Another Year, Another Downward Facing Dog

So a new year. When I was a kid, time was endless.  A new year didn't make me think time was ticking away, it just made me think: 5 more months till summer, and 11 more long months until the next Christmas. Maybe it's a sign that I'm getting older that I appreciate how fast the years go by. Maybe it's my children that are growing at an astonishing rate that makes me more acutely aware of how fast time passes and how little time I have to figure out this whole parenting thing. My mom tells me that's what grandkids are for, and I'm starting to get it.

Whatever the case may be, I love a new year. Always have. It's probably why I don't mind moving, or first days of school; I love a fresh start. A blank slate. The year gets to be whatever you want it to be. In yoga we practice letting go and living in the moment. We don't hold our progress stagnant by dwelling on the past, or holding fast to our expectations of the future.

I hope if you have a current yoga practice you commit yourself to continued education in 2011. Make a goal to accept where you are right now and work with that. Society's mind set that we've all been raised on of  must-be-the-best, makes us assume that a good goal for the new year would be, "Perfect my yoga practice." or "Master such and such pose.."
I'd challenge you to make no such goals.
Instead reflect on what you've learned so far about yourself using yoga as a tool, and ask yourself, what more can I learn? Can I dedicate myself to a more consistent practice? A more compassionate one? One with less critical self talk. Less straining, more listening?

It's a hard practice to get our minds around, but the sooner we accept our non perfection, the sooner we can accept ourselves for who we are, and that's where the best work is done.

My teaching schedule for the new year is changing. I will be working the next few months on higher levels of yoga certification and will need to downsize my class time for a bit. I will be teaching Tuesday and Thursday nights at the Robero Kaelin Jiu-Jitsu studio. The time will still be 8:30PM, and I will be letting go of morning classes for the time being. Also, the studio owners have set the monthly rate to 40 dollars and the drop in rate is still 10. It breaks down to 5 dollars a class. Please text or shoot me an email if you plan on signing up or continuing on for the new year. New rates and times apply in January. I will keep you informed of other places I hope to teach in the coming months.
I have been overwhelmed these past 6 months with the support of my classes. I love teaching and you have been a huge part of why that is.
Whether with me or someone else, I hope you will continue on in your exploration of yoga. It is a gift to know one's self: Our strengths and our weakness, our courage and our fear, all within the safe bounds of our mat.

May 2011 bless you with the stillness of mind to take it all in.
Much love and Namaste.

~Melanie

"Knowing others is intellegence, knowing ourselves is wisdom."~Lao Tsu

Every morning during my stay in Tulum for yoga training we'd start the day off with a silent walk down the beach. At first I found it painfully awkward to walk next to people and not engage in conversation. It felt like I was purposefully swallowing perfectly good observations just for the sake of being silent. Probably the hardest to not acknowledge was this guy:

Every day he was down at the beach doing some sort of Tai-Chi/Yoga combo. He was so darling and so focused. Plus also so old and wrinkly cute you just wanted to put him in your pocket or something.

That probably sounded weird. (shrug) Oh well.

As the days passed I came to embrace the silence. I loved how the quiet would fill me and yet, I could feel the energy of all the people around me. I knew every time we passed by the little old man we were all thinking the same thing. Could feel everyone smiling when we'd see this cute blond naked baby playing in the ocean every morning with his Grandfather. Waving enthusiastically to our group; either oblivious or rather proud to the fact that he was totally naked.

It was amazing that we could be having our own internal experience and still feel supported and connected with those around us.

Much like a yoga session. :)

The last day of our silent walks, our teachers took us just a little further down the beach. As we made our way to turn back, there was this sign.

Class is going to feel different every time we come to our mats. Sometimes we are dealing with a lot of resistance, both physical and mental, even emotional. We can choose to let that resistance distract us and discourage us, or we can let it push and inspire us to investigate and explore what we're feeling. Nothing distracts more in yoga and consequently in life, as critical thoughts. We practice learning to enjoy the sweet silence we create with our breath. Slowing down, approaching each pose and focusing on not how it looks, but how we react to it. There is a contentment that comes from breaking down internal barriers, and a healing in final relaxation that I just so much want people to have as a tool in their lives.
If you come to yoga to do the postures perfectly, I'm afraid you are missing the point.

People will always tell me that they know yoga is a great workout, and it is. But it's just so much more if you let it.

Come on, aren't we ALL winners?

Drumroll please...according to random.org, the winners of the first ever Project Yoga contest drawing are: Melinda Bishop and Nikki Kitchen! (Email me your address at Facebook or mtaylor193@gmail.com)

Congrats guys, you are the reciepents of a relaxation package put together by yours truly. It contains some aromatherapy, a massager and of course, chocolate, among other things! So close your eyes, breath in goodness and go to your happy place. I've included one of mine, feel free to borrow it if needed.

If it wasn't you this time, (especially if you are named Jamie Anderson, and threatend to never do yoga again if she didn't win:) do not fret, (or quit yoga), I will do many more contests on this here blog. I love that you guys are here and reading and will always reward you for that support.

In between prizes, I hope you'll enjoy following this blog. I am certainly enjoying writing it. New post coming soon.

Love and Namaste,

Melanie

Your Best Class Is Your Next Class

Yogis rock. Seriously.

I had an audition Saturday for a local gym. If you haven't had the opportunity of trying out for a fitness instructor position, let me tell you, it's an experience.
There were about 16 ladies there, all trying out for different things. About a dozen were there for classes ranging from Zumba to Cardio Kickboxing and of course, why I was there...Yoga. There's a not at all intimidating panel of 3 judges who give you 3-5 minutes to conduct "your class." The rest of the participants are the students in the class who you then teach for the judges.

The yogis in the room were not hard to spot as we were the only group of people trying to Kickbox in our barefeet. You'd think the whole experience would just be beyond bizarre, and in fairness, it is a bit. What surprised me most was the commradary. After everyone's section people clapped and were extremely encouraging. We were all going after limited job slots, so we technically should have been throwing intimdating stink eyes at each other, messing up on the routines like, "well gosh, if I can't follow her, probably no one can..."

It was an exhausting couple of hours but in between breaks the yogis came together like magnets with words of encouragement, support and jokes about our barefeet. But it was exciting to see in action that consistantly practicing contentment, gratitude and love on our mats, really can't seem to help but spill over into our daily lives. Imagine that??

I start my days with prayer and I usually always ask for things like patience, gratitude, strength, and love for those around me. While I know that I have been blessed at times with an extra measure of these things when I have really needed it, I know I can't just be given these gifts. They need to be cultivated and nurtured on a daily basis so that I posses these gifts at all times. I love that yoga is simply a tool in my spiritual toolbelt that helps me work on these things. Helps me get in touch with who I am; to see what motivates me, what paralyzes me. Where I am strong, and where there is room to work. And if an added benefit over time happens to be a toned yoga butt, well then, who's to complain? I know I wouldn't.

Yep. Yogis rock. They rock because they recognize if their best is always enough, well then, so must everyone else's.