WHERE TO START?

Don't be shocked by the fact that this post appears on Tuesday, rather than Thursday - which has been my pattern lately.  Reason?  I've just returned from a GREAT and LONG weekend in Montana; a  retreat organized by Cami Cote, with yoga and meditation sessions conducted by Marc Holzman.

Why would I travel to Montana?  Well, 3 major reasons -- (1) I've never studied with Marc and, since he lives in Paris, there aren't a lot of stateside opportunities, (2) the retreat was organized by Cami, and (3) it was a chance to visit Montana - a place I spent a lot of time in as a child/teen/young adult.  It also presented an opportunity for Howard and I to get away -- he to explore and flyfish, me to do some yoga - as opposed to teaching.

On night one of the retreat (Thursday), we spent an hour introducing ourselves by first stating our reason for attending this retreat, then telling everyone our favorite food, THEN stating our name.  Interesting order of things, right? When all was said and done, the majority of the 16 in attendance (maximum number for this event) stated that one of the reasons for attending was to 'get away', to have some time for themselves and their yoga.

After introductions, we relocated to the barn to move a bit.  The barn, I should explain, had an upstairs with a nice space for our yoga practice (even a small air conditioner and fans -- invaluable in the 90+ degree heat Montana was experiencing).

For the next two days, this was the routine:

• Up to meditate at 7:15am  (after 20-minutes of movement and followed by savasana)
• Break for 20-25 minutes
• 2-hour practice (hips, backbends, twists, etc.)
• Brunch (all vegetarian and many dishes gluten-free)
• A break until 4pm, giving many time to go to the Bitterroot River to swim, others to hike and explore, and others to rest.
• At 4, we re-convened outside (in the shade) for another 2-hour practice - this practice closer to the ground, with a few inversions thrown in.
• Followed by dinner
• Kirtan -- Harmonium by Cami Cote, Tambur by Alesha McCully, Drum by Marc et al.
• Personally, next for me was bed; for others, there was hot tub, visiting, more chanting.  

The final morning, Sunday, we meditated, practiced (twists), enjoyed brunch, then the closing circle - where we all shared what the retreat had given us.  Tears around the room.  Then a few photos, good-byes, and Howard and I were off to Missoula, where we spent the night before flying out Monday a.m.  

Such a nice event, and Marc -- what can I say -- a wonderful teacher, with a calm almost gentle voice. Don't get me wrong, he can convey, through that gentle voice, instructions that motivate you to go farther, move deeper, open the envelope a bit wider. 

I thank everyone who worked so hard to plan and pull off a retreat like this.  It truly was a few days of rest and refreshment for most of us.  

Now, back to the real world.  My plane was a bit late yesterday, causing me to have to get a last-minute sub for my Library class (whew!!!).  I did make it home in time to teach at 5 in Temecula -- a group of students with mixed levels of experience and ages 12 - 35(?).  It was a nice re-connection to teaching yoga.  

Today?  Teaching at noon at Yoga For Life; then to Living Yoga to teach 2 classes; and throw in a guitar lesson between those 2 classes.  Speaking of guitar, I better go practice!

Hope you all have a great Tuesday, and here's a pic of some of the fun experienced over the weekend:  

Pictured (L-R) - Marcia, Alesha, Marc

Take care!

YOGA ACCOMPANIED BY NOVACAINE . . .

HUH???

I did my usual Wednesday trek into Wisdom Warriors today. The difference was that earlier this morning, I had a dentist appointment (cavity).  What does that equal = novacaine!!!

And, how does yoga feel when half your face is numb?  Well, it's not too bad so long as you don't touch your face and expect to feel anything.  Does it change your abilities?  No; I was still as stiff as usual, but still daring -- even got into a gnarly cobra with Desiree holding my heels to my backside.

We began with a short talk, during which Desiree spoke about doing one-legged poses.  Somewhere we switched gears and ended up doing something she kept calling a Level 4 practice (hardly the stuff of 63-year-olds, if you ask me).   But it was fun!

A good moment -- seeing a friend from Scottsdale in the room.  It is a small world, after all.

This will be short.  Getting ready to go to Montana to meet Marc Holzman, who I have never studied with. Looking forward to yoga, friends, and scenery.  Got to get housesitter instructions ready, pack, pick up, etc.

Hope you all have a great weekend and week,

EACH TIME I WRITE . . .

Yes, each time I begin to write, I wonder 'what to write about?'.  I begin, and the fingers start to move on the keyboard, thoughts come to me, and words magically appear.  I finish, I re-read, I edit, then I post. Easy-peasy (a phrase that came from somewhere, but that I find creeping into my vocabulary more and more).

Not so easy-peasy was our Wisdom Warriors practice yesterday.  A combination of poses that moved, stretched, asked us to strengthen -- right out of the gate.  In fact, we had 4 new faces in the room; Desiree's comment to them:  "I bet you thought we'd spend some time warming up, right?" Wrong.  No warm-up needed, just hard work.

I have mentioned that the emphasis has been on creating action through udyana bhanda and mula bhanda (energetic locks at lowest of ribs and base of pelvis).  This action creates the shape of an egg in your belly (more like a football, I'd say) -- as though someone pushed the egg (FOOTBALL) into your belly lengthwise and your job was to energize the muscles at either end (and in-between).  On top of that work, we still stand tall (shoulder loop, to some).  If none of this makes sense, please feel free to comment and I'll try to answer questions.

What does this action do?  It creates more strength through the core and into the foundation of the pose.  For example, in a handstand (or other inversion), if I create this egg (FOOTBALL)  shape in my belly, I will move into the poses more easily and be straighter (no more banana shape).  BTW, anyone know the sanskrit words for banana and FOOTBALL?

We used the egg (FOOTBALL) analogy for the entire 2 hours, moving towards our goal of a wide-legged press-up to handstand (using chairs if needed).  I was especially excited to get into the shape of the pose (with feet on chairs), even tho I didn't press up.

What were other highlights for me?  Seated on the floor on left hip, left hand on floor just in front of shoulder, I placed my right foot on the inside of my left thigh, energized my egg (FOOTBALL), and pushed up to vasisthasana, with legs in vrksasana (tree) pose.  I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE ABLE TO DO IT.  But, there I was.  (Almost as exciting as my first bakasana.)  Better yet -- I turned around and did it on my right side!!!

After all that fun, we adjourned, got in our cars and made our way to Desiree and Andrew's home in Cardiff.  A beautifully re-done modern home with INCREDIBLE un-blocked view towards Swami's beach and the ocean.  (I mean totally unblocked.)  Amazing, BIG windows to enjoy the view.  So spacious, light, and comfortable.  We enjoyed a raw food sampling and a short talk by Mimi Kirk; raw food vegetarian extraordinaire.  We also were able to spend some time getting to know our fellow warriors (and others) better.  Wonderful way to conclude a great practice.

And, what about my own teaching/practice?  Well, since last week's Wisdom Warriors, I have been working on my padangusthasana (standing on one leg, holding the other foot and extending that leg).  It has always been a dvesha (sp?) pose for me - meaning I don't like it very well.  However, as with all things, a little - or a lot of - practice works miracles.  I'm not standing totally erect, but the leg is straight; and, each time it gets better.

My own teaching is moving along -- the Library is humming; 32 students on Monday!  I teach 6 other classes at 2 studios in Temecula; those range from basic to gentle/therapeutic, and are smaller but mighty. I truly admire the students who show with an injury or a chronic condition -- so courageous.

I've been sharing a bit of my Laksmi knowledge (taken from Eric Stoneberg's webinar).  I love that 99.9% of the students enjoy hearing about this Goddess (and others).

The Grand-Dudes took a vacation this month and were gone for 10 days.  I missed them!  They've returned, and came out last Sunday for breakfast.  So fun to watch them explore our acre, swing on the tire, pick avocados (and plan their how to spend the fortune they are going to make selling same avocados), we even had time to take a short walk up to feed Breeze, the neighbor's horse, carrots.  

Today, I'll teach one of my Gentle/Therapeutic classes, then conduct Temecula's Wisdom Warriors practice with much new material to share.

Hope you have a great Thursday.

SUBBING = AWESOME

Two weeks ago, at Wisdom Warriors, we had a short discussion of the word 'awesome'.  Of course, I offered what I'd learned by reading the dictionary -- which is that the word awesome includes the words 'daunting' and 'fear' in the definition.  Interesting.

Especially interesting, since we tend to use the word 'awesome' frequently to describe the interesting and inspiring moments of our lives.  Those moments may also be a bit 'daunting' and have an element of 'fear' associated with them, correct?

Anyway, to get on with it, I was asked to sub yesterday's Wisdom Warriors practice.  Not just for anyone, but to fill in for Geri Portnoy - who was ill - who was filling in for Desiree Rumbaugh.  So, if you take that another step, I was subbing for Desiree Rumbaugh!   Awesome - remember fear, daunting!

It was a short-notice request.  That means I didn't have a lot of time to get nervous.  I also figured out that at least two of the three who had attended the last class I filled in on, would not be there.  My fallback position, then, was to use the same plan -- perfect!  With a little variation on the start.

Exciting, also, in that I'd prepared a music playlist for the previous occasion; never got to use it, because I couldn't figure it out.  This time, I was prepared -- just had to figure out the player at the studio.

So, music and plan in hand, I arrived a few minutes early at the studio.  Remember it's a holiday week, so attendance has been lower in most classes.  In came 3; 2 people I have met before and one of them brought a friend who had a little yoga experience.  (None had come to the previous class -- plan in place!).  Talk about six degrees -- one introduced herself (with a distinct accent); the new person responded in Russian -- WOW!   (He just happened to study the language in school, so could offer a few phrases, which I could see made her very happy.)

After introductions, we talked a bit about injuries, and got started.  It is fun to move as the guide for these practices -- a major issue is that I have to remember NOT to mirror; after all, I'm doing the same thing as I'm asking participants to do.  After a few minutes, I commented about how quiet everyone was (I do enjoy feedback).  And, a few minutes later, the newer participant offered me a few 'obligatory groans' (after all, he said, that's what I asked for, wasn't it?).  We kept moving, went to the wall, each had a successful upside-down moment (even if all their legs didn't lift).  Just finding the shape is sometimes all it takes to feel good about your work.  Then to the floor, then to savasana.

This time, I taught (guided) as I usually do -- watching (as I practiced) what was happening in each person's poses, offering refinements and encouragement.  Best part -- I had fun doing it.  It was AWESOME.

On July 3, the drive anywhere around San Diego is not the most fun.  It took me 45 minutes to drive from home to Del Mar, took me 90 minutes to get back home.  But I sang the whole way, part of the residual effect of an 'awesome' practice.

Happy 4th of July!