There’s More than One Road to Travel

The Patanjali mural at Samyama Yoga Center in Palo Alto

The Patanjali mural at Samyama Yoga Center in Palo Alto

I sat in sukhasana for the first time in Mrs. Carey’s gym class. It was 1975 and I was a junior at Northwestern Lehigh High School. I didn’t know it was sukhasana. For that matter, neither did Mrs. Carey. Most of my classmates sat slumped, legs crossed. But I was in sukhasana. I didn’t know it. I could feel it.

It was ten years before I sat in sukhasana again.

It’s wrong to call the path I’ve walked for most of the past three decades a ‘yoga journey‘. If I’m to be truthful, it has been an ‘asana journey‘. Asana. Asana. Asana. For years I collected asanas like some people collect stamps. And why not? It was fun. I was young. And no one taught me any different. They may have tried, but I wasn’t listening.

I knew I was taking the ‘scenic route’. I knew there was more to yoga than asana. I craved something more – I was hungry for it – but I didn’t know where to begin.

I had the texts to prove it: the Gita and Upanishads, Patanjali and the Pradipika. I had books from teachers who brought yoga to the West. For a time I carried Iyengar‘s Light on Yoga with me as if it was the Holy Grail. I was a yoga poser. I was proving that what my teachers back at Northwestern said about me (“she’s a bright girl but she doesn’t apply herself”) was true.

Maybe I wasn’t ready. Maybe it’s true that the universe conspires to open your heart only when you’re ready to receive. I’m ready. Patanjali, my heart is open. Teach me.

Chapter 1

Samadhi Pada

1.1 Here begins the authoritative instruction on Yoga.

1.2 Yoga is the ability to direct the mind exclusively toward an object and sustain that direction without any distractions.

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California, Here I Come!

Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I’m sitting in the lobby of the Rushmore Holiday Inn, downtown Rapid City, South Dakota waiting for the shuttle that will take me to the airport and toward my journey home. The first ever Yoga Therapy Summit was more than I hoped for. Educational, inspiring, motivating and more. So much more. I have much to process and much to contemplate. I’m almost overwhelmed by the possibility and the potential and very, very humbled by how little I know and how much there is to learn.

I’m grateful for these three days and grateful to be returning to my regular teaching schedule on Tuesday the 17th:

Monday the 16th – This afternoon’s 1:00 class at Avenidas will be taught by Carla Wittenberg. My 7:30 Yin class at California Yoga Center will be taught by Nicole Wargo.

I’ll be back on the mat for these classes:

Tuesday the 17th:

9:00 California Yoga Center

4:00 Samyama Yoga Center (I’m subbing for Louis’s class)

Friday the 20th:

9:00 California Yoga Center

10:30 Avenidas

1:30 Samyama Yoga Center (Yin)

Saturday the 21st:

4:00 Samyama Yoga Center

And don’t forget! We’re relaunching our morning classes at Samyama next week.

I’ll be teaching on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 7:00 to 8:15. YAY!!!  

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Don’t You Just Love that New Car Smell???

CIMG2291Yes, it is a weird title to a blog post about yoga. But I’m celebrating the purchase of a new car. No – not mine. I’ve happily paid off my Honda and intend to drive it into the ground. Let’s just say a friend who’s very closely associated with Samyama Yoga Center recently traded in his rockin’ sports car for…a luxury sedan. OH, but what a luxury sedan. I had the pleasure of being chauffeur driven the 200 yards from Philz to Samyama yesterday. Sweet ride.

Speaking of sweet rides and Samyama – I’ve exciting news! Morning classes are coming back. My summer hiatus was an opportunity to regroup and refuel and I’m making my return to mornings on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 to 8:15 beginning September 24th.

You’ll notice the class is shorter – seventy five minutes is a perfect morning practice. But there’s one other change, too.

Choice.

How we choose to carry ourselves from Point A to Point B is never the same. Some days we feel like flying down the freeway in our neon detailed leathers strapped around a BMW S1000 and some days we prefer a business suit and the coolly appointed comfort of a sedan. And so it is with yoga. On some mornings we crave music and vigorous movement. Some mornings it’s all about the silent slow flow.

Sharing the mornings with me will be Amy Rogg. You can get your Vinyasa on with her in the main studio while those of us who enjoy embracing the day with gentle introspection will cocoon ourselves in the practice studio.

Guests joining us in the mornings will have the choice of choosing the practice that best suits their needs on that particular morning.

I look forward to waking up with you!

Class Schedule Updates:

I’m away to the Yoga Therapy Summit in Rapid City, South Dakota this coming weekend and so there will be a few friends stepping in to lead my classes:

Friday 13 September: Lisa will be teaching my 9 AM class at California Yoga Center. Nicole will step in for my 11:30 class at Avenidas and Carla will teach my 1:30 Yin class at Samyama.

Saturday 14 September: Bethany will teach my 4 PM class at Samyama. (I accidentally began a vicious rumour that this afternoon class was going to be moving to 8:30 AM. I spoke too soon. We decided 4 PM was just perfect. We’re not going anywhere.)

Monday 15 September: The 1 PM class at Avenidas will be taught by Carla. My 7:30 Yin class at California Yoga Center will be cancelled this evening. We’ll resume again on the 23rd.

Visit my page to view my full class schedule.

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