Back on full schedule

I am back from a beautiful vacation in Puerto Rico. I relaxed, surfed, hung out with beautiful friends and met new ones. It was a blissful week!

But now I am back in the grind teaching everyday!

This week, we will focus on our hips. When it's so cold outside, we sit all day, watch tv, relax during long periods if time . Our hips become so tight, holding the cold of winter within them. Warming and opening the hip area warms our entire body from the inside out.

Our hips also are located by the sacral chakra, or svadisthana chakra. This powerful energy center is responsible for our emotional identity; Self-esteem and self worth. To open the hips with an intention to unlock your doubts lets your asana practice become a form of increasing your self worth and self respect. It is to give yourself love!

So come and practice.

With love,

P

Meditation challenge

From now until Christmas, all my classes will have about 5 minutes (3 minutes for one hour classes) meditations. Trust me, this makes all the difference while dealing with these hectic times. A meditation practice can change your life!

See you on the mat!


Love,

P

Yamas and Niyamas, continued

Aparigraha (non attachment)

Whether you just started your practice or you're a long term yogi/yogini, Aparigraha, or non-attachment, is another one of the Yamas (the last of the 5, per Master Patanjali) that is commonly used and heard around classes, blogs and yoga-related articles. 

Non-attachment on the mat starts from the beginning of your practice.  The moment you sit down and close your eyes,  in order to embrace your practice, you must separate yourself from the residues of your day.  We carry around the emotions and responses of our day, whether we know it or not (snappy, anyone?).  Sitting down on your mat before your practice and setting an intention to "let go" is the first step to begin a peaceful and refreshing practice. 

Secondly, non-attachment should be practiced in every pose in two different ways, firstly, removing the need to attach yourself to a result of the pose ("I really want to do that pose the student did") and as result, accepting your body and where it is at this present time.  Competition is part of the human condition, and seeing a room full of yogis, it is hard not to compare or watch those around you and see how they practice.  However, we are all different.  What you may be able to do is not what your neighbor may be able to do, and vice-versa.  Let go of what those around you are doing, and concentrate on your practice. As you do this, you will see that every step of the asana becomes important, rather than the end result. 

To practice Aparigraha outside of the mat is a lifetime goal.  There are monks that meditate on the practice of letting go for hours at a time.  After all, we are almost programmed to use our memories as a puzzle and attach everything in our lives to our experience.  Non-attachment is HARD!  I am sure that you can think of many things you are currently overly attached to (shoes?  that restaurant?  Your boyfriend?)  Non-attachment takes constant practice and effort.  Paying attention to the present is an easy antidote to being overly attached.  Also, being generous to others helps remove that selfishness. 

Lastly, to practice Non-attachment you don't have to give away all your material things and let go of everything, it simply means that if those items were to be taken from you, you'd be accepting of your present.  

With love,

P

P.S. I am super excited to be teaching the 9:00 am Thursday class at Quick Fitness!  If you are local to the Williamsburg/Greenpoint neighborhoods, the yoga community in this gym is a gem, and very hard to find in other gyms.  If you're interested in passing by, please let me know.

Karma Yoga

An owner of a yoga studio I worked at once said to me that getting up to teach an empty 7:00 am class was a form of Karma Yoga, or "discipline of selfless action."  I, as a young(er) teacher, was not impressed by this  "excuse." I did not enjoy getting up so early, and I blamed the time (7:00 am) and the studio (it was fairly new). I blamed everything around me for that experience.   I would wake up at 6:00 am, ride my bike to the studio and would be so upset when no one showed up. 

I continued to teach and grow as a teacher, and now I can say that I completely agree with her.  That empty class was a form of Karma Yoga, for I was giving without expecting a return.  At first, without wanting to, for I was not happy with the empty class.  But getting up early to teach evolved into a practice of providing a service without expectation on a return, monetary or mentally.  It was a beautiful lesson on Aparigraha, or attachment.     

There are so many ways we can practice Karma Yoga.  Some examples are: 

- Volunteering.  Giving 2 hours of your time per month is so little.  It makes a hell of a difference in someone else's budget or life.  

- Teaching for free.  Whether it is teaching a free class at a donation based studio, teaching younger teachers to do adjustments, or teaching free meditation to someone who clearly needs it is a great way to practice your skills and helping others at the same time.

- Offering your services to someone as a gift.  Whether it is to cook for a sick friend, make a drink for your busy girlfriend, or just offer an ear to someone lonely.  

The key to Karma Yoga is to not expect something back.  Give your all with full intention, from your heart. 

Memorial Day

Greetings from Miami!

I hope everyone is having a safe memorial day weekend! Happy beginning of summer!

Love,

P

Elements

This week I'm exploring in my classes how simple it is to connect with yourself during practice by bringing together the elements of water, air, fire and the earth and how they can be explored and combined in every asana pose. Your connection to the elements become key to your full presence and provide you with the necessary attention needed for you to fully draw yourself inward.

Try go for all four elements next time you practice on your own. Feel your palms and feet united with the earth, accept the fire your practice ignites, float through your poses like you're in the air, and lastly let the fluidity overwhelm you, like water.

If you try to obtain all elements you will feel grounded and secure. Present.

Xoxo,

P

Vulnerability

Our yoga practice is a gateway to acceptance. We find an open mind through vulnerability. Accepting this vulnerability is way that we can reach openness and accept ourselves fully, without reservations.

Think about this the next time you're in a difficult pose. By accepting how vulnerable it makes you feel at that moment, being present with that vulnerability will make your heart crack right open. Let these emotions serve you, rather than hurt you.



Love,

P