Yin Style/Kripalu Yoga YTT

(Thank you Kripalu YTT November/January 2011 students for the inspiration)

Two blocks, blanket, pillow

1. Open the heart
---to new opportunities-new relationships-to the truth-to the unknown
2. Soften into back
---allow others to hold you/support you-breathe into back body
3. What does it mean to fully soften into a posture?

Supine 5-point star
---full body stretch
1/2 Frog
Pump to Bujangasana (Cobra) to Sphnix
Garbasana (child)
---Walk hands right/left (hold)
Table (rock hips side to side)
Anahatasana (melting Heart)-
Table
Thread the Needle w/arms
---Right/Left-pause
Meditation in motion
Sukasana (one leg in front of other-fold forward/twist)
Open heart
supported bridge (setu bandasana) with block
---raise legs(inversion)- shake legs-roll out ankles
Knees to chest-hug-1 affirmation
Full body stretch
Wind relieving pose (pavanmuktasana)
---right/left-head to knee
Supine Spinal twist (matsyendrasana)
Meditation in motion
Shavasana
Restorative
(open heart with block/supine baddha konasana) or pillow under knees
1-minute sit-Metta

Poem- Dana Faulds…Just For Now

Go In and In
Be the space
Between two cells
The vast resounding
Silence in which spirit dwells
Go in and in
Turn away from nothing that you find

Poem...Dana Faulds...Just For Now

Just for Now, without asking how, let yourself sink into stillness.
Just for now,
lay down the weight you so patiently bear upon your shoulders.
Feel the earth receive you, and, and the infinite expanse of the sky grow even wider as your awareness reaches up to meet it.
Just for now, allow a wave of breath to enliven your experience.
Breathe out what ever blocks you from the truth.
Just for now,
be boundless, free,
with awakened energy tingling in your hands and feet.
Drink in the possibility of being who and what you really are.
So fully alive that the world looks different, newly born and vibrant,
just for now

Music Play List (with headphones):
- Talisman….Air
- I know you are but what am I?…Mogwai
- Wild Tigers I have known…Emily jane White
- Summer Fog…The Album Leaf
- New Moon (the Meadow)…Alexandre Desplat
- Upward Over the Mountain…Iron and Wine
- Track 2…I don’t know the artist?
- Heartbeats…jose Gonzalez
- Junesong…Talk Demonic
- My Ladys House…Iron and wine
- Vermillion…The Album Leaf
- Breathe Me…Sia
- Blank Pages…The Album Leaf
- Possibility…Lykke Li
- We Have the map to the piano…Mum
- Track 4…Snatam Kaur
- Ram Chant…Vandita

Thinking...

It is very easy to get swept away
Always bringing it back inside to the process
what part can you get closer to
A constant practice
Can we slow down
Can we begin again with fresh eyes

When we rush through life we miss the simple things…
The people
The messages
The feelings
The journey

What does it look like to slow down
To surrender a part of ourselves
Our heart
Our soul
Our entire being becomes exposed

Can we make love to one part of our body
In and out
Back and forth
To and from
What is it like to stay at the edge and look to the horizon
To watch
To listen
To explore…

Can the breath touch those places of discomfort
Down to the raw bone
Beginning to massage the muscle
The fire burns
Warming the heart
Shedding a layer
Being reborn again and again and again…

Some things that touched my heart today...

- Our beliefs create our reality...

- The root cause of suffering is lack of knowledge of the inner self

- Despair, pain, shattering wakes us up to ask the bigger questions

- The most spectacular thing is the mysterious...the unknown

- Can we allow ourselves to fully experience life
without resistance, without running away...without distortion?

- The opposite of love is fear

- Holding, Hugging, supporting, tears,
witnessing the process of letting go and touching a feeling

- A shift in consciousness happens with practice...
a dedication to practice

- Can we be in awe with life everyday...
LOOK...AWAKEN to this place...this life...?

wise words...

"the only way you could "fail" is if you allowed your fears to get to you...

People always talk about fearlessness.

It's feeling fear etc..."stomach in knots"...

and still doing what you need to do

- that's fearlessness!"

Lessons of Injury

- How to slow down
- How to sit still
- How to be with yourself
- How to listen to your body
------What is it saying- feeling-needing-wanting
- How to care for yourself.... setting limits and boundaries
- How to ask for help
- How to move differently in your body
- To receive
- To become friends with yourself and your body
- To trust in your own body to heal it self
- The realization that i cannot always fix something
- To breathe into the discomfort...
- To be careful what you ask for...

Some thoughts ...

Hiding in the shadows
fighting through layers
unable to emerge
holding on...holding in...

A single tear heats and boils to the rim.
The mask slowly melts away
Allowing the true self to shine...

The day will come...
Walls begin to crumble
doors unlock
deep....a deep breath of crisp fresh air
opens the insides
frees the constricted mind
fill the broken heart.

Stepping forward
a comforting silence takes over
Melting into the forest
trudging a new path
dancing with the unknown
toward the vast horizon
Surrendering...

This rocky trail
through valleys...along the ridges...to the peaks
offers the opportunity to dig deeper and deeper
Courage
Strength...

At the crossroads
the mind races...the body becomes heated
something inside begins to burn
the embers fire red
the soul begins to fly away
a stranger to the self...yet never alone.

At the crossroads
A Wanderer...A Traveler...A Seeker
running to and running faster in the opposite direction
Forward and back
Forward and back...

The whispering trees reveal their secrets
breathing into the skin
into the body.
Growing closer...growing stronger

There is no turning back
The war is over
its time to come home
to step inside
Like a magnet our energies collide
Becoming united...mind.... body...soul...

Becoming One

With each footstep there is something new to see
This undiscovered and endless journey has just begun

Not only will we survive...
But in the end we will
Thrive...

music suggestion

A resoritive/yin inspired playlist (with headphones)...

Talisman...Air
I know you are but what am i...mogwai
Wild Tigers I have Known...Emily jane white
Summer Fog...The Album Leaf
New Moon (The Meadow)...Alexandre Desplat
Upward over the Mountain...iron and wine
track 2...i dont know?
heartbeats...jose gonzalez
junesong...Talk Demonic
My Ladys House...Iron and wine
Vermillion...the album leaf
Breathe Me...Sia
Blank Pages...The Album Leaf
Ram Chant...Vandita

When you can...You will...

Just for now....

Just for now
without asking how,
let yourself sink into stillness.
Just for now,
lay down the weight you so patiently bear upon your shoulders.
Feel the earth receive you, and the infinite expanse of the sky grow even wider as your awareness reaches up to meet it.
Just for now,
allow the wave of breath to enliven your expierence.
Breathe out whatever blocks you from the truth.
Just for now,
Be boundless, free, with awakened energy tingling in your hands and feet.
Drink in the possibility of being who and what you really are-
so fully alive that the world looks different, newly born and vibrabnt,
Just for now...
---- (Dana Faulds)

What does your yoga look like today...

- Everyday can i fall in love with myself
- Every day can we tell ourselves one conscious positive thing?

- Music in my ears
- Singsong

- Yin yoga
- Teaching a class and coming up with 5 positive things to tell yourself before the critic takes over

- Meetings and phone conferences
- data and numbers
- writing and editing

- watching life from the inside out
- keep showing up...
even when things are uncomfortable, foreign, unknown...

- finally...getting back on my snowboard
- play

The mind is a fake and a cheat...

You are not who you think you are
you are only scratching the surface
go deep
there is so much more
inside...
coming closer to the truest self
connect
what keeps you from being your most authentic self...
what inside is already whole and complete...
-- (discussion with Shobhan)

Headphones Please....

M83...
Couleurs
Up!
We Own the Sky

The XX...
Intro
Crystalized

Lykke Li..
I'm good, I'm Gone
Little Bit

R/D...
Face of god

Magnetic Man...
Flying into Tokyo

Phantogram...
when I'm small
mouth full of diamonds

Stars...
the beginning after the end

30 years of life

words to ponder
again and again
from a dear friend
a teacher...a guide...a princesss...
a new jersey fairy...

-------------------------------------


Lady of beasts
relationship
i desire union
in ways comfortable and appropriate
knowing that it will take me
to all the places i fear
some of the places i love
many of the places that need healing.
I listen with the ears of my heart
and communicate from a place of self knowing
i consciously give myself away
and know how to take myself back
i see myself reflected
so perfectly in the other
that i begin my most important journey
to seek out and claim
more of who i am

spring spirals...

old september thoughts...

worlds slow
colliding under trees
time become obsolete
the vibrant forest
engulfs the entire being

unfamiliar noises startle the insides
questions begin to arise
fear emerges
with every step the feeling dissipates into the earth
pushing...pulling...farther, faster, harder, further...
only to realize this journey never ends
with every vista there is a dry spell
every dream there is a challenge...

Having faith in the path as it meanders into the unknown
the pace begins to steady

each step coming closer to home

plugging in- a direct connection to the source
simple gems come into focus
comfort spreads like wildfire

winds scream secrets in the night
remebering to live the process
not the outcome
the experience
not the goal...

some new year intentions...

to receive
to be held
to be loved
to be special
to be cared for
to be playful
to challenge and be challenged
to cry
to be myself...to be me
to say no
to fully embrace community
to be seen...all sides of me
to soften
to be affectionate and passionate
to speak my truth
to teach
to accept
to take risks
to travel
to ask questions
to be uncomfortable
to fall in love with myself
to express...create...sing...paint...dance

Sweet Pics from 2005

wise words...

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without.

If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with?

Fall head over heels.
find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back.

Forget your head and listen to your heart.

Run the risk.

If you get hurt, you'll come back.

Because the truth is there is no sense living your life without this.

To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived at all.

You have to try.

Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived." ...MJB