions of grants that may apply to a yoga studio dedicated to community building and environmentally conscious living please let us know.

Mostly we wanted to write and let you all know that we thank you for your support and hope that you have a wonderful white holiday season. We heard on the news that this is the first time in over four decades that all Canadians, coast-to-coast, will enjoy a white Christmas - what an amazing country we live in!!?

Also, check out our new updated website - www.theyogastudiosquamish.com

so much love.
sarah and lydia.

A dream to share....

2008-12-12T15:22:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

It's been a while since i've posted so a big hello to all of you who are joining and reading from time to time.

And, thankyou for your support!

Another winter storm has arrived in Canmore. This storm is coming from the north and is bringing a deep freeze - temperatures aren't supposed to rise above minus 20 all weekend. I suppose it's a good excuse to cuddle up by the fire and read or watch a movie. I am currently roasting root vegetables and making squash soup to enjoy with Scott over this chilly weekend...

As the opening of The Yoga Studio in Squamish approaches, I am pondering lots of ideas around what yoga has brought to my life and what I am inspired to share with people on this path. I have always been attracted to deep, real human relationships and this practice exposes and challenges me to more honestly relate to myself so that in turn i can better relate and open myself to the world (both people and places!).

In more ways then i can know, yoga is about relationship...and if it's not, then what is it teaching us?? To put our legs behind our heads??

It is clear that there are deeper dimensions to the practice but i think it is important to ask ourselves often...and to be honest about how this 'yoga' is enriching our lives?
Making us more open to growing?
Less attached to patterns within ourselves that hold us back -
towards truth and honesty with ourselves and the world around us?

This is the yoga i really want to share with people. The physical yoga practice is a path to liberation in the body, which so many of us have been imprisoned by at some point in our lives. And, I love to teach and share about learning's i've had in my own asana practice as a gateway to a deeper sense of truth.

But, as the holidays approach, I am thinking lots about family and friends. And I am inspired to share gratitude with the community that makes up my life. Thank you all so much for making my life so wonderful and for teaching me in the ways that you do.

The yoga of the holidays for me will be walking by the lake with my family,
staring into the eyes of my lover,
sitting down to beautiful meals prepared by my amazing mother,
listening to my sister play the guitar,
playing chess with my brothers and my dad,
embracing my oldest friend and her new son, Grae
and breathing deeply with gratitude for this life.

I head east on Monday to meet up with Lydia in Toronto.
Together we will breath, laugh and learn on this new path as business owners.
We are so excited to spend some time putting energy into the vision we share.
A dream of creating a space,
A passion for sharing community and real relationships
- with people and places in this world.

So much love to all of you over the holidays - enjoy the moments!
sarah

A Deep Breath

2008-12-11T19:52:00.000-08:00

Yeesh. I've been spending too much time staring at this screen lately. It's a good thing I have a yoga chair to keep me away from the slump factor. Thanks Carl! (www.sukhasana.com)
Do the holidays ever add a little stress? Exploit any financial weaknesses? Overload your senses? Remind you that we not only live in abundance but sometimes (dare I say it) gluttony?
Although I am really melting from the cheer that is brightening the faces of all the people in this corridor, sometimes during December I need to lay down and take a few deep breaths. (I tend to do this during Jan, Feb, March, April... and so on as well, BUT maybe more in Dec... wink) Even just one breath can help me feel embodied and aware of what is REALLY arising in myself. Somewhere in there there is a place that is more than the extreme of holiday intoxication or it's opposite of Western consumerism resentment.
Anyways, on our new website www.theyogastudiosquamish.com I just posted a couple of Breathing Podcasts for those of you with like minds.
I especially like the belly breathing before the New Year.
When I lay down and belly breathe for a little while it actually feels like my belly is doing the breathing. Like my belly is breathing in and out.
I always thought that our skin actually did breathe but I dissolved this myth after a little bit of study. (A renowned yoga teacher published a very good book that led me to believe this was true, and that this is why the gold painted woman in the old James Bond movie Goldfinger died - but apparently she went on to make a few more films before retiring and skin-asphyxiation is not really possible).
There is only one animal known to man that breathes through it's skin. It's an Australian Mouse that is born as one of the tiniest mammals on earth after just 9 days of gestation.
Okay, WAY too much time on this computer. What I am trying to get at is that I love the idea of the skin breathing and it seems to be a wonderful visualization for me during practice. I'm kind of disappointed our epidermis doesn't have it's own set of lungs because I like to think that my whole body is pulling in oxygen from the outside medium into the inside.

On another note, I teach a group of First Nations kids yoga two times a week. Today I taught the last class for them before the holidays and they were genuinely sad to hear that yoga was postponed until the New Year. (!!) It has been a long and seemingly impossible journey and I have had many confrontations with myself and my ego teaching these packages of reality, but we are now on a hugging basis and they got together and did a continuous 2 minute Om with me tonight. I don't even want to think about when I no longer have them as part of my week, because I am starting to fall in love with the little rascals. They are so candid that it is refreshing- it's kind of like being in India! They don't really know it, but I am really THEIR student.

A picture of me and Sonnie- all soggy and squishy in the coastal wetness wonderland.
He even bought me a pair of water proof running shoes (shown in picture)... best boyfriend in the world.

Lydia

TODAY is a gift.

2008-11-29T21:27:00.000-08:00

Wow...it's hard to believe that December is almost here. The warm sunny days we've been enjoying feel more like September.

I recently attended another wonderful yoga workshop.

This time with Rameen Peyrow. Humble friend, inspiring teacher and student of life - Rameen teaches about yoga in the context of our lives. He challenges each and every one of us to dig deeper into what truth may mean and once you think you've found something....let it go and go deeper.

This journey inward, if we choose to accept it, is endless.

In the week since the workshop I taught more classes then I can count. Themes I was left with in the wake of Rameen's wise teachings were 'balance' and 'being present' and below are a few thoughts his teachings brought up for me...comments are welcome!

What does it mean to be balanced? For me ideas of living truth come to mind. In a world where I am constantly bombarded with the external experience of media, friends, family, work and play....it is easy to lose track of my internal truth, what it is I really want??
I believe it is often hard to know what we really want because we are lost in an abyss of meeting expectations, living the life that we have been taught to live...

So, that's where yoga came into my life...a chance to deepen the internal experience, an opportunity to be more connected to my own truths. A chance to really truly know myself. And the balancing act of life is articulating and negotiating the relationship between the internal and external experiences which will forever be ebbing and flowing. Of course, just when things start to feel balanced we are destined to fall once more.
Always balancing - never balanced?

All of this is great in theory, but as humans we need direct experience to really believe things. That's where the yoga posture practice is so amazing. An opportunity to experience first hand, balance - a place to explore your own internal experience (i.e. breath, thought patterns) while staying connected to the external experience of each posture (i.e. injury free alignment and movement).

Balance or truth arises in asana when there is steadiness and ease in both the internal and external expression of the posture. Or as Patanjali says in the Yoga Sutras (2:46), 'Sthira sukham asanam.' In my own life, the experience of this sensation on the mat has definitely left me seeking and striving to find that same sense of truth and balance in every moment of my life.

And, that's where the journey of yoga (for me) has become really interesting!

As for living in the present.
The moments of our lives when the internal and external experiences we are having seem to match up,
The times when we let go of expectations we hold of ourselves and fully accept where we are,
The periods of time where we really engage in listening (whether it be a conversation with our body or our lovers) this is what it means to be present for me.
To fully give my self to a moment.
To go deeper into the NOW.

This week I found myself really encouraging myself and my students to BE PRESENT and GO DEEPER, and even in setting that intention i felt my own engagement with every one of the countless classes i taught more heightened and real.
It felt amazing!
And, after my class last Tuesday morning at the Rec Centre a wonderful women came up and shared the most beautiful quote. It's from a Charly Brown cartoon - if anyone has a copy of the cartoon I would love to see it.

It says.
Yesterday is the past.
Tomorrow is the future.
Today is a gift - that's why it's called the present.

ahh, it's perfect!
Enjoy today!
As Rameen would say - TODAY is the best day EVER!!

more soon - Sarah
p.s. Rameen's website is www.theyogaloft.com and he'll be visiting Canmore in January '09. As for all the Squamish readers - he was excited to hear about our new studio and looks forward to gracing us with some wonderful classes in the late summer or fall of '09!!

Run run river

2008-11-25T18:28:00.001-08:00

Sonnie and I drove to the Fish Hatcheries here in Brackendale, Squamish a couple of days ago and went on a stunning evening hike up to Brohm Lake. The light pixels created a kaleidescope of colours and shapes for my eyes that gave me a reverence for the ability to see. Have you ever just stood still in a high place with a view and taken a deep breath and... just... felt AMAZED? It is both an intoxicant and a sobering experience at the same time. It's no wonder the word light is in enlightened.

We came down from our hike and stood by the river to watch all the chum salmon swimming upstream with patient and unwavering determination to reach the nearby lake. A kind man who has been working at the Hatchery for years came down and spent half an hour teaching us about the fish. Those salmon were about 4 years old and had been born in the lake- their final destination. When they were old enough they ventured out into the ocean through the river we were standing by, and began a long journey towards Japan. They make it all the way back to this river by SMELL. They have the accuracy of smelling 1 part in 1 billion. They know what their birthplace smells like. So these fish make it all the way back here to have their fry. Once they enter the freshwater on their way home they stop eating and live only on their own fat. They labour for a few weeks to dig up a clean space in the river bottom and drop their eggs. The eggs get fertilized and stay under the wet earth for a few months before they break out of tiny vessels. When the babies are born most of their parents will be dead.
I don't know why, but I was really touched by this. Watching the fish battle up the running river I was amazed by their beauty and intelligence. By the acuteness of their senses. Somehow I felt like I could relate to them. I don't know how or why, but maybe because I saw them as beings instead of fish. I also felt humbled. I had just been marveling at my own senses and suddenly they felt dim and vacuous in comparison. I wondered if they could speak now what they would say about their life... it is no wonder so many indigenous tribes told stories (and still do) of animals who spoke and understood... who were gods and friends.
And there is the circle again. The cycle. The rhythm of the universe.
When we close our eyes, we can actually FEEL this with every inhale and exhale. One cycle. One circle. Onc birth and death. One generation.... organization...destruction. (Acronym for something in there somewhere?)
Sometimes I feel like I am seeing and understanding the same thing over and over again in many different ways.
Do you?

The Art of Slowing Down - Learning to feel...

2008-11-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took a workshop in Calgary, with Susie Hately-Aldous, called Advancing your yoga practice - The Art of Slowing Down. Susie has a real curiosity and immense knowledge about the human body that translates into a lot of amazing questions and discussion.

There are tonnes of things we played with yesterday that I look forward to using, both in my own practice and in my teaching. Some things I enjoyed most about Susie's sequences is that they were exploratory yet simple, they encouraged relaxation and they created space in my torso for the breath to expand more fully in my body. Thanks Susie!

I have always been intrigued to explore postures more deeply and softly in my own body and this workshop was no exception. I felt myself listening keenly throughout the day, often closing my eyes and following the breath to find a great sense of release and awareness in each posture. I found myself asking new questions about the way the shoulder blades move on the backside of my body and inquiring within myself about how i can more fully let go and surrender the weight of my body into the earth. Furthermore, how can i help my students to move beyond their thinking minds towards a place where they intuitively and accurately feel their bodies? feel their hearts?

Ultimately moving them towards a deeper place of surrender and acceptance of what is - with the belief that true change begins when we can fully accept where we are right now, in this present moment.

Since returning from Brasil I have been thankful each morning for the time and space I have to practice and delve deeper into my fascination of movement and in the process widening my understanding of myself. Yesterday, that sense of gratitude expanded to appreciating and loving every downward dog, giving myself fully to feel the posture each time as if it was the first time I had ever experienced it.

And then,
This morning i awoke to a thick blanket of white.
A winter wonderland.

As days shorten and temperatures drop it seems like an appropriate time to contemplate the art of slowing down.

So this morning I decided to take the time to walk down to the Yoga Lounge where I was teaching a mixed level ashtanga class. Based on my experience yesterday I wanted to bring people to the present moment of each posture. I wanted them to FEEL and LISTEN to their bodies. So as a class we moved through the standing series, doing each posture twice - the first time I gave people a few cues, the second time I had people feel and move their own way into the pose. I encouraged people to let go of the perceptions they carried about what the postures should feel like or look like and instead explore the layers of language that their bodies could share with them about what was going on.

I suppose only they know if they heard or felt anything new. It is my hope that i created the space and possibility for softness, listening and freedom.

happy winter!
i'm going to make a snow angel.
Sarah

In Darkness there is Light.

2008-11-13T11:05:00.001-08:00

Last night there was a planned power outage scheduled during a restorative yoga class I was teaching. With a little bit of prior planning and a few extra candles I taught one of the most memorable classes I have ever been a part of. For a little bit of context, the whole end of the street was totally dark. We had countless tea lights and a few larger candles sprinkled around the room creating enough just enough light to see our toes.

Below are a few words i jotted down after class as i watched the full moon light up the mountains.

Deep darkness is broken by faint flames
and a full moon overhead.
Our eyes openly adjust to the new reality.

Natural stillness.
Pure truth.
Intense quiet filled with the sounds of our souls.
Sinking deeper,
it's like we are moving and breathing among the stars.

Comforted by the soft shades of honesty that paint the room,
warmed on this cool murky night
by an authentic gleam of reality
a glimpse of what it truly means to explore
the unknown within myself
in the context of this world.

An opportunity to remind myself that within the deepest darkness we all have the potential to shine.

Thanks to all who joined.

sarah

p.s. i added a few pic's from Nicoragua below, enjoy!...I've been meaning to add some more pic's from the amazon and Central America. Soon i hope.

Rain

2008-11-11T13:05:00.000-08:00

Rain
Walking in the forest in the morning I find a seat
high enough to gaze down on the red rooftops and the grey ocean.
I sit.
Close my eyes from top to bottom.
Listen.
The percussion of the rain. Pitter-patter. Tic-tac. Splash.
Speaking to me with gentle taps, "Are you awake?" it says.
A cold trickle down the back of my neck, a stark opposition to my stillness.
The wind.
The medium for the rain.
I feel it underneath my nose.
Whoosh. Whip. Whorl. A cold breeze. A warm lull.
Inviting me to breathe it- to live.

A sound behind me.
Is there someone there?
I am not afraid.
Whoever you are, come and sit with me.
It is not my seat, it is ours.

Walking home there is so much more for my eyes.
A rich vibrant matrix of colour. It widens me.
For my nose, the smells of cedar, smoke, the neighbors dog, the writhing earth underneath the ceaseless pelting of the sky.

There is something else in my step,
there is everything.

Rain.

(by Lydia... have an amazing day...)

www.theyogastudiosquamish.com

2008-11-01T18:39:00.000-07:00

It has been an eventful couple of days.
Sarah and I are here together and we just registered our domain to have internet credibility on the worldwide web. We bought the url www.theyogastudiosquamish.com. It all seems (Sarah and I having a yoga space in Squamish) like it is a little more real now and is starting to metamorphosize from it's latent ethereal quality. Sarah got a feel for the space and we had numerous meetings to get the ball rolling. This weekend we taught two classes together and I can tell the Squamish Connection of yogis are already falling in love with Sarah's powerful yet peaceful energy. To me it feels like things are forming a circle. Something that I have been contemplating on this week. How the circle represents union and the cycles of life.
Yoga.
And it is everywhere. It is the circumference of the diaphragm that never ceases to recieve life and breath in my body. The cylinder of the nasal cavity that warms the Squamish air and allows it to flow through me. The life giving sun. The opal coloured moon. The pupil of the other. The tangy orange fruit and the spot on the lady bug. The index finger and the thumb coming together in mudra. The shape of our arms in a hug. A crater. Even the rim of the candy flavoured, pink-filled goblet that Sarah and I sipped on Halloween in our 15 minute thrown together costumes.
Beautiful how there are so many of these circles in our world and how symmetric they are and similar. Just like us.
And they all have a center.

So I'm handing off to Sarah now, I am tired, happy and satisfied after another great meal. It is so nice to have company and to share great food. And life is just beginning, again.

Oi tudo - Hello all!!

And, love from Squamish. It is so wonderful to be here with Lydia and it feels so real to be sharing with the world that we are opening a yoga studio together.

In the same breath it is hard to believe I returned to Canada less then a week ago, and i am still processing the wild ways the jungle expanded my mind, touched my soul and forced me to let go for a while. I am so thankful for the adventure that embraced the whole reality of my existence over the past few months and i am certain that the stories and lessons will seep into my life the same way a river so gradually and beautifully flows to the sea.

Amidst the lessons of letting go, I am reminded not to hold on too tight to any one thing, otherwise i might miss new and wonderful opportunites on this extraordinary planet. Here in Squamish the next journey is beginning already and I am beginning to weave the two worlds together into the story that is my life.

I am energized to begin to share and grow with Lydia and the Squamish community. Lydia's contagious humble energy has already sparked a keen yoga interest in this community and it seems so right to be embarking together on a new path. Or, perhaps this has always been my path, but I am only now becoming aware of it??

Cruising down colourful autumn trails
misty granite faces drip from last nights haunted rain.

Heading to teach, beginning to learn
about ourselves and this world
a new journey is borne -
The Yoga Studio?

I'll be in Canmore till February, then heading west. We are hoping to open the doors in March and look forward to any and all of you who want to join us on this new adventure!
Sarah and Lydia

Everything Is As It Should Be

2008-10-26T21:03:00.000-07:00

So, even though all of you can read about Sarah and I... we have not seen each other for 2 and a half months. Sarah is on her way to come and visit me this weekend! Reuniting will be a truly amazing experience for me. I still can't believe our Sarah was guiding the Amazon River!
The weather here in Squamish has been immaculate. The leaves are changing and the temperatures are making rock climbing feel like it is cheating... the rock is so grippy and sticky. The sun has been shining for a week and I am lost in the bliss of a true autumn.
Things are rolling along for the studio. It turns out the room has no warmth and I am waiting for the (wonderful) landlords to get some in-floor heating installed. They are also in the process of moving so this will be an after Christmas affair. Waiting till the new year is perfect for Sonnie and I. It gives us a bit of time to escape for a short trip and allows me to build a few students to move into the space. I am letting the intensity of my efforts subside a little bit. Everything is as it should be. I have a yoga emailing list that is now over 60 Squamish students!
It has been a good month. The first nations children are actually quiet in savasana now and I don't even raise my voice at them anymore. I even hear them whispering with excited tones that "it's time for yoga!" when I enter the gymnasium with rolls of mats under my arms. Some children even want to stay for the adult class. I have some neophyte students that are "hooked" on yoga, and their first class was with me about 3 weeks ago. I smile at that, and completely relate.

As the earth changes emotions with the seasons I appreciate all the little things.
Lying on the ground.
Allowing my body to be a membrane of reception and exchange with all the people that I meet.
Listening to the sound of my breath as I jump through to the next seated position in the Ashtanga series.
Feeling my calloused fingers stick to another tiny, textured piece of granite stone.
Eating a pomegranate.
Simply sitting.
Contemplating the posture pashasana.
Holding hands with the someone that will always be the love of my life.

Something from the website of one of my friends (Natasha Grbich, Transformative Wellness)

“The salt of life is selfless service;
The water of life is universal love;
The sweetness of life is loving devotion;
The fragrance of life is generosity;
The pivot of life is meditation;
The goal of life is self-realization.”

Kirpal Singh (The way of the saints)

A picture of me in my friend Carls new yoga chair called Sukhasana...

Love and light to all of you.
Lydia

Adventures in Rio - The Power of a Smile

2008-10-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

So, my Brasilian adventure has come and gone - and i now find myself wiggling my toes in the sand on the pacific coast of Nicaragua, practicing yoga on the beach, listening to tropical rainstorms remind me that the wet season is here and enjoying cold cerveza's on the beach, and walking hand in hand as another perfect sunset drifts into the night.

As my brasilian departure loomed I had trouble distinguishing what i would miss most, the kind creative people, their musical language or the deeply complex landscape they call home. In the end, I suppose, it doesn't really matter. And, of course - it goes without saying that a piece of me is forever lost in the jungle of Amazonia.

The last few days roaming the massive city of Rio on my own I thought lots about basic communication, universal understanding, the strength and trust that comes with eye contact and a genuine smile. Being true. I remember reading once about a study that determined only a small percentage of communication is actually a product of the words we say or hear. Mostly it is our body language, our volume and our tone of voice that lets others know what we are trying to say.

Exploring and learning new languages gives me a deeper appreciation for direct communication and the power of a smile. On my first bus ride across the massive city of Rio I met a wonderful women who was patient and excited to share her city with me. So, as the bus navigated raging Rio traffic she spoke slowly, laughed with me and told detailed stories that I could have never found in a book. She took me to her favourite cafe and helped me on my portuguese path - i am so thankful to have met her...

And, later that same day, on the beach I made sand castles with brasilian children who laughed and smiled as I fumbled with words.

My brother - who has spent many days lost and found in the abyss of Rio - advised me to 'speak to strangers, it is the best way to learn.' His advice was on my mind as i opened my heart to the concrete jungle of Rio. To trust this world and smile - even when it is scary and I don't understand a word anyone is saying.

And now, the journey of languages and culture continues here in Nicoragua, although i am admittedly still dreaming of the Amazon. We are off to a quieter beach north of here where we have found a tree house that we can stay in - to listen to the rain and the ocean and the jungle, all at once.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Smile.
sarah
p.s. I have so many pictures but this computer is way to slow...the few i posted are of Ipanema beach as i sat meditating and watching the sunrise on my last morning(the place is crazy busy during the day)and the other is a view from one of the city's countless high points. i'll post lots more soon.

Amazon Wonders.

2008-10-09T01:00:00.001-07:00

16 people,
One month,
600 km of paddling on a Jurena-Tapajos river journey.

Amazonia is the orgy of life on this planet.

More trees then i'll ever know,
cashew fruits and casteneira (a.k.a. brazil nuts)
acai, guava, coconuts and mango.
All growing beside me, sharing sweetness from time to time.

Crossing paths with wild animals -
river dolphins, giant river otters, toucans, jacare, tapears
and even a jaguar on shore as we paddled.

Three cases of bodily fungas,
250 bee stings,
thousands of mosquitoes and blackflies
incredible heat - incredible storms.
And, two incidents of infected tick bites on our expedition.
The jungle is a challenging and exciting place to live.

I wrote pages through our journey, and once i have had a chance to filter through my thoughts and digest a little more i'll share some deeper learnings.

For now it all feels like a dream.
I already miss the taste of the water and the songs that woke me up and sung me to sleep each night.
Confined in the walls of this airport, in this moment my soul wishes it could again breath fresh amazon air.
Yet new adventures are beginning already and it is nice to be on my own for a few days. I'm enroute to Rio de Janerio as I write - then off to Nicoragua for yoga and surfing on the beach with Scott...I can't wait!

Enjoy the pictures.

Love from the Amazon....

2008-10-08T04:38:00.000-07:00

Jungle Lullaby
has taken me away with the crickets and the butterflys,
to find a deeper sense of myself
where i forever find a love for living simply.

Just off the river - there are too many stories for this brief stop.
I am sundrenched, drunk from the waters of the amazon and lost in the beauty everywhere here.

Lots of pictures to come over the next few days...

love to you all from the amazon -
Sarah

Baby Pose

2008-10-04T19:45:00.000-07:00

I have only been in Squamish for around 3 weeks and strangely it feels like 3 months. The time has flown by but at the same time dragged on.
My yoga classes started and the first one was teaching yoga to first nations children at a private school. I have taught yoga to children in schools but all classes have been supervised by another adult. There were about 20 kids all under the age of 13, and me. After about 5 minutes I knew this would be a very interesting learning experience. For anyone to hear what I was saying I had to elevate my voice to a yell. When I raise my voice it seems to get even smaller and I couldn't really decipher my own from the others. In the middle of class I started having the children teach poses and in between volunteers there were tiny pauses, ripples of quiet. Nevertheless, afterwards I laid on the floor exhausted, my ears prickling in the silence. I shifted onto my belly and remembered a particular posture that Rameen Peyrow taught in a Yoga Lounge workshop called the "baby pose". With my ear to the hardwood I finally sunk into the floor. I felt like it was the first time I had really felt the earth in a long time. 10 glorious minutes. With all the running around and trying to squeeze my enthusiasm into this community, I think I forgot to feel the ground beneath me for a while. I remembered evocatively how easy it was to feel at the Vipassana course. I could just sit down and close my eyes and... thunk... I was plugged in to this immeasurable support. Then... whoosh ... I felt this expanding lightness that balanced it. Lately, it has been harder to feel. Maybe too much coffee, maybe not enough time in a day, maybe too much intensified activity, maybe life just happens to be that way sometimes.
In Yoga Philosophy there is a phenomenon called Prana (Basic Energy). We don't need to be convinced that we are made up of energy right? Anyways, Prana could be many things but it is the principal creative life force. Apana is it's counter energy in the body. Apana is downward and grounding force, but also it is part of prana. With too much prana one can feel like their head is in the clouds. With too much apana one can feel dull and sluggish. Balancing these two energies (which sometimes may take no effort at all- or a very artful way of life) creates equilibrium in life.
I don't think that one can always be balanced, but recognition of what it is that takes us out of equanimity may be very helpful.
Deep breathing, close company and exercise are good ways to jack up prana.
Meditation and less stimulant intake are good ways to emphasize apana... So is 10 minutes in the "baby pose". (How about 10 minutes on each side?)
So I think teaching these kids is going to teach me a LOT. It will be a very captivating month.

Here's a Dream

2008-09-21T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hello all.
I really should not talk about this dream (but there may be no should and shouldn't in my existence these days) but I am practically bursting at the seams with excitement about the prospect of having a humble yoga studio in Squamish. This has been going on since I came back from the Vipassana... Sonnie had seen this space in a beautiful building on 2nd street, downtown. The landlord was someone he had rented from before and the space had been spotted a couple of years ago. He just knew that I would get the same feeling from it, and I did. It is the special space. I am trying not to get too attached to it already. The picture of the majestic Chief is from one of the windows and behind it is a small blue balcony. It is currently being used as office space and won't be ready till around Christmas. Perfect.
Another reason I am so excited is that I really miss teaching. Not even teaching, but interacting about yoga. Being with yoga. With others.
Teaching has been as much a practice, and a deepening of the practice, than the discipline itself. I have spent hours on my mat lately but it doesn't substitute for the service and the giving. I have set up some workshops for October and it looks like classes are starting to open up and I may have around 4 a week for the fall. Yay!
To pass the time and pay the rent I have been landscaping recently. A good friend and fellow yoga instructor here named Kim Beck passed on the job to me. (She just recently had a BEAUTIFUL and perfect baby boy named Jackson). The first three days on the job I was thinking "Why on earth would anyone ever want to do this??" I came home with my ears ringing from the power tools, no juice to practice my postures, no energy for making dinner and even a little bit of angst.
I decided to give it another week because Kim had done the job to 7 months pregnant so I sucked up my winging and whining and showed up with my gloves on. I recorded Richard Freeman's Matrix philosophy talks onto my ipod, meditated for an hour before work and patiently made it through the days. Of course it got easier and I came home less tired, stronger, and more at ease. The people are wonderful and gardening is an engaging and satisfying job. I just have to laugh at myself at how I reacted to the labour of the first few days... it just goes to show how everything changes and your perception can too!
However, most of my volition is mentally and physically going to go towards building the space for a studio. Sonnie is more than supportive and so is everyone in this community.
The rain has started to fall but it has washed over me a sense of peace and contentment. My home smells like the apple crumble I just baked and my yoga matt and books are warmly welcoming me. Sonnie and I hiked up the Chief in the rain yesterday and it was even more beautiful than in the glaring light of the day. The mist and the sense of quiet enveloped us until we just had to stop for 10 minutes and just listen and observe the magic of the coastal forest.
I already feel like I am home.
In the "incomprehensible, luminous, vibrant, silent, vast emptiness in my heart."

Patiently and Persistently

2008-09-09T07:37:00.001-07:00

Sarah we miss you!

Well, I have just started talking again after a 10 day silent Vipassana meditation sit in Merritt, BC. It has been two full days so now I feel like things are back to normal but a little further away from the reality I was experiencing.
There were 25 women and 25 men, segregated at the Dhamma Surabhi Centre. On the evening we got there a gong rung and from that moment until the 11th morning we were to abstain from stealing, harming, taking any intoxicants, speech, eye contact, eating more than fruit after 11 am, physical touch and reading and writing. The schedule started at 4 in the morning to 10 pm at night, lights out. 10 solid hours of seated meditation a day. I never really understood how deafening silence could be until I was at about day 3. Every sound seemed to reverberate through my skull and sternum.
Everything began to amplify.
While laying on my back in the grass during break periods I would just listen and watch as I allowed the spell of the senses to envelop me. There seemed to be a silence underneath all the sounds. A silence that I could actually feel and hear that was in between the sounds. An undercurrent or base level of energy. Paralelled in my meditation practice there seemed to be the same awareness in me that there was a base level of quiet. In between the thoughts, flash backs, memories and emotions. A deep subtle level as I passed through the more gross aspects of my mental process. A silence.
It was so silent that sometimes I just had to look at the people walking around me with their hoods up to see if they were alive or just in between somewhere. Just to see that I wasn't the only one REALLY there. And then we would all go back to work, patiently and persistently trying to quiet and observe our minds and body sensations.
When the gong rung to signify that the silence was to be broken I walked right back into the meditation hall, sat in my spot and closed my eyes. I could hear chatter and introductions through the walls into the courtyard. I wasn't ready yet and didn't want to come out of myself yet. Noticing my attachment to the silence and my aversion to the sound ( Craving and Aversion, the two things in Vipassana meditation that you are advised to let go of and remain equanimous to) I slowly made my way into the sound and the warm eyes. As soon as I started I noticed what a release it is to speak, communicate and relate to people.
I also noticed how valuable a stay of 20 days would be... as 10 days just wasn't long enough.
It seemed like I just broke myself in to the pain of sitting and the difficulty of the amazing aloneness. However, I really missed everything about Sonnie and was almost in tears of gratitude for him when he came to pick me up. I had so much love in me.
I look forward to the next one.
An amazing thing about the yoga practice is that the older I get the more I get excited about getting older. This practice just keeps on opening me up and opening up to me. If one 10 day meditation course feels so illuminating and the confines of my mind and body so fascinating, how incredible will it feel after 10 more years? 10 more years of experience with myself and experience with the world around me.
Sonnie and I were sitting on the balcony last night looking at the majestic Chief and he was commenting on how this life is just a little snapshot of the world through our eyes. Just a blink in the colossal wheel of time.
I feel like it is a pretty good one. With long exposure and natural light.

jungle lullaby

2008-09-05T19:06:00.000-07:00

Goodnite friends,

Tonight the jungle will sing me to sleep and tomorrow we shall leave for the river.

For a brief while that will feel like a moment and a lifetime
i'll live
and paddle,
dream
and explore,
myself and this wild world.

I will be with the river, meet it where it is and flow with its' current, become a part of its' ageold story...
and i, hope that its' story will embed itself in my being -
the same way all wild places connect me to something deeper then i can know,
some other dimension beyond written word, but one that i am sure exists.
A reality that is union with all that is,
Yoga.

more stories in a month
ciao amigas et amigos!
sarah

Brasil Update...

2008-09-02T12:48:00.000-07:00

Oi!!

Brasil is here and now.
As I write i am baking in the midday heat. It is about 44 degrees celsius in the sun.

I arrived after an adventure of a journey that left me humbled by my inability to communicate and amazed by the generosity and kindness people shared to help me make it to my destination. In moments of doubt, I was thankful for the honest smiles and eye contact from people who barely knew me but somehow cared to help...

Since arriving in Brasil I have travelled north from Sao Paulo to Chapada, a small town of about 15 thousand at the height of land between the Pantanel and Amazon river basins. NOLS (the school I'll be working for down here - www.nols.edu) rents a beautiful oasis here where we are presently preparing to head to the river.

On this property (like most others in Brasil) outside is inside, inside is outside. We all sleep in tents, there are barely doors on the buildings and cold showers outside are the best thing on the mid afternoon plan. It is also the end of the dry season so we have running water for a few hours a day, outside of that time we need to haul water from the well. Amidst a busy schedule of preparing for our expedition daily living here reminds me of the things i often take for granted in the ease of my life.

The oasis also has mango, tangerine, lime, pomegranete and coffee trees - among others i am sure. We pick fruit that is ripe to add to meals. These gorgeuous tropical trees are also the homes for toucans and parrots fly that fly by regularly during the day. Each morning I wake to the songs of the hundreds of birds I don't see but hear and know they are my neighbours - the sounds of this dense tropical forest is another foreign language that will humble and teach me on this journey.

We are here for a few more days finalizing details of the long river trip ahead. I often find that the days leading up to expeditions busier and longer then the travel days themselves - so, needless to say, it will be nice to be paddling....

Beginning Saturday we will drive for two days northwest to the Jurena river...and from there we will paddle 600km through the Amazon to the Transamazonicas Highway. We will not see a single road for the entire journey. We will pass by some indigineous lands and many layers of this diverse jungle ecosystem.

And where really will this journey take me - likely deeper into myself, away from a mind that is so easily cultured by consumerism and productivity towards a playful sense of what it means to be alive, what it means to breath, what it means to be interconnected and live fully in this world. I think??

'What is it you want to do with your one, wild and prescious life??' Mary Oliver

ciao,
Sarah

Southbound to Brasil - The Adventure Begins....

2008-08-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

Expect the unexpected...
lessons have already begun to unfold on this barely born journey to the Amazon.

I spent the night at the Toronto airport after finding out my flight to Brasil was delayed over night. It is currently very early (430 am Toronto time) and i am writing from Terminal one as I sit and wait a few more hours for the rescheduled flight to board.

In the anticipation of a big journey it is always hard to fully embrace delays. To be calm and fully open to the idea of getting there when you get there...to know that it is really nobody's fault that the plane is delayed and to resist laying blame or finding frustration in things I can't control. To surrender control and to simply be in the moment of whatever it is life presents me with. And, perhaps, to even come to enjoy the times when something beyond my control causes me to be still - instead of moving and going and changing.

I often take lessons from my yoga practice and bring them into my life as a whole - but this early morning my mind seems to be working the other way around (perhaps caused lack of sleep). I find myself pondering delays and surrendering control and how much more content i am when i let go of the feeling of waiting for something and simply be. Lessons that I can communicate and understand intellectually with ease but that are most valuable and effective when they are felt with my whole being in my life. I believe that the notion of surrender to being where I am at encourages deep complexity and finely attuned awareness of a self that is ever changing. And with with awareness, it becomes natural to practice & teach & live with images of where our minds and bodies are in the present not where they should be, could be or where we want them to be...

And, in this moment, i am fully feeling the embrace of surrender - giving in to what is and accepting that i simply can't control over when the plane leaves this airport.

I apologize if this turned into a bit of a mumble, jumble of thoughts - I am sleep deprived and have been soaking up flourescent lights for too long...i think the next thing i'll do is roll out my mat in some quiet airport corner for a few sun salutations!

Next time i'll post from the southern hemisphere in Brasil!
Sarah

p.s. A big thanks to my mom, dad and brother Austin for a great few days beside the lake in Oakville. You amaze me and I love you.

p.p.s. To those of you who will be reading in the next few months - feel free to post comments or note to say hello, Lydia and I always love hearing from you all!!

Little Gurus

2008-08-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

Sonnie and I just got back from a week on Clear Lake in the Muskoka area of Ontario. We surprised his parents for their (honorable) 40 year wedding anniversary... (now that's something to be inspired by). The week passed briskly with a cohesion of events such as hide and go seek, wading in the water, sand castle building and treasure hunting. Between Sonnie's two super-mum sisters there are 4 children under the age of 5 years. I know why Richard Freeman calls having children the 6th series of Ashtanga Yoga (there are only 5 to date), I was pleasantly exhausted by the end of the week, and it wasn't from laying out on a beach towel under the glowing orb.
By the first day I was learning a lot from the kids. How to allow proprioception happen spontaneously. To let my belly expand naturally so that my diaphragm has space to do it's ceaseless job... I know these things, but to see them pop out of these purely energetic little beings reminds me of them and allows me to see them so clearly!
Seems to me that children have this gift of reminding us of who we once were and who we still are. They are constantly comingling their senses to experience everything that is NOT them in a way that truly connects them to the world.

Their bodies have the appropriate balance of reflexive strength to soft openness. Seems to be their minds have the same ability... they can let things go as quickly as you can say "Ice cream!". They can jump in the water without looking into the murky depths, being disturbed by their inability to swim, or thinking about the cold sensations- in an instant.
Their voices are constantly rich with inflections and emotions... and they always tell the truth.

We really are children- with a bigger vocabulary and a few more hang ups in our bodies and minds. (Speaking mostly for myself here! I realize not all of "us" have hang ups.) I know that when I am surrounded by these little gurus I forget about the things that may not be as important.

Playing with the kids was a gift and an inspiration for me. For a few days I felt like I could feel more of what they feel and it was, and is, magical. I think we all did. I was also noticing the hard work that it was being a mother (and father and Grandma AND Grandpa). But that's a whole other set of qualities that I'm not sure I'll completely understand until I enter that plane of existence... (I might not get to Grandpa for a long time). I'm sure it is one of the hardest and most beautiful experiences.

Thanks for your work Mum.

I am taking a deep breath and preparing myself for the meditation retreat.

It is nice being in Squamish and smiling at everyone I see thinking... that person could be in my yoga class soon, so may that person...

Namaste,
Lydia

One of Mother Earth's Temples...

2008-08-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

'Now and then it is necessary
to seclude our selves in the deep mountains
and hidden valleys
and return to the source.' Morchei Ueishiba

A few weeks ago I made the trek up to Applebee Dome in Bugaboo provincial park. We arrived just as the storm clouds left and enjoyed 4 days of summer alpine granite play. Below are some amazing pictures Scott took and a few words I jotted down amidst the beauty of it all...enjoy!

Alpine granite - steep shaded walls compose a skyline beyond this language.
Fake but real.

Up close the walls are filled with green gardens
snowmelt waterfalls
and cracks to fill our days.

In the company of a warm soul
a soft heart
eyes more blue then the clearest of skies.

I pinch myself to see if its' real, and it is.

Each day i am grateful for all that is in this life. I am filled with gratitude for the people, opportunities, places and dreams that grace my days.

I leave in a week to travel to Brazil to guide a river trip on the Amazon. In the context of yoga, these adventures challenge me to let go of any attachment or expectations i have to the physical yoga practice.

On journeys to remote mountains and rivers I always make time to move in my body. And, I find that I often breath deeper and move more gracefully while connected to the rhythms of this remarkable planet.

Mentally these expeditions keep me grounded it what is really important in life - free from the clutter of my life I am reminded that food, clean water, a thin nylon shelter, good work and good sleep, a supportive community and laughter can take me farther in life then money and amenities ever will.

Spiritually, I really believe that I am closer to my truth when i am deep in the heart of the wilderness...breathing deeply and amazed by this world.

So, I suppose these expeditions are just a different flavour of yoga - or as lydia talked about in the last blog - Yoga is delving into and accepting what is...life is yoga.

If I don't see you before I head south...i'll post occassionally from the amazon...much love and i look forward to seeing you all in late october.

stay wild.
Sarah

p.s. Lydia has officially left Canmore. and i miss her like crazy - she is a dream of a friend, and an inspiring women to work and practice beside.

2008-08-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

Thankyou to everyone who came out to join the mysore workshop in Canmore!!
You all teach me so much. Sonnie, thank you for taking such beautiful pictures.

I have spent the past week working in Kananaskis country - teaching yoga and sharing with business students from the University of Calgary. The course is called Leadership in Sustainable Development and it combines first nations cultural learning, outdoor skills, personal reflection and mindfullness...education in the true sense of the word.

As a part of the course I was able to participate in a ceremonial sweat lodge in the Ghost river valley. A wonderful man, Sequoyah, shared with us his stories, his traditions and his unrelenting connections with life everywhere.

Following the sweat lodge I had one of the most invigorating, soulful yoga practices I could have imagined.

Toes melting in the moss.
Rays of sun sneaking through the trees.
Each breath awakens my soul, again and again to life all around me.

Each movement is effortless,
a gift
a dance
a life
a prayer.

Cleansed and empty from the sweat the practice took me to places inside of myself i have only glimpsed before.

I am back in Canmore now and will be roaming these parts for the next month - before I head to Brasil to guide a river trip on the Amazon...

much love - i look forward to seeing you all.
Sarah

Mysore Workshop in Canmore #3

2008-07-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

The workshop in Canmore was really grounding for me. It was amazing to share some of what I learned with Richard Freeman and have instant feedback from all the students on new ways to see the practice. Sarah still receives the Most-Generous-and-Supportive-Best-Friend Award from me. Sonnie and I stayed in her place all week, albeit on the kitchen floor, it was incredible to have a place to relax in.
It turns out another good friend, Jesse Huey, has offered us a place for two more weeks here in Canmore. We are feeling the gratitude to have such amazing and gracious friends. We (Sonnie and I) are both really looking forward to having a place of our own someday to return the favor of being warm and welcoming hosts to all the good people we know. We love you all!
Being as flaky as dandruff lately and moving around so much has brought to light many things to be thankful for. One being that time takes on a new sense of bodilessness. It moves from being mechanical to being a miracle that unfolds new experiences. Eating when hungry. Cuddling at 3 in the afternoon. Climbing till the sun crests the west and you can almost hear it saying goodnight.
Even though the pocket book looks slim theses days and the bed keeps moving and changing forms, life is beautiful in it's metamorphoses, and it's magnitude tells us that there is much more than having a condo somewhere.

Although having a condo somewhere would REALLY be brilliant.

Living in a Box

2008-07-14T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well, we've been living in a van for a few days now and checking out our new hometown: Squamish, British Columbia. We are both (Sonnie and I) really happy to be in BC and enjoy the thick and magical forest, the sticky granite climbing and the smell of the sea.
We are getting really excited to have a place to call our own. I think the true test of a relationship may be to live in a small box with the other, smelling like camp fire, cooking where you sleep, not having a warm place to practice yoga (that means me), and dealing with how dirty feet can really get. haha.
We are still waking up and hugging, with big smiles, so I think we are going to make it... whatever that means.
Sarah and Scott came out to visit and we had a memorable time. We climbed a trademark multi- pitch called Angel's Crest, bouldered in the forest (with Sonnie as our personal guide), practiced in the warm sun in the grass, and sat around a fire.
I am really excited to delve into the yoga community here and have a new figurative family.

Interestingly, I find it really helpful to take a few days off of the physical practice of yoga to see if it is actually working. To see if I have learned to just listen- to the sounds of my body, to the mother earth, and the visceral sensations of my intuition. I am curious to see if the practice of yoga has helped me observe with pure amazement as each moment unfolds into the next new one. The flicker of a flame, the sight of someone I love smile, the sun dancing on the water, a squirrel gathering nuts.

"The rain surrounded the cabin... with a whole world of meaning, of secrecy, of rumor. Think of it: all that speech pouring down, selling nothing, judging nobody, drenching the thick mulch of dead leaves, soaking the trees, filling the gullies and crannies of the wood with water, washing out the places where men have stripped the hillside.... Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it. It will talk as long as it wants, the rain. As long as it talks I am going to listen."
Thomas Merton

The climbing festival is coming up and then we are back to Canmore for a week of Mysore at the Yoga Lounge. See you there.

Not knowing... with Richard Freeman

2008-07-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

After years of contemplating and experimenting with rooting my sitting bones into the floor, I finally reached a new stage of this process yesterday. I understood something about the action a little more lucidly. I really felt it and something inside my body went "ah hah!" My spine went up without strain and my pelvis went down effortlessly. Just like a tree, growing down to grow up. I felt spacious and light and, like, huge!
It only took me about a month of Richard reiterating this for me to actually feel it... not only that, but I'm sure I will reach more understanding of it in the years to come and maybe I will never know it.
There is a subtle magnificent unfolding of infinite possibilities and unimaginable beauty as I see the whole world in the intricate movement of my skeleton in seated, the juice from a watermelon... the sight of Sonnie's hand gripping rock.
I think part of the journey of a yoga practice is to understand that there may be no finite answers to the questions that we have and if there are some answers, at any given time they may change.
Makes me laugh at myself for getting mildly annoyed with Sonnie's ever changing plans... of course if I counted on them always changing I would never be bothered! He's just helping me keep it real. haha.

After a month with Richard I am quite content in not knowing. In not even asking questions, but allowing things to unfold for me by just contemplating and experiencing the world patiently, and maybe the median point of my sitting bones will one day actually touch the floor in the continual process of me becoming myself.
It is sad to leave Boulder and a little scary to face the changes of moving to a new town (Squamish, British Columbia). The unknown ... living in a van for part of the summer... making up new work...
I just got a new pair of climbing shoes and looking at the clean black edge on the sole of the shoe makes me smile with excitement.
I guess not knowing is being completely aware and anticipating the wonder of the world. Richard Freeman's last words of the teacher training (or more like student training!) were, "as soon as you think you know... you don't know at all."

I am completely overwhelmed with gratitude for spending time with Richard over this last month. He has an amazing ability to shift thinking and feeling to grander proportions. He will be missed.

I have a few more precious classes to take here and a quick trip out rock climbing and then Sonnie and I are heading back to Canmore to organize the move.
Hope to see all the classy people in Canmore.
xxoo

fotos

2008-06-25T19:43:00.000-07:00

Some pics of Sarah and I playing with postures in Boulder.
Be well!

Getting Cooked

2008-06-22T18:44:00.000-07:00

"Who are you without your story?" Luke from the Yoga Workshop was inquiring to us in the corpse pose last week.

"The universe is conspiring to wake you up. All you have to do is listen."

I just finished a weekend meditation retreat Shamatha Style. After hours of sitting I would contemplate these questions.
Who?
I felt like I was slowly being cooked by Grandfather time. Just sitting there in the fire and feeling my hair turn grey. At times I was elated at how easy and pleasant it felt. At times I felt like I was in the center of the inferno... wanting to get up and run out of the eerily still room. Many times I fell asleep and almost hit the person in front of me. At times I experienced the emptiness and deep relaxation that comes when the emotions, body, brain hemispheres and ambition- align and rest- in timeless stillness (but not much).
Slowly cooking, and wondering, what is the thing that cooks time?

So I asked myself, who am I when I have no arms and legs to move? When I have no wilderness to roam in and captivate my senses? Who am I when I have no one to talk to and no one who thinks I am anything? Where is my spine anyways? What makes this skeleton, encased in flesh and muscles, breathe and think and feel? And love?

The universe is conspiring in it's myriad forms to wake us up.

So I just listened and came to terms that I may never know... and I felt like after two days I was just opening up. Like a bud just starting to curl it's petals shyly towards the brilliant sun, reaching out to grow.
I guess I'll have to wait for the Vipassana in August to get roasted a little more.

Other than a sore bum life is incredibly intriguing and having Sonnie here is like the cherry on top.
This weekend we are hoping to climb something around here.
Some pics of this beautiful town.
Lydia

From the mountains to the sea...

2008-06-20T08:46:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to be so close to the ocean - the smell is so foriegn to my dry rocky mountain nose. Wet air filled with the vibrant scent of growing flowers and trees - this place is very alive! Blooming flowers, ripening citrus trees on every street, salty air, dolphins swimming...

I(Sarah speaking here...not Lydia) have now been in Encinitas, California for a week, studying with Tim Miller. Tim was the first North American teacher to be fully certified to teach Ashtanga yoga. He has been teaching here for almost 30 years. Check out his website at www.ashtangayogacentre.com. As a teacher, Tim's presence and work ethic are energizing - he is the first to arrive each day, often teaches 3 classes plus 5 hours of teacher training each day...leading through example, the way he was taught by his Guru, Pattabi Jois. It is indeed motivating to study with someone who is willing to work so passionately doing something he loves.

The days start early with pranayama at 6, then mysore practice. The studio drips with humidity before bodies even begin to move and sticky yoga mats become slip and slides. The room is packed with as many mats as it can fit. It is an inspiring place to deepen the experience of the ashtanga yoga practice, as there are many regulars who have been practicing for decades at the studio.

Beyond practice time, we spend five hours each afternoon breaking down asanas, talking about indian mythology, astrology and the yoga sutras among other things.

Amidst busy yoga days I have been staying in a cute little cabin in a family's backyard with my sister who is hear on a little yoga holiday..i found it on craigslist. It is perfect. My sister, Tessa, left today to return to southern ontario - so i'll have the place to myself for the next week. It was bittersweet to see her go, as time together is so wonderful and rare, but i know it will be great to enjoy some rare time all to myself over the next week.

more soon.
enjoy the pic's of coastal livin' in California.
sarah

Boulder Pic's

2008-06-12T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

It feels like we've been in Boulder for month, yet it's barely been a week.

Lots of learning,
bending
reading
exploring
expanding
breathing.

enjoy the pic's
love to you all.
Sarah and Lydia.

Vibrant

2008-06-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

First of all I hope you enjoyed dear Sarah's addition to the blog. She will be posting from here and there just to keep things fresh and interesting. Pictures of us in Boulder coming soon.
From Canmore to Scotland, Scotland to Boulder... all in a flash of wings and emotions and themes. Sonnie ended up doing his climb yesterday, I was already in Boulder. Thankyou to all of you who meditated on his success... I think it helped (wink). I think for a brief moment of defying gravity he became a pixel of pure human intelligence without conceptual limitations. You'll have to keep your eye out for the new video coming out from Hot Aches Productions (some of the nicest people in the world as well)... in fact, not to worry, I'll keep you posted.

It has been a hard week for me. The jet lag and the lack of yoga practice rendered me with a plurality of ailnesses that moved into my body and took over. It has been years since I have been so sick and put up the white flag. All coming at an inopportune time... starting the teacher training that I have wanted to do for years, and having to miss the second day of class (each day being a precious jewel). I ended up in the hospital after trying to no avail to get into a clinic. Boulder has a very nice hopital among other things. Everyone here is very pleasant. To make a long story short, I owe Sarah and her sister Tessa my life for being such patient and caring friends; I feel much better (sometimes drugs are... gulp... necessary) and I slept 12 hours last night!
Some amazing things came out of feeling sick and in pain. I was quieter and listened more.
This teacher training has illuminated me with this skill. Everything Richard seems to say leaves a residue inside me that resonates for hours. I never need to ask any questions because during the course of the day they are all miraculously answered. I am left with my tongue in silent contemplation and my mind is happy. My body feels like it is an energetic orb that is humming the tune of my favorite mantra. I am sure this month will be like a very very exquisite meal that leaves one sitting back... quietly... with an audible sigh and a mesmerized contentedness at the miracle of life. Soul food.
So walking to the studio this morning at 6, with my ipod blasting, I was finally overcome with the joy of being here... and then I tripped over my flimsy havaianas and fell smack on my face in the middle of the pavement. I got up quickly with my headphones all askew and my knees starting to turn purple and quickly did the 1-2 check to see if anyone had witnessed my belly flop.
Life is really hysterical. It has a wonderful way of keeping you humble. Of giving you a good dose of humour every once in a while. Whether it reminds you not to take yourself so seriously in the form of sickness or falling flat on your face, it shows you that there is something bigger that keeps you smiling and laughing at yourself with the understanding that crazy things will just keep on happening. It will keep making you eat the shadowy aspects of itself (and yourself) and even though they might not taste as decadent, they are spiritually nutritious. I am starting to think this is what keeps one vibrant.
And as Richard Freeman says...
"Beautiful is out... vibrancy is in!"
So my boyfriend is coming out with a big smile on his face, I am back to practicing regularly, meditating and eating organic (which takes care of my basic needs), and things are looking vibrant and sparkly again.

Life as a moving meditation...

2008-06-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Everything that I own is once again packed into bags as I prepare to head south for 3 weeks. Moving is a healthy reminder for me of the volumes I accumulate in my life, and traveling the glimpse into how little I need to be at peace on this journey.

In many ways, experiences living on the road have taken me into the present moment of life - where awareness of the past and future seem to blur into the realm of inconsequential and depth in each moment becomes the essence of my life.

When I travel I read more. I write long letters and poems and my dreams are incredibly vivid - as if my subconscious awakens to share worthy lessons from below. I talk less and listen more. And, I find myself less concerned with groceries for the month and more aware of what i will eat for my next meal.

What can all this mean?

If life is a moving meditation, an ebb and flow of energy, a constant journey into
ourselves, an exploration of truth - it is the moments where i am fully present in each movement - the mornings where every forward fold takes me deeper, the days where every move on the climb absorbs me and every word in the book intrigues my mind - those are the times where i enter the meditation of life most deeply, where I viscerally absorb living with every cell in my body.

Of course, we strive to live in this place of total presence as often as we can, the same way we would love to find deeper awareness and calmness every day when we sit down to meditate and breath. But in this moving meditation of life there are moments of clutter and moments of intense clarity.

For me, traveling consistently provides the space for me to nurture, learn and grow from being fully present and clear in my life.

I have arrived in Boulder - finished my first class with Richard where i found myself thoroughly amazed by the simplicity of the little yellow building called The Yoga Workshop - it is a beautiful space.

Lydia will be here tomorrow...arriving after a week by the sea in Scotland! For a while we'll roam this town together.

I wish everyone in Canmore a wonderful month - stay dry and i'll see you in July!
sarah

New addition to being with yoga...

2008-06-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

This is Sarah Manwaring-Jones - a friend, co-teacher, dog walking partner (among other things)...of Lydia's.

We have spent many early mornings practicing together in the Bow Valley, long days playing in the mountains, many late nights drinking wine and contemplating life and endless hours talking about anatomy, alignment and philosophy as it relates to life and yoga.

We have recently been teaching yoga workshops and courses and Canmore together - and will both be studying in the states for the month of june. So, given all the things that we seem to share, the work we are doing together and the shared vision we hold in many aspects of life i'm excited to add a few posts here and there to Lydia's beautiful blog...

Enjoy!
smj

2008-05-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

Another rainy day.
I am sitting here drinking the best cup of coffee I think I have ever had before heading to the practice room. The ground is still wet and the earth soft from the drum roll vibration of the rain that has fell for days. My boyfriend Sonnie keeps up with his blog much better than I, and after all he told me to post something new, so here is a little not a lot.
Last night I taught an in store class at Lululemon. This is always an interesting experience with an eclectic mix of students and non-students, teens and seniors.
As the room filled up I asked if the class was anyone's first yoga experience, and a girl in the back bashfully put up her hand hoping that no one would see her. I asked her to come and place her matt next to mine.
I could tell she was about 18, and that she went out the night before and enjoyed what glitter Banff had to offer. She had deep set eyes and was lacking a proper sleep and a proper meal. I smiled remembering the days.
After class, some easy meditation and a resting pose, she got up and looked at me with a different face. The skin of her face had diffused evenly and silenced the crease in her brow, her eyes were sparkling and less vacuous.
She said,
"That was great. I feel different.
It is so nice to get out and do something that makes me feel good in Banff because there is so much partying."
Enough said.
I hugged her and told her about all the free classes offered at the store.
10 minutes later, I was preparing to leave, she was still lingering. She came up and thanked me again with a wide open smile.
I knew she would do yoga for the rest of her life, in some way.
I knew the feeling she had because I am consistently chasing it.
I knew she would have different life choices, maybe not now, but in the years to come.
I felt inextricably linked to her as if she were a part of me.

That was enough to come back again and again.
And again.

The sun is supposed to come up, my boyfriend is supposed to come home, I am moving out of Nicole's.

Big change happening.

Have a good day.

Mysore

2008-05-19T19:34:00.000-07:00

Thankyou again to all the beautiful people that made up the tribe of practitioners whom Sarah and I learned from this week. Your dedication, bravery and playfulness inspired!
Sarah and I are looking forward to the 3rd week in July... 20-25th at the Yoga Lounge.
We are also in Calgary at The Yoga Shala for a weekend workshop from the 18th to the 20th.

Ooops

2008-05-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

To all you amazing Mysore students... Sarah forgot to email me the pics and won't be back till Monday, so they will be up on Monday night Fo Sho.
Thankyou for all you energy and support.
Natasha, thankyou for the gift (you left before I could give you a kiss!)
We're going camping till Monday... 20+ and azure bly sky.
Sarah and Lydia

Oh Bodhi

2008-05-11T09:19:00.000-07:00

I have been experiencing the test of patience lately. Puppy sitting.
Oh, Bodhi.
After he has chewed up the remote, a pen and all the toilet paper, he places his chin on my lap and gratuitously slobbers all over my leg and looks up at me with those big liquid baby browns, and I just melt cause he is oh-so devilishly handsome.
And after he bites my ankles while we are walking and prances just in front of me so that I continue to stumble on him, he sits on me during my meditation and lets out an audibly human sigh. I descend to the place where we are one and the same.
I have had a profound awakening to the realization that I must have been much like my four legged friend when I was a teenager and I am feeling first hand some similar emotions my parents must have had. Knowing that his immaturity is not a personal attack on me, and his mischievous subtleties not attempts to make me tardy or frenetic, or take away my sacred time. He is just a kid after all.
We are becoming good friends and often converse with nature and listen to the trees talking together. We sit quietly and shake hands with the twigs and the grass.
My patience seems thinner when I am getting up at 4 am to practice before the Mysore classes begin. (Pictures coming soon!) This week my respect level and honor for Mysore teachers the world over, and Nicole (Bodhi's rightful mum) has ascended to heavenly proportions.

The word "buddha" means "one who has achieved bodhi." Bodhi is also frequently translated as "awakening." I often feel awake in his presence... he is undoubtedly an instrumental teacher.

I couldn't get a picture of him because he doesn't sit still for long enough, but you would be smitten too by his gold and tawny locks.

Eka Pada Galavasana (picture). I feel my shoulders in places I have never before felt, tactile sensations deep in caverns and crevasses that have been sleeping in ignorant bliss. The feeling of soreness and tenderness a residue of change... or maybe it's just trying to keep Bodhi on the leash... either way, I love it.

I have been really inspired by Kino Macgregor's Ashtanga clips on You Tube... stunning. Wow.

Two Things of Beauty

2008-05-07T16:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes an affinity for love can take place in me. This last couple of weeks I have fallen in love and become more devoted to two beautiful things
The first being my boyfriend Sonnie. For my birthday (27!) he flew me out to Smith Rock Oregon to climb and relax for a week. I found a new love for rock and a peaceful place in myself doing my practice in front of a fire over a steaming mug of coffee after a luxurious 8-10 hour sleep. Hiking and sitting quietly by the cliffs, watching the colossal wingspan of the drifters overhead and allowing the wind to swirl ringlets into my wisps of hair. I felt a true communion with nature. In the evening of our last day we sat in the hot tub and watched the stars overhead with a glass of wine... feeling bigger than I've ever known yet as small as the pieces of star dust that make up the vast galaxy. I got to experience Sonnie in a different light, training for a project that is really important to him. I studied him closely, and as simply as I can say it, am truly inspired by his life practice and the way that he styles the art of living in vivid colour.
A trip I'll never forget. The pictures are of the cliffs and one of us warming up before climbing the monkey face behind us. Sonnie is off to Scotland to redpoint climb one of his aspired routes by a castle over the sea... wish him luck!

The second thing being the practice of yoga. I came back to an inspired and passionate teacher, Mark Darby. My first practice after a week of sporadic and public sessions, was a trip into an awareness matrix. Extreme attentiveness and hightened sensitivity took over my being, coming from deep within myself. Every time I take a step away from the Ashtanga practice I come back feeling more engrossed with it's endless possibilities for evolution.
Darby keeps a tight class with an emphasis on facing your own personal challenges. Each student this week was completely present with their weak and dull areas, aware of when they were not harmonizing with gravity and becoming sharper in the knowing of the placement of their limbs.
I surrendered myself to having a teacher and ended up with a whole new practice! I don't even know the names to the asanas yet! These postures I have hardly even looked at on my own- for fear of injury and for practicing contentment for where I am at. I know there is no benefit for me from forcing, and having a clean pathway for growth has an ease and a natural feel to it. Becoming something can stop, and being and doing can take place, creating silence in my brain. Having someone with so much experience believing in me more than I do in myself is an amazing thing, and for this I am grateful.
Having Darby at the studio has such sweetness to it. Today he shared with us a day in his life, what his practice consists of and what he thinks about. To hear and feel how passionate and energetic he is for something that I feel equal proportions of enthusiasm for, makes my heart swell. He is still so vital with his generosity to teach and it is so obvious that he is in love with yoga. May he be blessed. Please check out his incalculable well of knowledge... sattvayogashala.com

"There is no beauty without love and no love without beauty." Vanda Scaravelli

balad to salad

2008-04-27T05:25:00.000-07:00

There are a few things in life that make me uncompromisingly happy... to name a few... being nuzzled into my boyfriend Sonnie's armpit, a campfire, a majestic mountain, good sweet music, an americano that is as black as the night sky, a good teacher (in yoga and in life) and a good salad.
This post is a tribute to the good salad that makes me smile from ear to ear. All the colors, all the wonderful ingredients, the smells and tastes. I would like to share with you some of my favorite toppings and if you have any for me that I might be missing out on... please let me know!
A little history on the cause of my pleasure...
Food historians tell us salads (generally defined as mixed greens with dressing) were enjoyed by ancient Romans and Greeks. As time progressed, salads became more complicated. Recipes varied according to place and time. Dinner salads, as we know them today, were popular with Renaissance diners. Composed salads assembled with multiple ingredients were enjoyed in the 18th century. They were called Salmagundi. Today they are called chef's salad.
The French use the word salade for anything that is messy. ha!

My favorite topping is mixed nuts and seeds (raw sunflower) fried lightly in a mixture of tamari soy sauce, honey, good quality oil and a sprinkle of curry powder. (It sounds crazy, I know, but it is sweet and salty at it's finest).
I can't diminish the simple toppings of grated beet root, carrot or avocado.
My friends and I are also keen on throwing some raisins and or cranberries in the mix.
Lately I have been experimenting with water chestnuts grilled with shitake mushrooms in a sesame ginger sauce. They give an unbelievable and satisfying crunch.
I have been known to add grilled and roasted red peppers and asparagus with a touch of balsamic. To make a warm bowl it is also nice to add some quinoa (red is something to really marvel at) or organic brown rice.
Of course goat's cheese and goat's feta.
For the greens I especially like spinach and a little bitter taste like arugula or swiss chard. Bean Sprouts! Organic kale is wonderful if it is lightly steamed. I also enjoy rosemary and fennel with an olive oil and balsamic dress.
I shouldn't forget that dried blueberries make an excellent touch of sweetness or that wild strawberries may make the finishing touch.

Dress it mix it toss it up to super salad status and dish it to those that you truly love.
Yum.

Rising to love

2008-04-14T16:50:00.000-07:00

Falling in love can be many things. It can be an afternoon in an atmosphere of delight. It can be waking up. It can be crying to the sound of your own heart breaking.
It can break you into small pieces that fly like spores in the wind to the foot of another. Your memory fails you and you choose to commit to falling again like a mother birthing the next child.

But Is it not you that falls in love? And is it not from this love that you create that you have to rise from again like a phoenix rises from it's ashes, more brilliant than before in it's transformation?

The shimmering and provocative gloss of falling in love may be a shred of the kind of energy we want to live with. Understanding it and prolonging it has more to do with our own ability to stand alone dripping with a lust for life. It has more to do with falling in love with the lover in the center of our own heart in order to rise to love another. Shouldn't it be rising instead of falling?

Is relationship truly with the other or with ourselves or both?

"To be loving should become our very personality. It should be our state of being, it should not depend on "to whom". But all lovers want the beloved to love only them, to love no one else. But they don't know that one who cannot love all, cannot love anyone."
Osho

Firmly Established in Fun

2008-04-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

I am of the school of thought that the child in us is the most ancient and sacred part of our whole.
Could our impulse to take ourselves seriously and to internalize what others think of us be eclipsing our pure energy?

If so, I would like to throw them off my boat in an attempt to keep it afloat.

If I am to be firmly established in truth I should see a dandilion as a flower and not a weed. I should be open to being tickled and getting my feet dirty.

If I am to be established in freedom I may need to practice this by kartwheeling.

It is the truth that we were made to climb things and stand/walk on our hands, to make out in the tall grass and give each other eskimo and butterfly kisses. To sing really loud and out of tune.

It's time to make a paradigm shift to playfulness.

If it is ignorance of our real nature that causes the self to be obscured , I will peel away the fear and anger and go swimming in the rain or stare into the campfire wrapped in a blanket. Laugh effortlessly. Fall painfully in love.

If I must stimulate friendly feelings among all, I should smile huge and wink at people when they least expect it.

I plan to make the nascent direction to return to the ancient.

C'mon. Some fun should be there.

The Exclamation Point!

2008-04-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

I approached dog sitting in a relatively sophomoric way... a little overconfident and under experienced. I knew this the first time the old girl (16) wouldn't go out in the morning and gave me a vacant, obdurate look when I gave her a bowl of food. She had no intention of getting her nose dirty in something that I so impudently put in front of her with such lofty expectations.
It took a lot of love to exchange energy. Of course, the impetus for change.
The essential beauty of this exchange is exactly what it is. Dog could be man's greatest teacher.
Not only for the principle of exchange, but also for the ability to hang out in lucid consciousness.

Tacumshe is an old dog. 16 years with the mountains and the rivers. Her eyes are opaque now, and her pelvic girdle quivers with uncertainty. A few days ago I was running with the other dog Kina, across a field. After some time, I ran back to Tacumshe to ensure that she didn't feel any jealousy. The moment I stopped running, she took off across the field with a look of shockingly obvious youthfulness. She lasted about 7 or 8 jovial leaps and bounds until her eyes glazed over, the inertia of age blanketed her and you could almost hear the sigh of exhaustion escaping her mouth. We stopped together and she put her head in my hand with her eyes downcast and I could tell she was smiling. She limped to the house, ever in the present moment. Untouched by her inevitable fate. Happy to have a few seconds of play.
Now we sit together in silent conversation often.
I had an idea of what dog walking should be like. I let Kina (the other dog with the shiny black coat) out of the house and set off thinking... I am dog walking now and we are going to go to the river and then the bridge and then...
Kina had no idea of my destination nor did she care. It took me a few times of stopping impatiently for her, to recognize that the stopping was really the dog walking. All Kina wanted to do was smell the many scents and move leisurely. I began to stop and observe. I could notice if the river was moving faster than the wind. I could take a deep breath and turn my head up to the metallic peaks and let my eyes feast on the immensity of the scape around me. I could notice that the sky and the earth give generously all the time. Kina knows this because she puts her head up in the air and the wind whispers it to her.
When I practice in the house the dogs make their way over to me from wherever they are and situate themselves on either side of me like protective Cherubins. They fall asleep to the sound of my breathing and I dance to the rhythm of theirs.

I took on a house and dog sitting job for all of May to help pay for the teacher training in Boulder, so I may become a dog lover and settle down to raise one of my own.
Or maybe not.
But it certainly has felt like the exclamation point in my day to play with two dogs!
While the meditation feels like the comma, and looking into my boyfriend's eyes the pause ...

Moments

2008-03-30T13:43:00.000-07:00

1 month at the shala- $600
1 coconut- 10 rupees.
Being in Mysore with a good friend- Priceless.

Spring Cleaning

2008-03-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

I've come back to Canmore into open arms and a loving community whom some of, I think, are the world's most super people. However, coming back from travelling still poses it's challenges.
Not so much the yearnings for the past, or for new experiences, but for noticing how quickly one falls back into old habits and patterns in a setting of familiarity. After studying yoga and philosophy in India for a few months I am even more aware of my patterns and relapses, which adds an extra challenge... a little more stickiness.
How does one go down, down into the rooms and chambers of the mind and sweep out all the eddies of dust? The lingering wisps of insecurity and the cobwebs of regret? Or the chambers of the heart even? Maybe one goes bravely. "Getting down to the ick..." as a dear friend calls it. We are convinced that we will have to enjoy that space. Put on the music and start cleaning.

Speaking of getting down to the ick, I have been feeling a close approximation to this in my physical practice lately. Inspired by Marci Naujokat to focus on eradicating bad habits in my body that I inadvertantly befriended in Mysore. This has made my practice a little more of a sobering experience for the last couple of weeks.
Yesterday, with a little help from a great teacher (and an even better friend) I stood alone in a posture that is incredibly difficult for me, a posture that I didn't see myself achieving for a few years, and for a moment I was free from doubt.
Maybe effort isn't pointless and the result of working and cleaning could be standing (extremely happily) alone.
(wink)
Don't give up.

Being With Yoga

2008-03-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

Hey There.
So I just spent 2 hours creating my first post... and lost it. Now I am letting it go through gritting teeth... teeming with amazement at the way things are. I can't help laughing at myself. Here goes a somewhat anticlimactic effort.
This is the beginning of documenting my life as a yogini and an instructor of yoga (although this terminology I always find flawed, I like to view it more as an exchange).
I have never kept a journal, taken photographs or held on too tightly to the past. My nature has been to forge through life with the desire for novel experiences and the present moment. Being with yoga for 7 years now has taught me that life is a delicate balancing act, and a new experience that I would like to have is documenting the inspiration that passes through me to others. Some things are worth hanging on to, this is for friends and family old and new. Make me a conduit!

After just returning from a 3 month trip, the bulk of it being in India, my eyes feel big and open.
I studied with Sharath Rangaswamy at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute http://www.ayri.org/, Narasimhan and Jayashree for chanting, meditation and Eastern Philoshophy www.anantharesearch@yahoo.co.in, Ashtanga with Rolf and Marci Naujokat http://www.yogabones.org/, and spent a 8 blissful bouldering days in Hampi.
For anyone who is aspiring to travel to South India for Ashtanga Yoga email me at lydiazamorano@hotmail.com with any questions and I will do my best.

After all this getting up at 4 am and sitting still and sweating and backbending, my body hasn't changed that much. Who I am and what I look like is still relatively the same. But the way I look at myself is slightly tweaked. My hopes is that more and more I can stay awake in this awareness.
I will.

My boyfriend Sonnie and I are heading to Canmore. I'll be teaching at The Yoga Lounge http://www.theyogalounge.ca/ until June, and then to Boulder, Colorado to take a teacher training with Richard Freeman http://www.theyogaworkshop.com/ for a month.
Stay connected and I will let you know how it is for me to study with Mr. Freeman.

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you; Don't go back to sleep. You must ask for what you really want; Don't go back to sleep. People are going back and forth across the doorsill where the two worlds touch. The door is round and open. Don't go back to sleep.” Rumi

Lydia