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

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, creates a vision for tomorrow.”  
-Melody Beattie

One of the aspects I enjoy about the holiday season is that it is a time for me to reflect and give thanks to everything in my life. There is so much to be grateful for when we really start to think about it, but why do we so easily forget all the small treasures in our life in our day-to-day lives? I think it is our humanity that we forget, and our practice is to not only remember our gratitude but to act from that place of being grateful. It may be as simple as smiling to the stranger you pass on the street, giving a hug to a loved one, or making dinner for your family. And however it may look for you, what is important is that you are coming from your heart. Not giving out of obligation or expectation, but really giving and expecting nothing in return.

The truest gratitude there is comes with no strings attached. You may consider how often you give from your heart and when you give from obligation as we enter the holidays. And then slow down, listen, breathe, and remember why you are here and what fills your heart. Have the courage to then go out into your lives, reach out to your family, friends, and community and create a truly magical and heartwarming holiday season this year.

Here at the studios we take great care and effort in creating our holiday events and workshops. We enjoy designing offerings for the community that give you an opportunity to connect to yourself, to share the love and peace within, and to discover new-found passions.

• Please consider stepping off the mat and onto the dance floor with special guest Girish Dec. 3rd at the University Place studio.
• Mark your calendar for what is guaranteed to be a deeply moving, and celebratory practice to end 2011 and confidently, peacefully enter the New Year with Sacred Intentions workshop Dec. 31st.
• If you are new to yoga or it has dropped off your priority list, it’s never too late, start your New Year resolutions now and register early for the Intro Series classes.

There are many class options, workshops, and special guest teachers and events coming in 2012-so don’t miss out on your chance to enliven your yoga practice and ultimately your life!

See you on and off the mat!
With much love and deep gratitude,
Melissa

P.S. When considering what to give for the holidays, consider spending your money locally! We have a diverse community of businesses to support.

(From Amy’s Mixed-Levels class, during October.)

A skeptical and reluctant yogi, neuroscientist Alex Korb published this essay in Psychology Today‘s blog, titled “Yoga: Changing The Brain’s Stressful Habits”:

“As a neuroscientist, despite my initial incredulity, I came to realize that yoga works not because the poses are relaxing, but because they are stressful.  It is your attempts to remain calm during this stress that create yoga’s greatest neurobiological benefit.”

Read the full essay here.

On author Gretchen Rubin’s website The Happiness Project, she says this about gratitude:

“Gratitude is a key element for a happy life. People who cultivate gratitude get a boost in happiness and optimism, feel more connected to other people, are better-liked and have more friends, are more likely to help others—they even sleep better and have fewer headaches.”

In this month of thanksgiving, we’d like to open a discussion about gratitude. What are you grateful for? We’d like to create a Gratitude Wall here and on our Facebook page.

From Melissa’s introduction to the October newsletter:

“A true change process will involve surprises, reversals, false starts, and periods of coming to a dead halt. In these moments, you’re likely to experience fear, anxiety, anger, irritability, sadness, grief, and the physical and physiological contraction that often goes along with feeling uncertain and unclear. But the real antidote to the discomfort of uncertainty is to move into it rather than away from it. You connect to the way the discomfort feels in your body. You let yourself feel it. You let go of the story that inevitably accompanies feelings of discomfort. And you just stay present with yourself and with your feelings, without resistance or expectation. The more you can be present with uncertainty, the more you can let the change process take place naturally and effectively.”
–Sally Kempton, meditation teacher

From Morgan’s class:

“I believe the unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality” Martin Luther King Jr., Why We Can’t Wait

Morgan says:

I selected this quote during a series of weeks of inner conflict around certain challenging relationships in my life. I found that when I was confronted by these certain people that my thoughts were combative and retaliative. This was not enjoyable, nor a manifestation of my truest self. It’s important to understand that there will be chaos that we’ll wade through that feels armed and spiteful, but we have the power to choose a more loving alternative in the end. I love this quote because it challenges me to design my own reality through speaking and living unarmed truth, and emitting unconditional love to those around me.

What is Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction?

Mindfulness is a way of learning to relate directly to whatever is happening in your life, a way of taking charge of your life, a way of doing something for yourself that no one else can do for you – consciously and systematically working with your own stress, pain, illness, and the challenges and demands of everyday life. In contrast, you’ve probably encountered moments of “mindlessness” – a loss of awareness resulting in forgetfulness, separation from self, and a sense of living mechanically. Restoring within yourself a balanced sense of health and well being requires increased awareness of all aspects of self, including body and mind, heart and soul. Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction is intended to ignite this inner capacity and infuse your life with awareness.

Where did it come from/how was it developed?

The Stress Reduction Program, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn in 1979 at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center, has been featured in the Bill Moyers’ PBS documentary Healing and The Mind, on NBC Dateline, on ABC’s Chronicle, and in various national print media. It is the subject of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s best selling book, Full Catastrophe Living and Saki Santorelli’s book, Heal Thy Self. Since its inception, more than 18,000 people have completed the traditional eight-week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program at UMass, and learned how to use their innate resources and abilities to respond more effectively to stress, pain, and illness. The central focus of the Clinic is intensive training in mindfulness meditation and its integration into the challenges/adventures of everyday life.

Who can benefit from MBSR?

MBSR has benefited people reporting a variety of conditions and concerns pertaining to stress (work, school, family, financial, aging, grief, uncertainty about the future, illness, etc.), and/or general health enhancement and wellness. The program focuses on prevention and learning the “how” of taking good care of yourself and feeling a greater sense of balance. It is not offered as an alternative to traditional medical and psychological treatments, but as a complement to those approaches.

How is it different from coming to a regular yoga or meditation class?

This is a two hour long class each week for a total of eight hours. There is time to build community within the class, to have the opportunity to better know yourself and others in ways that may not be available in a standard yoga or meditation class. We will also be reading, using, and discussing selected sections from Jon Kabat-Zinn’s book, “Full Catastrophe Living.”

What will the Intro to MBSR look like?

This is an Introduction to MBSR, not the traditional eight week program, and will be held from 7-9 pm on four consecutive Thursday evenings beginning on October 20th. It will include guided instruction in mindfulness mediation practices, yoga, discussion regarding the interplay of mind and body in relation to stress, and how stress reduction skills can be applied to your daily life.

The class is open to all levels, and beginners are welcome.

(This interview also appeared in our September 2011 newsletter.)