Intention

This week we focused on our intention. Intention is about HOW you move. It’s the FEELING behind the yoga. It’s how you EXIST in the pose. So this week we gave extra attention to letting our intentions inform our movements.

My intention reflected wanting to feel more lighthearted in my life. So if my intention is to feel lighthearted, then my triangle pose would help me feel free and unburdened. I would think about moving in a lighthearted way. Same for you, if you wanted to feel courageous or trusting, then you would try to express and access that feeling through your movements.

The idea is to work your way back to that equilibrium that already exists inside you. What intention might help with that? What’s asking to be heard, expressed, strengthened, healed? This practice had the apex pose of kapingalasana. So we had a good time getting there :) That’s what its all about, right?!

Poses that opened the front body and stretched the quads and built strength were all on board. Cresent with cactus arms opened the chest. Side planks built arm & core strength. We challenged ourselves in revolved half moon by rooting into our intentions and then opening our hearts to the full, magnificent balancing twist! Class concluded with side plank + a thigh stretch = kapingalasana. We wrapped up with janu sirsasana and a few moments of exquisite stillness in savasana.

From my heart to your heart, Lynn

Outdoor yoga class / Humanity Flow

Such fun we had! Thank you , thank you, thank you for coming out! The weather totally cooperated and we had views of blue sky, big puffy white clouds and a charming mix of birds flying over.

It was a lovely group of yogis. So awesome to see each other’s faces :) A few pics below capture the camaraderie and general joy we shared. We gathered as true warriors finding the power of community, the healing of nature, and the adaptability of the human spirit.

We share our humanity when we practice yoga together. Our hearts connect. That’s where we see each other. That’s what makes it so healing and joyful. We did big movements because we could! No small rooms or small screens today. We did heart openers that connected us with our shared humanity. All the kind acts and silliness that uplift us so much these days.

In yoga we get strong and healthy, but there’s something more to it, a magic . . . . it’s not about perfect alignment, it’s about our shared humanity. And today, we got to do that IN PERSON! We sweat, laughed, moved and let our hearts receive what they needed.

I bow to the place in you where the entire universe dwells. I bow to the place in you that is love, light, peace and truth. When you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, we are one. Namaste, Lynn

Sway

Swaying like a flower in the soft breeze. Swaying like the gentle sea. Swaying like a peregrine falcon catching a thermal on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

This is what we explored in our bodies, our poses, our intentions this week in class. Find the sway . . . some give, some softness. Students checked in at the beginning of class, asking themselves: “how do I feel right now?” When we experience “the truth of things” on our mat, then we can see where in our lives we might be pushing too hard or not surrendering enough.

I asked students to notice how they observe, how they perceive as they moved through their practice. If you get tight or a hard gaze settles across your face, then SWAY, rock, slosh, like the gentle sea. We thought about how it’s quite a cultural phenomenon that it’s sometimes easier to work hard, than it is to let go, surrender, sway!

The opening of class found us yogis sitting quietly and visualizing our spine as a blade of grass gently swaying in the breeze. I instructed students to let their spine and upper body sway an inch right and left and slowly let the sway subside and rest in their center.

This is a tool that yogis took into any places they felt “struggle”. They brought breath and softness and sway into the effort and strength. They leaned into the softness, the ease. We took this lovely learning all the way into bird of paradise pose. No clenching, just deep caring breath. We had fun building the pose: some of us deepened into Ganesha’s twisting trunk, some used the fish hook version with an arm hooked under outer lifted leg, and some of us made a bind and unfolded a bright orange flower into the day!

I’m offering an Outdoor Yoga class Saturday October 10 in Menlo Park from 10:00-11:15 a.m. I would love to see you, and practice together, just us, old friends together again. Sign up at www.studiorincon.com And please email me with any questions: lynn@marrin.com

From my heart to your heart, Lynn

Grounded and Expansive

I realized something this week. With the isolation of Covid, I’ve been trying to fill my time with purpose and learning. Some of that is great, but I had this ah-ha moment, that what I also need is a sense of abandonment, silliness and mindless activities to balance life’s challenges. The first order: a mint chip hot fudge sundae! That was the pinnacle for me as kid. We arrived at Baskin Robbins and gleefully took in the smells and choices. I told the woman scooping ice cream that her shirt was cute, and she GAVE me one for FREE :) I must be onto something *

But back to yoga. We can be purposeful and serious in yoga, but it also gives us a chance to have fun and let go. This week we looked at where and how we could feel grounded and expansive. Students tried to feel into both resources. I talk about resources a lot because that familiarity with what you can count on and rely on moment-to-moment can decrease stress and overwhelm, and increase calm and confidence. You are worthy & deserving… lets step on the mat!

When we get grounded, we start to feel a sense of security and stability and self-love. Then we can expand that out into all areas of our life, in all the ways we show up. Even in our intention setting, we validated ourselves in both a grounding and expansive way. I invited students to work with the mantra: “I am”. That saying is powerful in and of itself, but yogis could add a word to that statement if they wanted to say: I am …. bold, safe, worthy, here, or any word resonating with them.

I began class reading the poem “Desiderata”. You can find it in my inspiration section on this website. One of my favorite lines from that influential poem is “Just like the stars and the trees, you have a right to be here”. I am. I am here. We marched onward. Students found strength in their foundations, and then they opened their side bodies and their shoulders and we did about 3-4 standing poses twice. There was the opportunity to do the same pose on the second round, or to pick a different variation of the pose. Students were asked, “What’s new here?” and “What will help me get a little more of the resource I need?”

Students were then prompted to contemplate “Am I doing the old pose, or is there a new feeling? Can I ground or extend the new feeling a little more?” I had a little surprise at the halfway mark. Students got to play in prasarita padottanasana in a new way: we did big arm circles for a full minute to feel expansiveness deep in the low belly. Free time found yogis upside down in shoulder stand or handstand or maybe a sweet seated twist.

A great group … thanks for coming out and shining your smiles across the airways and volunteering your feedback and questions. I am sending you love, sending you light, Lynn

Twist into side crow

Prayers to all of you and especially to the firefighters out there. The bad air quality is keeping us inside. And the gloomy weather may make you feel out of wack. The one plus…… more time to do yoga :)

Last week, the theme was trust. This week we built toward side crow with lots of humor and side body stretches and core! Alignment cues, a demo and more twists were thrown in . . .

Wherever the practice took each of you this week, I hope my encouragement to “LAND in this moment” helped. What are you doing RIGHT now? Stop. Look around. What do you see, notice, feel, hear, smell? Land in this moment.

Class progressed from surya namaskar to strength building standing poses. Early on I did a “demo” of chataranga. I showed that you could have your knees down or legs straight in plank pose. Then, as you lower down with control and strength, keep you shoulders level with your elbows and squeeze your scapula toward your spine. If shoulders drop/droop below elbows then you strain your chest muscles. This is not easy, but very worthy of your time. And opening the front of the chest and moving the head of the arm bones back in space creates a host of healthy habits.

As we round our shoulders when we help our kids with their homework or while we cook and clean, drive and use devices …. overtime that rounding in the upper back becomes the norm. We are here, yoga is here to open up your heart and your lungs and your eyes and keep your back flexible :) And it’s fun, too!

Yogis experienced the flow of eagle pose into dancer pose. I wanted them to feel the rounding that is inherent in eagle pose and then the exquisite opening up of the front of the shoulders in dancer. In addition to dancer pose, we did bow pose as our backbend pose. The pressure on the belly combined with grabbing your feet (or a strap) and stretching your chest wide open seemed to fit the bill as the sequence unfolded.

I wanted to thank all of you for your feedback. It helps so much! And then my knowledge increases and hopefully circles around and helps you a little bit more. Pigeon opened the hips just that little bit extra and then it was off to the races! Side crow here we come. Students observed me, and then honoring what was true for them, they took the twist to the right depth for them. So much of the learning and the poses along the way are good stuff whether or not you get into an advanced twisting arm balance.

Cheers to your effort. Jai, Lynn