Great Spring Session

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Spring Yoga Session.  It was a dynamic 2 months -- yes, 8 weeks, imagine that!  What a journey up through the chakras touching into the different energies that we encounter as we do asanas and breath work that attune us to each energy center.

Stability is KEY to asana practice.  Cultivating a connection to the steady center is a pre-requisite to going more deeply into practice.  Through the practice of yoga we expand our energy, our capacity, our power in the world.  If we are out of balance -- lacking in stability, the steady center -- and we activate more power, we'll be more powerfully out-of-balance.  Yikes. No thanks.  

So, from the outset and throughout the session we worked with a balancing steady breath, moved in concert with the breath, grew in relationship with the breath.  The breath is simply the gateway to mindfulness, to awareness, to center, to connection to source.  From this place of stability, the practice of yoga empowers us in our bodies and our minds -- building strength, vitality, flexibility and clarity.  

But despite steps to balance prana through mindful breathing, you still may have experienced in an energy center (a chakra) an inherent, long-standing lack of balance as we progressed through the session -- if an area was holding an imbalance, a lack of awareness, or a stuckness --  and we spent 90 minutes activating it, something was bound to release, move, shift.  Several times through the session, I noticed things happening in my life outside of class and sure enough I could relate them to what I was doing in my practice that paralleled our classes.  For instance, I survived the whole winter without a cough, but as we moved through 5th chakra and the energy around 6th (which are connected), a weakness presented itself physically in this area of speech, speaking truth, showing up in the world on my own terms -- areas I've struggled with for this whole lifetime.  I found myself speaking very frankly and somewhat unapologetically -- spontaneous, clear truths straight out of my inner world that I typically keep inside for the sake of diplomacy.  But especially during the 5th/6th chakra weeks, the clarity of the inside demanded a platform and to be heard.  Bringing power to these areas brought forth a break-through, more awareness -- even if the awareness slipped into an aggravating cough or in aggressive speech, both of which I would have preferred to skip, but I take as an indicator that there were deeper levels of clearing necessary to be more clear and balanced.  

Always pay attention to what's going on on the outside.  It reflects the inner world.  Be present to all the little nuggets and gems that revealed themselves to you through images, dreams, thoughts, and actions over the last 8 weeks.  Take some time to write them down.  

The whole practice of shining awareness to the energy centers is a mighty one that we'll continue as we step into the fire season of summer and the bright light of the crescendo to the Solstice.  I look forward to the continued journey.

Love,

Kathy