Lift Me Up

As I reached the end of a long day of teaching students began to trickle in for my last class of the day. The first student to arrive was a stout woman named Omaria with a lot of fire in her eyes and a little life experience in her pocket. She rolls out her mat front and center in the room and proceeds to go about her pre-class stretching and settling. We begin a casual conversation where she revels that she was going to go walking but decided to come to another yoga class instead that day. She then begins to tell me that she has been working on Crow pose and that it has been eluding her and she is at the point of frustration and about ready to give up. She then begins to rattle off a list of poses that she can do, ones that she has been working on and has succeeded with. She then shows me her crow attempt. Her form was nice she seemed balanced (if for only a few seconds). My suggestion was for her to bring her feet together and squeeze them together, hugging into the mid-line. So she immediately jumps back into it and eureka! Balance and confidence!
As other students began to trickle in and take there places in the room there was a mellowness to the class that fit perfectly with the lazy Sunday afternoon. As I normally do I ask if there are any requests for the class and as was expected Crow was requested. There were some murmurers from other students about that being a challenging pose that was scary at times thinking that face-plant-asana was very likely. So we worked hugging the mid-line and trying to get the shoulders firmly on the back to support the lift safely. Then before they knew it we were at Bakasana. Not one person backed down from the challenge, most were able to balance and fly for more than just a few seconds! It was lovely to suddenly be in a room full of birds flying so gracefully.
At the end of class as we are gathering up our stuff to leave and the remaining students are chatting about there experience in class, Omaria revels that she will be 63 in September. I hope to have her zest for life and fire to learn at that age. For Omaria I say thank you for your gift of determination, perseverance and sharing your enthusiasm for life!

Threw the Looking Glass

Lets just get it out there now, this year has been horrible. Most of the people that I talk to have agreed with me on this point. There has been one or sometimes two major events in everyones lives this past year that have had  a made major impact on the quality and tone of everyday living. Even with all of the stress of the past year I can say that I am truly enjoying the ride so far. I get up in the morning and wonder at what the universe has planned for me for today. There are so many things to be excited by and in wonder and amazement of that I can't sit around and feel sorry for myself for too long. 
After this past weekend in Asheville I am seeing things in a new and fresh way. I can see that there are opportunities just around the corner that I haven't even dreamed up. Some of it will be hard and I am willing to accept that. I have never been one to back down from a challenge, perhaps change tactics and sneak up on it but not back down. 
Once we realize that there is more than what we can see with our eyes or feel with our skin we can really begin to feel alive and feeling alive is great!

Falling in Love with Fall

I love fall! Who doesn't really? The landscape changes color, the air gets crisp, and you are almost willed to be outside to soak up the last bits of summer. When the sun begins to set around 6 pm I am usually astounded to find myself still awake since the rest of the natural world has gone to bed. This year I have noticed the shift to fall was a bit more dramatic than I remember it being in the past. It almost seamed like I went to bed one night during the summer and the next morning it was fall. There the thought also occurs to me that we seem to be working in opposition with nature since we create our "busiest" season just as nature is telling us to take a break and relax a bit.Since we are a over connected, ultra caffeinated society we must keep up the busy pace that we set for ourselves during the summer right threw to January. 
I am of course not immune to the hectic scheduling of the holidays but this year has been one of hectic scheduling. I almost don't know what to do with myself if I'm not bouncing from one thing to another at this point so I am looking forward to trying to slow down and maybe take some time for myself. I have a feeling that my practice will grow in leaps and bounds threw this fall and winter. One of the side effects of being inside so much more is that I am one of those people that "needs something to do". I often find myself jumping up and wondering around the house usually aimlessly. If I have something to do that can calm that inner restlessness then perhaps I won't find myself wondering aimlessly.

New adventures

So I have been given a new opportunity that could either fizzle out or take off and become something new and exciting. Since Jan. my hours wt work have been cut down to almost nothing and I am beginning to wonder how the bills are going to get paid. Then I thought why don't I teach canning classes. People want to learn how to do that and they want to save some money on food bills. It's a win-win!

More info to come as I get something finalized and figured out.