Connection

We gave the feet extra love and attention this week! As I thought about the connection we all crave right now, it made me think about our feet as that first point of connection with the earth. And then all the subsequent connections into our legs, hips and core. The feet play a role in all of our poses. This class focused on energetically connecting with our feet. Which tends to produce a grounding effect on our systems, especially in the unevenness of life now.

We all want to feel more connection now. With shelter in place orders, we can’t connect with our friends and our world and our community in the ways that we love. So, we are called to first connect with ourselves. (And Zoom whenever we can :) ) We let our feet be the portal to that connection and support.

We start from our roots, the muladhara chakra, represented by the color red. Focusing on our roots is said to increase our confidence and decrease our anxiety and fear. I gave the analogy of the four corners of our feet are like the four wheels on a car. When you drive, you want all four wheels/tires on the ground! Same with our yoga poses. As we root the big toe mound, little toe mound, inner & outer heel, we create a platform of energy and stability. Students were encouraged not to lay the feet on the floor, but to interact with the floor by plugging the feet down evenly.

Imagery emerged as we deepened into a chair flow, deep work of the feet in standing poses, and how activating our arches can engage our adductors and open tightness in our hips. Yogis imagined their feet like roots, connecting them to the earth and giving them power. That power allowed them to reach taller from their low bellies. It allowed them to find more space and length. Reminders to anchor into the planet, and to place their hands and feet with care were sprinkled throughout. A sense of connection travels across our homes to each other. We know we practice in real time, and when we practice a strong minute of core or a deep pause we know we are together.

The light in me sees and loves the light in you. Namaste, Lynn

Contentment

This week the theme was contentment. Contentment is being content with what you have and with what you don’t have :) That proves especially relevant during shelter in place. The inquiry was, “What delight can you experience TODAY with the way things are versus how you want them to be?”

We addressed this question by taking time to treat our bodies like temples and let our minds enjoy being fully present. The poses became a vehicle to usher in vitality , health, and contentment, not just an aligned shape.

Santosha is a primary teaching of yoga. Practicing contentment can bring peace to our minds. We open the body for receiving energy by practicing pranayama, asana, and meditation. Yoga is a well rounded self care practice. Contentment doesn’t always just show up. We set intention, we chant, we move mindfully, we breathe deeply, we rest fully . . . .  …. and these practicess lead toward contentment.

I invited students to start writing in a gratitude journal. Focusing on what I’m grateful for is something I’ve been working on as of late. With all we can’t do during this pandemic, we can zero in on what we do have. But the caveat is to shower yourself with compassion in the process. Days can be long and low moods can take over. We miss our friends. We miss hugging. We miss planning vacations and fun outings and restaurant meals.

But back to the gratitude notebook: everyday write down the things you cherish. Or simply say them out loud or inside your head. Whatever ritual enriches your life and elevates your mood. We opened class in meditation, recognizing moments change and feelings change. We opened to what is. The practice included lots of quad stretches that opened us up for mermaid pose and a deep lizard arm balance. We shared smiles and laughter across the airways extracting contentment from these precious connections.

The light in me sees the light in you. Namaste, Lynn

Swaha / Tapas

Swaha is a sanskrit word that means throw into the fire, throw into the yogic fires, throw into the purifying fires of your practice! Another sanskrit word, tapas, means the depth and work and heat and discipline of the practice.

In yoga last week, we focused on twists and backbends. The cleansing twists helped us wring out, just like a wash cloth: we wrung out the dirty water. The flame we built inside ourselves lapped up and purged us of impatience, distraction, fear, confusion, boredom, rigid thinking or whatever was showing up that you wanted to throw into the fire!

We ceremoniously threw our worries and stresses into the yogic fires, to make room to open our hearts to what we needed or wanted. Backbends did the trick and we did many: bow, camel, dancer and bridge. Some yogis rose high into wheel pose, others chose a restorative bridge pose with a block. Yogis let the practice show them the way.

We opened our hearts to that inner voice. We released stirred up or sedentary energy. And we bowed in gratitude for all our blessings, seen and unseen. Thank you so much for joining me in these live streaming yoga classes. From my heart to your heart, Lynn

Simple Joys

The theme last week was simple joys and a sense of adventure. I told this short story to begin: Once there was a man who had some very lovely crystals that he cherished very much. One day, someone in his house accidentally broke the crystals. She was so sad and upset and scared at what this man’s reaction would be when she told him. But when she told him, this was his response, “Those things were for my joy, not for my misery”.

I think this reminds us not to be miserable for what we don’t have. Although this is hard to put into practice, I think it especially applies now during Shelter-in-Place. This is a time in our lives when we can try to seek out little joys in our day and seek out a “sense” of adventure in anything we do.

My birthday was last week … see photo :) My husband and daughters threw a little progressive party in our house, with games, drinks, food, cake! It was such fun, and it made me realize I could be having more fun and not just stewing about what I can’t do. So the practice was about interjecting fun and gratitude and a a sense of adventure into the manner of what we do. Our focus was strengthening and opening the hamstrings. Hamstrings are adventure of their own!

We started by setting our intention and asking ourselves a couple questions: “What basic goodness do I want to get back to?” and “What one thing do I want to welcome in?”. The vinyasa flow was sprinkled with moments of gratitude. We would flow through a half salutation and on the exhale we’d name something we are grateful for. This can be your “little joy” practice….. name something you are grateful for whenever you hit a low point or low mood during your day. As students settled in for savanna, I read them this:

May I walk in gratitude, May I walk in joy, May I spread joy, May I contribute in a positive way, And may I let this joy & gratitude heal the world and heal my own heart.

Remembering that the real adventure comes in many forms:

• enjoying moving your body

• connecting to the present moment

• noticing strength available to you

• the ease, fun & freedom that ensue! From my heart to your heart, Lynn

Stability and Comfort

We are all in this together. You are not alone. Please send me an email if you’d like to say hi: lynn@marrin.com

Our practice began in a supine twist. We noticed what was comforting to us. We paid attention to the ground beneath us, that sense of connection.

We reminded ourselves that we can create power because we are comfortable. There is a lot of power in trusting the situation you are in, regardless of fluctuations, change and the unknown. There’s always something that feels like home in every situation. So we cultivated that here, trusting and full of breath.

Our practice is a place we come back to to heal and re-balance. A place we feel our roots and strength as well as our ease and comfort. Life is less like a rock or mountain and more like a tree. A tree billows and dances with the gusts of wind that move through it. Can you created the kind of stability & foundation YOU WANT within the chaos? Because that’s life …. especially now with being in “shelter-in-place”.

Long holds were included as were comforting, familiar poses and a few wobbly poses :) We set our intention in tree pose and opened our lungs wide in bellow breathing. Our roots sought deep ground in Warrior 2 pose. So deep that we pictured them starting to connect, just as we connected over the airways. Let your practice of yoga remind you that you carry your strength, stability and foundation with you.

Students found deep comfort in savanna as healing waves of energy flowed through their bodies.

From my heart to your heart, Lynn