parsva dandasana

Just got back from memory groove park where I practiced with Jen Hecht. It was a great experience it was our first time getting together like this. Mission: We both wanted to work on getting our leg behind out head, stand up and possibly take it into parsva dandasana (video below). We both brainstormed good poses that would help us build into the pose and main principles that would really help us. We worked deeply into the hips and the three hamstrings. Focused on getting into the deeper muscles and past the more superficial muscles. Lots of side bodies longs and strong shoulder and skull loop. It was a total blast! We both got the leg behind our head laying on our back, rocked up did a forward fold, then managed to stand up in uttansana (standing forward bend) with our foot hooked and then all the way up to standing and then fell out. (dont know the sanskrit names) It was soo fun, I never thought I would be able to stand and keep the hook. We didn't make it to parsva dandasana but it was an awesome journey and it was just our first time. We are getting together next week to work on it again. Our results from the practice is that we need alot of length and particularly low back length so we can find more strength at lifting our torso up, plugging our shoulders in and really working the skull loop to keep leg in place. Jen brought Darren Rhodes new book so we played with alot of fun twists.

So grateful for Jen. I feel so much stronger when I have a friend reminding me. Reminds me of the story of Hanuman, he forgets he has all these powers and strengths and his friends remind him and then he can access that place and defeat the bad guy :)

(quick post but thought if I waited to blog about it I would run out of time or forget)

Here is a video of Kathryn Budig gracefully getting into and doing parsva dandasana.





Love emanates from the soul

Reading Ram Dass new book Be Love Now at a cafe with my doggie. This book is like poetry to my soul and moves me deeply. Here is a paragraph page 13

"most emotions like fear, anger, lust and envy are connected to our personality and the impulses from our conscious or unconscious mind, instincts for survival and procreation. LOVE is part of the emotional spectrum, but it is different because it emanates from our soul. Even when it becomes confused with our ego projections, love is actually from the higher essence of our being, the part that begins to merge with the spirit and approach the One. "

I love this. The other emotions are not bad. They are not separate from the one. Everything,including all the emotions are all possible entry way to merge our heart with the ocean of love/divine.

Anusara, anu means one or the soul. Its like the individual in a limited form. For example a cup of ocean water. Sara means in the flow, for example the entire ocean. are hearts can seem small and separate however we are all connected and in flow with each other. We are free to act as we want cultivating different emotions like fear and anger.. We are also free to feel and align to love which is emanating from are soul at every moment!!

(just got a new app and can write blogs from my phone)

Immersion with BJ Teacher Training with Adam

So blissed out from this amazing week surrounded by such great souls. I was so lucky and won the scholarship to take BJ Galvans Immersion 2 at The Yoga Center. It was great to take the immersion 2 a second time from a different perspective. I took it the first time from Adam Ballenger both certified Anusara teachers did a phenomenal job presenting the information to my heartmind and body. My understanding deeps so much as I continue to hear the same teaching over and over and in different ways. Anusara's philosophy of intrinsic goodness touches my heart and influences my practice deeply. Being able to learn/feel these virtues through the gross body is amazing. I wasn’t able to finish BJ's full immersion because I took Adam Ballenger’s teacher training. It was quite a switch going from being immersed in yoga from the aspect of the student to learning to teach this method. However BJ shakti-fied me up so much going into the TT was really lovely, I felt anchored in my center where the heart qualities come more easily.

The immersion was great opportunity to spend more time at The Yoga Center. The owners Lyndsey and Sheldon have created such a great community and have such a great vision for Anusara yoga in SLC and I am so happy to be a part of this community. I also treasured making immersion friends from TYC. When you go through any intensive training where transformation happens you bond strongly with each other in a really sweet way. I will be reviewing my notes and will post another blog about immersion/TT.

I just got back from lunch with BJ before she got on the air plane. Its nice to bond with a teacher and see then not just in the yoga class room. I normally get shy around other teachers who I admire and don’t get to know them better as a result and I am so happy I got to spend more time with BJ. I think I will even be assisting her on her tour next year, possibly Costa Rica (which would be a dream come true)

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA to all the great teachers I humbly bow.

to learn more about these rocking teachers check out their websites:
http://www.heartcoreyoga.com/ BJ Galvan
http://www.adamballengeryoga.com/ Adam Ballenger

Camping for a Cause Pictures

Some snap shots from Camping for a Cause. Thank you Girl Scouts of Utah and Annie Cutler for taking the pictures.

 Strong hands soft heart :)

 From your heart extend out through the hands and from your heart extend out through the legs

 Stretch up and down, imagine your a cartoon character and exaggerate the stretch

 draw the legs together powerfully, lengthen side bodies, curl open heart

 chilly morning, building up some heat in the body

 open the inner coastal muscles of the rib cage, expanding your light out

Camping for a Cause

On Saturday I taught a workshop at a fundraiser event for Girl Scouts of Utah, called camping for a cause. I have lead workshops for this cause before in the past and I always have a blast. The event is up at the girl scouts Camp Cloud Camp that is off guardsman's pass nestled between big cottonwood canyon and park city. It is so beautiful and untouched up there surrounded by wildflowers, tall trees, and many lakes. When I arrived and checked to see how many people had signed up for the workshop I was very happy to see that 22 women would be practicing with me.
I talked about community. About how great it is that they are supporting the girl scout community in this way which in large affects salt lake, Utah, and the world. We did lots of back body work as I reminded the students that the back body represents the community and the front body represents the individual self and the ego.  In my life I have faced more then one big challenge where at first I was so determined to solve this problem by myself, I didn't need any one's help. I didn't even think I should tell them I was suffering. Ultimately I asked for help and I was so shocked by how tremendously loving and supporting they were. We can practice this in our asana practice by breathing into the back body, moving into the back body (for example: taking the head back, shoulders, kidneys, thigh bones... toward the back body) These movements into the back body cultivates support and we can go deeper into the pose from this strength.

The class went really great, adjustments, jokes insights, and lovely asanas. There were multiple times through out the class where students said "wow this is the best stretch ever". We did lots of community support in the poses: supporting our neighbors hearts in tree poise so we can open our hearts and look toward ski, held hands while transitioning from stork to warrior 3, helped support neighbors in different variations of shalabasana... It was really fun lots of laughter, yet still sincere offering of heart. Practicing and/or teaching in outdoor secluded settings move me so deeply.

After finishing I was thanked by so many students, staff members, and attendees who didn't take the workshop. So much gratitude received it touched my heart. I am so grateful for the Girl Scouts of Utah, the students, and everything that allowed me to be a part of this event.

Illuminated Heart

This  is  the essay I wrote trying to win a scholarship for BJ's second immersion at The Yoga Center. The essay question is to write in 500-750 words about the potential to reveal  the Illuminated Heart.

YOU ARE THAT WHICH YOU SEEK

Yoga, most definitely, has the potential to awaken the illuminated heart. In this easy I will touch on the definition of the word illuminated and point out how appropriate the illuminated heart is for explaining the outcome of a committed yoga practice. I will also reference yogic practices and philosophies that help with this process.  

The word “illuminated” means, to brighten with light, to make lucid or clear, to decorate with lights (as in celebration), and to enlighten (as with knowledge). This is the invitation of yoga so we may expand and shine out our intrinsically divine essence, to see our self beautifully and clearly, to celebrate this embodied gift by expressing beauty, to know we are connected and to experience vibrancy and ease. We practice yoga to unveil the illuminated heart so we may know more (chit) and be happy (ananda). I don’t think every yoga student would identify this being their reason for practicing yoga, when I first started practicing it was to rehab from an injury and possibly lose some weight. However the practice of yoga helped me connect to my heart.

Yoga unveils the truth. The truth is that we are connected, we are loved, we are whole, and as John friend puts it a part of this “big ball of pulsating bliss” (describing Shiva-Shakti tantric). The truth is we already have an illuminated heart. This awakening in my experience has not been like turning on a light switch, but more of a steady practice of showing up with an intention to see the heart clearly. To make clear is an aspect of an illuminated heart.   Through the practice we begin to see and feel that all our stories, all the bull shit is just various coverings (daksha, cloaks, kleshas and maya) that make it hard to see that ultimately we are an embodiment of spirit. As we remember this we start to see and experience the world and our self as being made up of absolute goodness, consciousness, bliss, pulsation, self-awareness, ultimate freedom and perfect fullness. These are the attributes of the divine and we experience these qualities in our self and in the world around us because we are all part of the divine.  

Yoga’s potential for unveiling an illuminated heart, I think really comes in the face of obstacles. Even the physical postures we put our self into on the yoga matt is a challenge. We are taught to stay in the challenge, feel the intense sensation, connect with the breath, feel a sense of ease and feel supported. My practice for a while was learning to face challenges and feeling supported by grace. Now I have been working on learning the distinction between what is satisfying and what is gratifying, again this can be learned on the mat! My point being, the potential of unveiling the illuminated heart through yoga is so high because yoga offers so many different teachings that can be applied to your body and can shift your life. Yoga’s potential for unveiling an illuminated heart comes in its dynamic ability to meet people where they are and help them with their struggles.

The illuminated heart is like a muscle, because we don’t always think we are bright, beautiful, and intelligent. This doubting makes the muscle weak. But when we overcome these challenges by cultivating heart qualities we strengthen our illuminated heart muscle. So, even when we are off our yoga mat and shit hits the fan we still feel this inner illumination, it is not based on external situations.

In conclusion, we already have an illuminated heart. Yoga is one of the great ways to unveil that illumination.  Throughout life we are filled with bliss, yet there are many ups and downs that come along with it as well. Just know that at your core you shine with the divine. I want to bring these ancient practices into my life, deeper into my heart, and to refine my asana and move beyond the asana, to awaken more fully into my own illuminated heart. You are that which you seek!

Connect to Illuminated Heart + Twist Out Negativity

This past week I spent a lot of time thinking about and writing an easy for The Yoga Center for a chance to win a 100% scholarship for BJ’s upcoming Immersion 2. The easy question was write (in 500-750 words) the potential for yoga to unveil the illuminated heart. Illuminated means: to brighten with light, to make lucid or clear, to decorate with lights (as in celebration), and to enlighten (as with knowledge). My main focus on the essay was that we all already have an illuminated heart however we doubt our self and this makes us forget, yoga is the invitation to awaken to the heart and start removing the varies cloaks.

Tonight I am teaching at The Yoga Center 5:45-7.In We will focus on muscle energy drawing into this place of luminosity that is always present and we will also work with twisting our the self negativity, doubt, and fear.  

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Succasana greet yourself here as a radiant blissful being, notice any negativity your have toward yourself, doubting, fear of failing, and allow your breath to get that unstuck.

Wall work plug into heart

Shoulder stretch hands on wall frwd fold

One hand on wall humorous parallel to floor plug in and twist fill in back body

Interlace hands side stretch switch fingers repeat 4x

Tadasana

Sun A

L

Mod Parvakonasana -> rev w

Parsvak -> rev w

W2-> rev w -> rev trik

Wall work

L at wall -> frwd fold against wall

L at wall -> frwd fold against wall

Wallonasana (hanumanasana up wall)
matsendrasana twist

DD twist

L.L twist one hand on ground

L twist

Parvritta ½ moon

Rev trik

Pigeon elbow down twist reach, reach back for foot

Bow pose roll to one side, roll to other side, middle

Wide leg forward fold

Root thigh bones 
Shavasana hands on belly