Yoga Teachers- They're Just Like Us!

"You have to remind yourself that there's a part of you that's never been touched by trauma." -Neal Pollack ( Yoga Journal, August 2010, pp. 101)
I found this quote comforting, and it resonated with me as a reason I practice and teach yoga. I'm a yoga teacher, but I'm also traveling the yogic path with life challenges, struggles and traumas just like my students (and everyone else on the planet). Sometimes I'm overwhelmed, sad, mad, etc., and yoga is a tool to reconnect to that place of unwavering depths of peace within: that place of infinite, spacious awareness that is always available and untouched by trauma. When I am in pain, often that part of myself seems unreachable; but again and again yoga is the vehicle which allows me dissolve the layers that make me feel separate to return there. So, my truest intention in my teaching is to share the tools I utilize and lovingly pass them along.
Solstice Blessings ~ Amy

Triadic Heart of Siva

My chosen quote for the day from Paul Muller Ortega, Triadic Heart of Siva: ¨The Ultimate is spanda: it vibrates, it expands and contracts; it manifests and reabsorbs; it is full of waves and waveless; it is full or bliss and yet suffering occurs; it plays a game of hide and seek with itself in which ignorance alternates with knowledge, and in which enjoyment and liberation can coincide.¨ Thanks, Annie Barret for this beautiful passage.

BIG WAVE SURFING

If we practice yoga like we "do" life, then how do we approach challenge? Is physical or emotional challenge any different? Really? As practitioners of yoga, potentially seeking the truest most open honest sense of ourSelves; is a giant emotional challenge much like a giant physical challenge? Eknath Eswaran talks about surfers to explain some of this. I thought this was funny at first, and then it made sense.
Earthquakes are disastrous, right? But a surfer who's heard the news of an earthquake will jump out of bed at 4am board in hand to go catch the biggest wave of their life! They've transformed a disaster into a force for challenge. What if we saw emotional earthquakes as a way to ride the wave toward greater self-awareness?
So. It's a big wave, a wild ride. And it's not easy in any sense.
But what if we took every challenge with a surf board in hand?

OM SHANTI
erin

Practice Outside!!

Summer's almost here (ok, we in the Pacific Northwest might need a little more proof of that!), and what an invitation we have to experience yoga in a different setting: outside. Our senses are alive outside with the smell of fresh air, the feeling of breeze and sun on our skin, the sounds of nature around us, and inspiring views to take in. All of our senses are in the present moment so we have an opportunity to really stay connected during the practice which isn't possible in a studio. The past three summers I've love practicing outdoors. I spent two summers in Bali in a steamy jungle setting with sweeping views of the Ayung river valley. All of the yoga students smelled of an intoxicating melange of bugspray and sunscreen and dripped in sweat. We watched birds and other creatures dance and fly in the green surroundings. Why would you want to be anywhere else but in the present moment there? Last summer I enjoyed teaching a summer series at Salmon Beach on a friend's deck right over Puget Sound with stunning views of the Olympic Mountains. Our Senses heightened; there was no need for music or anything else to infuse our practice with depth and rich texture provided by the blue water, sea creatures visible below, and infinite sky above.

I would love to have you join yogajoyproject for our summer SANGHA series practicing for 5 weeks Wed. and Fri. mornings OUTSIDE! Schedule of locations coming soon (we have so many fabulous offers from students to host on their decks with beautiful views, thank-you!) Also, Join us for our SOLSTICE WORKSHOP on June 20 (outside weather permitting.) Harness the energy of the brightest day of the year with us and shine bright!
Please visit www.yogajoyproject.com for more information and email info@yogajoyproject.com to register NOW : )

So Much Love~ Amy


visit the following links at www.yogajournal.com for more inspiration to take your yoga outside this summer!

http://www.yogajournal.com/practice/2723

http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/2587?utm_source=MyYogaJournal&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=MyYogaJournal