Life flows in seasons and I'm honored to have supported so many of YOU through your journey this past year in learning embodied practices and truly, embodied living. To me, yoga, fitness, meditation etc are all pointing us back to our relationship to ourselves and require us to be present, show up, grow and thrive in new ways. My current season as we enter spring is actually feeling like a fall season of shedding, saying no, setting down projects, letting go and even death...moving into a winter season of being inward, nourishing myself and preparing to enter into this next phase of life as a woman, wife and new mother. As I'm preparing to birth this child (come out and play, please!) I'm enjoying completing tasks that got set aside while teaching full time and yes - enjoying … [Read more...]
Restorative Yoga: The Head Wonton
Today I'm giving you one of my favorite restorative yoga propping techniques. I originally learned this from my mentor, Donna Farhi, and have enjoyed seeing students settle in with a sigh of relief when tucked in properly. If you experience neck and shoulder tension, or feel overstimulated by the outside world, this can bring a soothing, cradling quality to a standard savasana. To the left, one of my dear students agreed to model for this blog - really, she was so comfortable that she didn't mind the extra time to soak in this pose! We took her wonton corners and tucked in her shoulders with a fairly large amount of the blanket, leaving the center of the blanket roll's height right at the base of her skull. She had another blanket underneath her torso for softness and support, … [Read more...]
It Ain’t All Roses: Practice Insights
It ain't all roses all the time, is it? In writing copy for my new website in the fall of 2015, I decided to share a brief glimpse of my 'dark ages'. My long term clients knew me then, some of them aware of the circumstances and others oblivious - only realizing when my name changed a year later when the divorce was final. Many of them didn't know I was pregnant, and somehow I worked through the fabulous first trimester all-day-sickness and found hope. It was a hell of a year losing a pregnancy I wanted, regretted, prayed over, learned to love again and then lost. All while separated from the relationship that made it came to be. Wanting to understand. Wanting him. Not wanting him. Hating him, and yes, forgiving him. Teaching my clients gave me a reason to get out of bed. To … [Read more...]
Insights for Teachers: Cues To Reconsider
Although at face value the article (that inspired me to write this post) is easy to read and the tips are concise, I actually disagree with the author on several points. Please let me clarify that I'm not merely going to share my opinion, but instead use biomechanics to back this up. Anatomy requires our attention, and if we are teaching yoga, we're teaching movement. Which means a shift from the right-wrong duality of how to cue and thinking into deeper discernment. Many teacher training programs teach you how to teach what and how to do it - I like to educate my students to understand why they're paying attention in a certain way, how their body moves and functions, and help them experience their power to influence outcomes. For example, you might ask yourself, "How, as a … [Read more...]
My Approach to Teaching Yoga
I had a conversation recently with a colleague. They asked me what I thought about 'stretching' and hatha yoga...and they wanted to know how my approach might be different. Here's an attempt to put a sensory, visceral, lived experience into words: "When I teach Yoga it's about movement, and my students end up moving through multiple repetitions of gradually fuller-range movements, with encouragement to keep it active, dynamic, supported - it's more about moving through space than 'seeking stretch sensation' or 'going as deep as possible'. I'm interested in integrity. Sustainability. And if we're using movement as a tool to train the mind and embodiment, let's see how subtle and supple we can get. They {my students} end up possibly doing a whole lot more transferring of weight, … [Read more...]
Breathing – Becoming – Embodied
"Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself among deep mountains and hidden valleys to restore your link to the source of life. Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe; breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside. Next, breathe up all fecundity and vibrancy of the earth. Finally, blend the breath of heaven and the breath of earth with your own, becoming the Breath of Life itself." - Morihei Ueshiba When I contemplate breathing and eating and intimacy it's a conversation between beings, a communion of self with the external world, bringing parts of our environment and nourishment and lover into ourselves and a part of us being released back out into the atmosphere as we exhale, eliminate, separate from other and reconnect with Self. Reuniting. … [Read more...]
The Great Mystery – Getting To Know Your Pelvic Floor
So many women (and men, hey, guys – welcome) I've worked with over the past decade have had some form of pelvic floor challenge. Yet many of them couldn't – or wouldn't – name it and make it known. A different issue brings them to their first private session, and over time we unravel the story and clues in their body – and often end up right back at the center, the core. We end up discovering that the pelvic floor may be a causal piece in their puzzle. I'm happy to share my passion and expertise – and bring much needed lightness and humor to this area of our anatomy, health and lives. My certification and studies in The Franklin Method dramatically increased my own embodiment and performance, and has served me well in helping my clients with similar areas of concern. The pelvic … [Read more...]
Love Your Sadness {Danielle LaPorte}
I sent a written work from one of my favorite women, Danielle LaPorte, to a friend and client the other day. They've been grieving the loss of a family member and also experiencing some pretty intense nerve pain from their cervical spine's current state. Connected? Possibly. They did get checked out medically and have been addressing the physical realm with some exercises and stretches. Either way - grieving and sadness have a place. They need a safe harbor to tuck into until they're ready to venture out to sea again, and I believe that safe harbor is our consciousness, which inevitably includes our body. Emotions are felt in this body of ours, and can be loved, processed and healed over time with embodied practices. My client responded with "THANK YOU! That was amazing. … [Read more...]