Authenticity - Who am i??

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

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

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

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!

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....

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

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