Truth be told my practice has been rather spotty for the past few weeks and I was looking forward to getting myself back on track as it were. I spent early Monday evening wandering the Boston garden in a quasi-meditative state, soaking up the late summer humid heat. It was great. By the time I got to class I was super mellow and ready for some juicy Yin-ness.
So I roll into the shala on this balmy Monday night for my typical Yin class thinking it would be just a regular night. Then while talking to the teacher - Ms. Heather Ash - she tells me that she is going to embark on 365 days of Yoga. Strangely, I had been contemplating just the same thing for some time but I had just needed the push to actually do it. And so, rather unassumingly, I begin my quest...
Class was good, nothing super miraculous to report. It always feels great to get back to the mat and yin is my favorite way to recalibrate. The long holds are just a great way to re-limber the body I guess. I'm especially keen on sphinx/seal. The deep backbends charge my batteries (kidney Qi anyone?).
So I'm really looking forward to this new journey. I can only imagine how far I will come. See you in a year!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Heather - Introduction and Day One
Hello Curiosity seekers, fellow yogis, friends, Romans, and countrymen (he-hem women too) alike!
I am Heather: An opera singer, yoga and meditation teacher, Starbucks barista, yoga studio supervisor, and avid reader (The Wheel of Time is rockin' my world!!!). While teaching Yin Yoga on Sunday night, I got an inspiration to begin this 365 day commitment to my own yoga practice. Two years ago I walked into a beautiful little yoga studio in the heart of Red Sox country and walked into the next chapter of my life. I took my first yoga class and was hooked. So within a month I started a daily Mysore practice, and enhanced it with splashes of Vinyasa, Forrest, Restorative, and a weekly Yin Yoga practice. I lost fifty three pounds, got healthier, happier, and more ability to create the life I had always wanted - still a work in progress of course! But, over the last few months, my work has changed, I was in an opera with a lot of late nights, took a meditation retreat that had me reeling, got a boyfriend who is NOT a morning person, and I started teaching three classes a week. So, now, my life needs a new form of balance and my yoga practice somehow became a near fatality in the fray. I picked up a book recently: "Meditations from the Mat" by Rolf Gates which has 365 reflections on yoga - by way of the yoga sutras of Patanjali and the eight limbs of yoga. I have chosen that as my daily inspirational reading along my journey. While teaching my Monday class after a truly delicious Vinyasa class with Nicoline Valkenberg, I was inspired to ask one of my sangha members and ex-co-workers to join me in my yoga endeavor. He was taking my class so, he was set to start right along with me. He said yes. AND, he and I will be sharing the blog spotlight - so to speak.
Now. What do I hope to accomplish with this practice and/or with this blog???? Good question. Everything and nothing. Yoga is union. I hope to reunite with my daily practice which has given me such a solid foundation of health and joy in the past. I hope to inspire others to join me even if it is only for a week or a month or 108 days or some other meaningful number. I hope to discover the truth of the selfless divine that unites every sentient being in the universe - even if only to touch it for just a moment. Am I nervous? Mmmmm, yeah, maybe a little. I hope I can live up to my own goals and ideals. Am I excited? Hell yeah!!!! I freakin' LOVE yoga dude! So, with that in mind, I am not going to set up the structure of how this blog will go right now. I want to see it evolve as Rob and I do.
WishiNg you happiness and metta from a little dot in the universe called Boston,
Heather
PS. Anything that makes this blog look cool is TOTALLY 100% Rob's doing. If I even THINK about doing something more than checking email and using iTunes on my computer I practically have an anxiety attack! It's true, just ask my boyfriend how I reacted to trying to get iChat set up on my computer with him talking me through it step by step. I almost started crying at one point, didn't I, George? =P
I am Heather: An opera singer, yoga and meditation teacher, Starbucks barista, yoga studio supervisor, and avid reader (The Wheel of Time is rockin' my world!!!). While teaching Yin Yoga on Sunday night, I got an inspiration to begin this 365 day commitment to my own yoga practice. Two years ago I walked into a beautiful little yoga studio in the heart of Red Sox country and walked into the next chapter of my life. I took my first yoga class and was hooked. So within a month I started a daily Mysore practice, and enhanced it with splashes of Vinyasa, Forrest, Restorative, and a weekly Yin Yoga practice. I lost fifty three pounds, got healthier, happier, and more ability to create the life I had always wanted - still a work in progress of course! But, over the last few months, my work has changed, I was in an opera with a lot of late nights, took a meditation retreat that had me reeling, got a boyfriend who is NOT a morning person, and I started teaching three classes a week. So, now, my life needs a new form of balance and my yoga practice somehow became a near fatality in the fray. I picked up a book recently: "Meditations from the Mat" by Rolf Gates which has 365 reflections on yoga - by way of the yoga sutras of Patanjali and the eight limbs of yoga. I have chosen that as my daily inspirational reading along my journey. While teaching my Monday class after a truly delicious Vinyasa class with Nicoline Valkenberg, I was inspired to ask one of my sangha members and ex-co-workers to join me in my yoga endeavor. He was taking my class so, he was set to start right along with me. He said yes. AND, he and I will be sharing the blog spotlight - so to speak.
Now. What do I hope to accomplish with this practice and/or with this blog???? Good question. Everything and nothing. Yoga is union. I hope to reunite with my daily practice which has given me such a solid foundation of health and joy in the past. I hope to inspire others to join me even if it is only for a week or a month or 108 days or some other meaningful number. I hope to discover the truth of the selfless divine that unites every sentient being in the universe - even if only to touch it for just a moment. Am I nervous? Mmmmm, yeah, maybe a little. I hope I can live up to my own goals and ideals. Am I excited? Hell yeah!!!! I freakin' LOVE yoga dude! So, with that in mind, I am not going to set up the structure of how this blog will go right now. I want to see it evolve as Rob and I do.
WishiNg you happiness and metta from a little dot in the universe called Boston,
Heather
PS. Anything that makes this blog look cool is TOTALLY 100% Rob's doing. If I even THINK about doing something more than checking email and using iTunes on my computer I practically have an anxiety attack! It's true, just ask my boyfriend how I reacted to trying to get iChat set up on my computer with him talking me through it step by step. I almost started crying at one point, didn't I, George? =P
Rob - Preamble
Hello World!
I am Rob. Yogi, meditator, musician, vegan and spiritual explorer. My bio is actually quite similar to my counterpart Heather's. Yogi for 2 1/2 years, with a strong emphasis in Mysore style Ashtanga and Yin but with dabblings in the many other styles. I'm also a dedicated vipassana meditator and Buddhist with most of my exposure in the Theravadan school. So far my practice has helped me to overcome depression and anxiety, become more health conscious and just to become a better person in general. I am truly grateful for all that I have learned.
Like Heather I'm starting this blog to make a commitment that is something bigger than myself - to practice yoga in some form every day for a full year. This is not to become overly striving or obsessive. Rather, it is to explore the transformative process that will unfold by following a truly dedicated practice. I've had long streaks in practice before and the results have been amazing. But somehow or another I always fall of the train and lose all the momentum I've gained. It is my hope that having to answer to the online world will keep me accountable and will ensure my full investment in the process. Frankly I can't wait to see where it takes me!
So sit back and relax as we explore the deepest reaches of our practice.
I am Rob. Yogi, meditator, musician, vegan and spiritual explorer. My bio is actually quite similar to my counterpart Heather's. Yogi for 2 1/2 years, with a strong emphasis in Mysore style Ashtanga and Yin but with dabblings in the many other styles. I'm also a dedicated vipassana meditator and Buddhist with most of my exposure in the Theravadan school. So far my practice has helped me to overcome depression and anxiety, become more health conscious and just to become a better person in general. I am truly grateful for all that I have learned.
Like Heather I'm starting this blog to make a commitment that is something bigger than myself - to practice yoga in some form every day for a full year. This is not to become overly striving or obsessive. Rather, it is to explore the transformative process that will unfold by following a truly dedicated practice. I've had long streaks in practice before and the results have been amazing. But somehow or another I always fall of the train and lose all the momentum I've gained. It is my hope that having to answer to the online world will keep me accountable and will ensure my full investment in the process. Frankly I can't wait to see where it takes me!
So sit back and relax as we explore the deepest reaches of our practice.
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