Dreams Be Dreams....

So I took a class with a teacher, Sat Inder, this week that I have been looking forward to meeting for some time now. I have been hearing his name in the yoga community, as well as many differing descriptions (and opinions) of this character, for months now. We  are facebook friends, I follow his blog and enjoy it very much and due to some studio business I have had to email him a few times but I had never met him in person. Actually that's not true...I saw him once in the hallway at a studio where he teaches and said hello.


The time came for me to finally take his class with another teacher friend of mine. I enjoyed his hour of power and even got out of bed at the crack of dawn to trek over to the city to attend...not to mention the horrors of morning rush hour traffic! Aaaarrgh! But it was all worth it...I try not to form my opinions of others via their experiences and stories. I like to make up my mind for myself...still I had a feeling that I would enjoy his personality and teaching style based on the things that I had heard..."irreverent" "straight-forward" and yes even "vulgar" at times. What can I say? I have a good sense of humor and don't mind a naughty joke once in awhile so this didn't deter me. I also really enjoy folks who don't take themselves too seriously. We also both follow the Law of Attraction, the Teachings of Abraham and he often posts the Abraham quote of the day on his facebook. I enjoy his posts and sense of humor very much.

Sat Inder

His class was great...vinyasa flow with lots of juicy adjustments at a warm 85 degrees. I am completely sore in many places today (the day after) but it was exciting to learn that I am able to bind in ways I didn't know that I could. I liked his no-fuss attitude, although I didn't get to experience any of the irreverent or vulgar during this class. He was a very kind and extremely knowledgeable teacher. The funniest part is...and I couldn't actually tell him because I would have sounded like a complete lunatic... but I had a dream about him a few weeks ago. I think it was because I have been so looking for an opportunity to connect with him in some way. Well, he had this spectacular beard which he would weave into a braid (I've seen pics) and I dreamed that he showed up at a party at my house with his beard trimmed so short! Again, I dismissed this dream as a funny piece of my mind created by who knows what?? (Monkey mind for sure!) When we showed up at his class, his beard was about 6 inches shorter....mind you that it was still much longer than in my dream....but it definitely threw me for a loop. Dreams are very mysterious and trying to decipher them can make you mad as a hatter. So for now I will just let dreams be dreams....

What you've been waiting for...

It's been a busy and wonderful week. Here are the highlights:

My shipment of yoga clothes from prAna arrived this week, a birthday gift from my better half who spoils me rotten. I would never have spent this kind of money on exercise clothes, I mean...I am a yoga teacher...I have no money. So I was a bit skeptical at the prices and whether the clothes would really be that much better quality than my Target and Kohl's outfits. I was so delightfully surprised! Inside of the brown paper package (can't help but sing "A Few of My Favorite Things" from Sound of Music) was the most beautiful, soft and well-fitting yoga clothes I have ever worn. On the outside of the package was written the same thing that was filling my mind....Thank you prAna for understanding.

Exactly!

The weekend was a lovely one. Just hot enough to feel like summer but not so hot that you are glued to the a/c. I taught a wonderful outdoor class on Saturday morning and had a record attendance of 14 people! It is finally beginning to feel like a community class and I couldn't be more pleased. After the outdoor class I taught for another teacher friend so that she could attend a bigger, more attended outdoor class in St. Louis. It must have been a good weekend for outdoor yoga because I was able to convince a few dear yogi friends to join me at our teacher's (Emmet's) outdoor class this morning in Kirkwood Park. It was exactly what I needed and what I had been waiting for all week....I am so glad I got the opportunity to go. I needed Emmet's words, the blue sky and my friend's company so much today. I would not have traded it for the world.

My yoga teacher rides a motorcycle.

Sweet Tuesday Morning

Opportunities are all around us. I have been teaching, or rather trying to teach, a vinyasa class on Tuesday mornings and since I took over the time slot...no one has showed up. I have been taking the time to use the studio for my own personal practice.

My Tuesday morning retreat: Edwardsville Fitness Studio (in lower level)

Although I have been longing for a full vinyasa class, I am patient and it has definitely not been time lost for me. I have been teaching more and more often and have begun to lose the strength of my own personal practice in the last few weeks. I feel the universe is offering up this time and space for me to use and its important for me to be open to the different ways that I can use it.

"Practice and all is coming." 

-Sri K Pattabhi Jois

I have hope that I will have students on Tuesdays eventually...maybe it's because it is summer, maybe it needs to be earlier or later, maybe it should be a community class or maybe... who the heck knows why?? For now, it has been a beautiful sacred time that I have spent in a fantastic and dreamy studio reconnecting with my practice and enjoying some of the best company I know....me!  Come join me and reconnect with your practice!

Namaste.

The Doctor is IN

Climbing is good for your soul, at least mine and Tim's souls. We went to the new climbing gym in St. Louis, Climb So Ill....it was super ILL!! I even needed a doctor at one point, luckily Dr. Patti (resident climbing psychotherapist) was there to help me get used to the feeling of dangling in the air. I have a slight phobia of heights, it's no secret. I have been surprised at my level of calm when climbing and I think it is helping me defeat this fear. Although I tend to think of my phobia as silly, it is truly a self-preservation instinct to not want to plummet to your death. Patti explained that if I allowed myself to stay in that dangling place and wait it out, my body and mind have no choice but to relax. You can only stay at that panicky, heightened state for 10 minutes or so before you have to adapt and let go. It is the same with climbing. At first your body and mind wants to cling to that wall with every tiny fiber of your being, screaming internally...DON'T FALL!!

After a few routes, your body relaxes and your mind is able to accept that you are safe even if you do fall. Then the real fun begins, you are able to take more risks and let loose. So I climbed up with the intention of just hanging out at the top for a bit, staring down the distance between me and the floor. As I purposely dangled from a rope and looked down a few floors, I saw Patti and 'Drea, Tim and the rest (Mike, Jessica and Dave) waiting for me on the ground--smiling and supportive. After about 5-10 minutes, I was able to relax, sit back in the harness and even gaze down beneath me to the ground without grasping for the rope or generally freaking out! I found my breath and my heartbeat slowed, Patti was right--you can only panic for so long. It was a really beautiful moment for me and I feel like I have left some of that fear behind me, or maybe above me.

Peace at the top!

For Tim it was a different type of therapy. He had been so stressed out with work, which is fairly common lately, and I wasn't sure if that stress would interfere with his climbing. In true Tim-form, it didn't. I expected him to be terrific at climbing from the get-go, and I was right. Tim is determined and focused and loves a good puzzle. The total concentration that climbing requires is fantastically therapeutic! You can only focus on what is happening in this very moment, where you are going next and how to get there. It allows for no other worries or troubles to creep into your mind. You are forced to leave it all behind. Exactly what Tim needed! We had some lunch with our new climbing crew and it was a great day all-around. On the car ride home, I noticed a big grin spread across Tim's face (haven't seen that grin in a while) and a lighter note in his voice as we talked about how much fun we had and when we could come back again. It's been a long time since I have seen Tim at ease in that way, blissed out a little really, and it made me so happy to see him relax and share this fun day with me and some really special friends.

                                                            "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley

It's Gettin' HOT in Herrrrrre...

The video from Fox 2's Tim Ezell visit to Hot Yoga finally aired on tv this week and I thought you might enjoy seeing the final result and learning a little more about Hot Yoga of Edwardsville. Click on the link below to watch:

http://fox2now.com/2012/06/13/the-benefits-of-hot-yoga/

Also wanted to share another video that explains a little more about this practice via the owner Dr. Bridget Brasfield. This video was taken at our studio at a Business After Hours Chamber of Commerce event! Meet our staff and listen to a testimonial by clicking on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjf7ho9PZ_Q&feature=youtu.be

Birthday Presence

Birthday #35 was the most wonderful experience! Dear friends, old and new, tried and true, all showed up to celebrate the fact that I am alive! What could be more inspiring? This year is going to be spectacular, I can feel it in my bones! Family from far and wide sent their warmest wishes, deepest love and way too many fabulous gifts. Best friends from high school and college surprised me by traveling hundreds of miles to surprise me at my birthday BBQ.

"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we can find in our travels is an honest friend."
-Robert Louis Stevenson

New friends that have allowed me into their lives came to wish me a happy day and many more. All showered me with kindness, generosity and some of the best gifts I have received. My favorite gift was this beautiful gathering of souls that are so very dear to me and all of the sincerest hopes and wishes that were sent my way! I cherished each and every one and was delighted to return that love and gratitude. I have never felt more loved and I am certain there are no words for how much each and every person in my life means to me at this moment! The gift of this breath, this life, this present moment are so precious!

New Magazine Day!!
2 in the mail today and one gifted to me for b-day will be read lounging poolside.

I am looking at a two week stretch of being temporarily childless, beginning tomorrow, as my daughter travels to Missouri to spend some well deserved time with her dad. So I have constructed a plan to keep my busy while she is away....new magazines by the pool, The Hunger Games at bedtime, long walks with Bear, climbing with 'Drea and Tim, and lots and lots of yoga. I have a special restorative class coming up next Friday to teach and a partner yoga workshop that I signed up to take with my sweet friend Mary. I have also taken on teaching 3 new vinyasa classes and am looking forward to getting those going! I still want to make a few more eye pillows but need more flax and dried lavender, so I am looking forward to shopping trip to Green Earth and may even venture into the city to Trader Joe's to stock up on coconut water (it's half price there compared to Green Earth). I have new books to read, cds to listen to and I even looked at some of the  old puzzles on the shelves as a backup plan for whittling down those long, daughter-free days.

Back to life....

CPR training this week went very well. So, now if anyone ever really does have a problem in one of my classes I can assist. I am comforted to have formal training on how to revive someone by providing CPR. When I was a child, my dad taught CPR training. I can still remember the large, strange-looking dummy that students practiced mouth-to-mouth on, Annie was her name I think, and the huge duffle bag in which she was stored. Much has changed since those days, so I am told by our CPR instructor, but the dummies are still just as creepy as I remember. Of course, I hope to never have to use CPR and I also hope that goes without saying.

I am having a ghost-town of a week, my schedule totally clear by some random collision of events. Memorial Day happened and my Sunday and Monday classes were all cancelled and then the hot yoga studio was closed last night for an open house event. My house is even extra-empty with my daughter gone at her dad's till the end of the weekend. Although the peace and quiet is lovely after a very hectic 2 weeks, I am feeling a little lonely and inert. I will be happy when life's normal chaotic pace resumes next week.

One of many climbing walls at Climb So iLL .

I purchased a groupon that came out this week for a new climbing gym in the area and hope to try it out soon. Since my first climbing experience, I have wanted to go back and I am thrilled that another opportunity has come along. My good friend, 'Drea, has been acting as my climbing coach and makes me feel safe and secure in the harness dangling high up above the ground. The fear of heights that I often harbor somehow doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would during rock climbing. But then again, 'Drea is there to catch me in case I fall. Isn't it good to have friends in low places?