In this month’s Get to Know Your Community, Source teacher Amy Petty answers a few questions for us about her co-owned business, yogaJOYproject (yjp). Source is a partner studio for yjp, an organization dedicated to creating a fluid yoga community in the South Sound.

I recently reread the newsletter introduction I wrote one year ago, which reminded me of all that has transpired in this past year. At the time we were preparing to open the doors of the University Place studio, Erin was getting ready to bring her daughter into the world. I remember back then being excited, anxious, a little overextended but entirely grateful to all the help and the support from the community.

And now here we are celebrating our One Year Anniversary at the University Place studio! We are grateful to be in this new community and for the beautiful space to practice yoga. Over the years, with great joy, we hear from many of you about how yoga has impacted your lives. In fact, I am never, ever bored each time one of you shares some new insight or some new way that yoga has crept from your mat into your relationships, careers, and dreams. I am always deeply moved and inspired. And when I find myself uninspired in my yoga practice or in my life, I draw on all of you to reignite my light and become present to the greatness which we all are.

If you are one of those dedicated yogis, please share your enthusiasm with your friends and family and invite them to join us May 6th, Sunday at the University Place studio for some great FREE classes with our excellent teachers, and enjoy self-care with the next door Massage business, Bodhi for FREE massages 1-4pm. The yoga classes run 9am-4pm. You can register online in advance from our website or the day of the event.

We look forward to seeing many new faces at the studio and giving them the opportunity to experience a taste of what all of you have been experiencing for months (if not many years) through the practice of yoga.

Thank you for shining your light and supporting us through all these years! You are the reason Source Yoga continues to flourish!

In deep gratitude,

Melissa

What my mom taught me

As many of you know, my mom passed away on March 3rd. I was able to make it to Colorado in time to see her and talk to her, tell her I love her, and she passed away at home, surrounded by her family loving her. There has been much sadness and missing her, of course, but also a peace and a relief, knowing that she is free and not in pain.

Since she passed, I have been especially aware that at the end of our life, the only thing that really matters is the love to which we are present. All of the other daily “stuff” that we take so seriously in life, that sometimes overwhelms us–the stories, the expectations, the standards we hold ourselves to–they really don’t matter at all at the end of the day. What really mattered to my mom in her last days? Her family, her relationships, and love. The understanding that we loved her and she loved us, that we would be ok, that we would love and take care of each other. Nothing else.

In his beautiful book, Wherever You Go, There You Are, Jon Kabat-Zinn talks about how if we were to die, our particular agenda dies with us. All of the things that feel so important to accomplish would either get managed by someone else, or disappear with us. He says:

“If this is true, maybe you don’t need to make one more phone call right now, even if you think you do…by taking a few moments to “die on purpose” to the rush of time while you are still living, you free yourself to have time for the present. By “dying” now in this way, you actually become more alive now.”

Of course, I have been particularly aware of death lately. Not just about my mom, but the contemplation of death in spiritual practice. At the end of every yoga class, we are invited to contemplate death in Savasana – Corpse Pose. Recently, I really saw this pose in a new light. I realized that the opportunity of this pose is not just to kick back and relax for a few minutes, but to consciously die to the rest of our life. To consciously die to our past, die to our future, and truly just be here. It is the opportunity to pause in our life.

Nothing needs to be done. Our agenda can disappear for that few minutes, and we have the gift of just being here, in our bodies, in our breath. And when we come back into our daily “doings,” we come back with greater awareness. There is a sweeter taste to the experience of life when we know that it is all temporary.

I thank you all for your kind words, the cards, the hugs, the thoughts and prayers. I am so grateful for the community that I have come back into. I have felt so supported, so held up by the arms of so many.

With love and gratitude,

Erin

Mt Rainier Peak by Ang Kim

(From Angi’s 9:30AM Basic Flow class, 3/20/12)

“One climbs, one sees. One descends, one sees no longer, but one has seen. There is an art in conducting oneself in the lower regions by memory of what one has seen higher up. When one can no longer see, one can at least still know.” ~Rene Daumal

(Picture from this site. )

“Perhaps if what we think of as ‘perfect’ was achieved, life would not be as sweet. 

Perhaps what makes life so sweet is the vague idea of perfection, never quite achieved. 

Perhaps the beauty is in the uniqueness of the finite ways
with which we try to capture infinite perfection. 

Once again, the beauty is in the journey.  But you already know that.”
—Source teacher Bryan Michel

(In late February 2012, Melissa and Erin decided to revisit their vision and goals for Source Yoga. Here is what emerged. You can read more about its genesis in the March 2012 newsletter, as well as the March greeting from Erin.)

Our Vision

Source Yoga is a refuge and place of inspiration to safely practice yoga and discover your truest self. You will find a place you can call home combined with deep respect, and vibrant community. Through the physical practice of yoga, meditation, and self-study, you will gain awareness, self-acceptance, and gratitude for the gift of being alive.

Our mission at Source Yoga studios is to offer a safe and inclusive space in which you are supported and encouraged to find your own path through the practice of yoga. We lead with compassion, respect, and gratitude so that we may all experience our own true natures.

Our Values

Gratitude

We openly acknowledge our appreciation for your support and commitment to Source Yoga. We measure our success based on both the quality of instruction and care you receive from our staff and teachers and the personal stories of positive change we hear reflected back to us. Every single student makes a profound difference and we take pride in serving everyone.

Respect

We are very serious about how each student is treated, with the utmost respect for the individual. We come from many different walks of life, and we have found that respect creates trust and in turn a space for growth to occur.

Exceptional Service

It is our privilege to serve our clients and communities. We do this with great care and are always available to further assist your growth as a yoga practitioner.

Compassion

We believe that we must care for ourselves, our environment and one another to create true change in our lives and our greater communities. You can count on our staff and teachers to provide a welcoming environment where you feel nurtured and respected.

Trust

You can trust that we will provide a service that you want to revisit over and over again. You can trust that you will be safely guided from the moment you walk in the door, to the moment you enter back into your life outside of the studio. You can trust that we are here to support your growth and individual needs.

As we have grown and developed as teachers, as business owners, as moms, and as human beings, we are clear that our commitment is bigger than ourselves, and that we have the opportunity to impact people beyond our town. This was truly the heart beyond expanding to a second location, and offering the gift of yoga to a whole new community of people.

I’m not going to lie; this first year since opening our University Place location has not always been easy. The first year of any new business is not always smooth sailing – and the business itself, as well as Melissa and I, have had some serious growing pains along the way.

We recently looked at all that we have taken on. With the expansion from one studio to two, it could be easy to lose sight of our initial vision. And we realized that in order to continue to grow and thrive, we would need to really remind ourselves of why we started on this journey in the first place, and why we are still committed to it.

So the other day, we sat down to revisit our mission, and found ourselves really re-creating our vision, drawing on our tremendous growth and change over the last six years. We realized that we are clearer now than we were six years ago about

• what our vision is,
• what we want people to experience and access when they walk through our doors, and
• why we have created these spaces to offer yoga to our communities.

By returning to this vision again and again, the daily tasks of running a business has grown to be more than a “to do” list. It keeps us present and grateful for the wonderful people that have, hand in hand, made this vision a reality with us – from the staff and teachers, to you the student.

We would like to share our reshaped vision with you. Please read more here and see what we are committed to, and what you can count on from us.

What has your yoga journey looked like? We’d be honored if you shared your stories with us over e-mail, on Facebook , or below on the comments for the studio blog. If you were with us at the opening of the studios, we would especially love to hear your reflections.

Namaste, Erin

Here is the February newsletter greeting from Melissa.

Get to know your body: all its capabilities and limitations

The longer I study and practice yoga, the more it feels the less I actually know. I think this can be a good insight because it means I am not afraid to not have an answer, to do the work to find one, and to be open to learning as much as possible. I recently took a weekend workshop in Seattle co-led with one of my teachers, Theresa Elliott, and physical therapist Noel Craig.

I realized that one of the reasons that I have been drawn to Theresa as a teacher is that she has a love of movement. She has spent many years asking questions, studying anatomy, inquiring what is the most efficient way to sustain a posture, and even more importantly the transitions: how to move into and out of them.

Making these types of links to why our bodies need to be in certain places, engaging muscles in order to be fully supported in a particular yoga posture, is incredibly liberating and empowering. I notice that when I feel empowered, I also feel safe to explore my edges, make mistakes, and try new ways that make sense for my body, mind, and heart. There is a body intelligence that comes with this understanding and it is a continual process and practice over many years. Maybe this is why it feels like the more I know the less I know.

I recall that at one point during our weekend we were analyzing a particular posture, and a student asked something along the lines of “how do you know when you are doing it correctly?” And there was a well-thought-out response including the anatomy of the body and muscles we were studying and engaging and then ultimately it came down to “it’s an inner feeling and sensitivity.” I find this to be true too that once we have a strong foundation of how our body works we then need to also have the sensitivity to listen and have the curiosity towards our bodies to discover our own truths.

We must have the continual drive and curiosity to learn about our own bodies rather than making our bodies fit into a yoga posture. And to reach out and look for opportunities and resources that help us make more informed decisions of how to approach our practice. If there is one thing over the years of teaching and studying movement that I have learned it is that we are all individuals unique in our composition, our life experiences, our backgrounds, and our intentions. So, we must approach our practice from our uniqueness and be proud of who we are and where we are on our journey.

I encourage all of you this month to be inquisitive into your practice; to ask questions, pull out an anatomy book (I recommend Anatomy of Movement, by Blan Calais-Germain) if you never have and get familiar with your body: its capabilities, and limitations. Then take a deep breath, listen, and feel.

Namaste, Melissa

“There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening, that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.”
-Martha Graham

(Reading from Angi’s Basic Flow class, 1/24/12)

Our Greatness is Asking

In all our doings
From waking to turning off the light
We can begin to forget

Then truth steps in
And pulls us closer to the face of experience
And we remember

We remember the sensitivity of life
And the similarity of our stories.

We remember the textures of our breath
And the consciousness behind our eyes.

We remember that to be loved we must love
And to connect we must open.

We remember again and again
And soon we begin to see with an expanded, truthful heart.

Because our Greatness is not asking us
To climb Mt. Everest or learn three different languages.

It is not asking us to master the art of levitation
Or memorize the minds of scholars.

It is not asking us to DO anything.

It is asking us to simply be right here
Again and again,

To be honest and vulnerable
And accepting of our differences,

To be grateful and compassionate
And supported by the energy of life,

To everyday come close to the face of this humanity
And feel the threads of the Divine connecting us all.

Our Greatness is simply asking us
To remember.

~Angi Donovan

My husband, kids and I all spent the holidays in Colorado with my parents. My mom has a serious illness, and I was present to an array of emotions all week. Joy at getting to spend this time with my family, sadness at the changes that have occurred in my mom’s freedom and movement, sorrow at not being able to alleviate the discomforts she is experiencing… but mostly, I was present to what a gift it was that my children get to spend this time with their grandparents. Seeing my mom playing on the floor with my 8-month-old daughter with such joy and fun filled my heart, and I found myself stepping back, taking a picture in my mind as if to hold that image.

My mom has always been filled with such love and joy at being alive and being with the people she loves. Even as she struggles with physical discomfort, with the stress of her body not being how she wishes it could be, that love and that joy of being with the people that matter most to her is ever present. It is the thing she wakes up into each morning and the thing she goes to bed with each night. I could say she is a fighter, which is true, but what I really want to say is that she is a lover, which is even truer. Every day that I witness her going through her challenges, I am mostly reminded of how much she loves her family and how much life and spark that brings to her daily life.

I was thinking about “New Year’s Resolutions”: the typical promises we make year after year and that we might or might not fulfill. Eating better, exercising regularly, or improving ourselves in one way or another. All of those things are valid-and yes, we should cherish and take care of our bodies and our minds while they are ours. But what I am really aware of this New Year’s, as a promise that I can authentically take on and be inspired by, is to be present with the people I love. I resolve to forgive more, to let go of grudges and the rightness of my view. I resolve to practice letting go of needing to “get somewhere” and spend relaxed, luxurious time just being with my loved ones.

A friend of mine just lost her father, suddenly and unexpectedly. In an email she wrote, letting her community know, she said, “One of the things I’m so grateful for is that my relationship with my Dad had nothing incomplete. One of the last things he said to me was, “I really love you” and I really got it. I invite you to take this moment to cause the presence of love with the people that matter to you. Don’t wait. We really only have right now.”

With the birth of a new year, consider-what would make a difference in your life now, each and every day-what would make a difference in the quality of your relationships? And then, don’t wait. We really only have right now.

With love, Erin