WHAT YOGA MEANS TO ME.
(sharing here what i wrote for yoga tree blog.  beloved home studio and sangha.  15 years old, just like my daughter..good things were born in 1999!  Of course..;)

What Yoga Means To Me.. For Yoga Tree 15th Anniversary.

Union. Integration. Celebration of Life. Expansion. Being, anew. This is what Yoga means to me.

I've been on this yogic path for over 20 years now; theory, study and practice in all layers of being. 

In many ways I feel like yoga has saved my life. I know indeed, it has given so much more LiFE 

to my life!  So grateful.

    Some times I am a beginner, my practice is basic. I move to refresh stuck areas of the

bodymind. I investigate in the poses. I reconnect with breath, mind quiets into heart 

as it opens to the Universal. Many days yoga just IS throughout the day as I drive and breathe 

and relax my countenance and go out into the world and share this practice for the healing and 

peace of all beings. Some days I am simply grateful that the practice soaks my life as I don't 

know how I would get through otherwise. Some days are all play where I dance yoga, sing 

yoga, breathe the fire of yoga, laugh yoga and eat yoga... Yoga 

means everything is everything, one grand celebration of being!

For me Yoga is the ultimate reminder & tool(s) to reconnect. 

Both of its primary definitions shine for me;

 1. Yoking, Union- firstly, the reconnection of body, mind and spirit,

 & ultimately the remembrance of everyday self as divine, timeless self.

 2. Going where we have not gone before-

allowing myself to be born anew, to experience things and people anew, to find new ways to 

move and breathe and heal and celebrate that are informed by the foundation of tradition but 

that flow uniquely from this conglomeration that 'I am' out into the world of today...

    I allow this practice to strip and humble me, to leave me faceless, red and sweaty. I welcome 

this practice to decorate me, to reflect 'me' as Goddess and shine with the light of the Universe. I 

am so grateful. Yoga and it's evolution mean personal, spiritual, community, & world wide 

evolution. I am so grateful. We have been given, to nurture, this gift rich with 

science, art and spirit. These tools and beauty are fluid to fit any being or situation. I am in 

service to the wisdom of the dynamic truth of Yoga. We are all One. We are blessed to be 

embodied and we get to choose what to do with this blessing. May we choose with clarity and love. All 

else, be burned away in the fires of practice! Jai Ma!

 

True Alignment

Alignment with truth. The clearing of samskara, blockage, limiting belief, world view in order to

thrive...

We are here to awaken. To know who we are. On every level. True knowing, or awakening is

not even truly conceivable if we still worry about things like the shape of our breasts or hold a

belief that we are bad or broken due to early conditioning, abuse or trauma.

Feelings and beliefs unexpressed or uncleared are held in the body. Yoga provides the

technology to clear on all layers. We can be careful not to scare you and let you discover the

depths on your own as will happen with a committed practice in time or together we can boldly

say "ok, I surrender" and be straight up honest about what we all hold that is trash and burn that

shit up with great passion and dedication to truth. I have lived through and seen huge personal

transformation & transmutation. I love the bold process of evolution and I want to help you live

it. I believe that i am still alive because it is my work to continue to awaken and help others. I

do this carefully, lovingly, gently because I know how scary it is to breakdown, to lose control, to

reveal oneself, to face death, loss, fear... But I really think the only way to truly heal and thrive

is to stand in the fire, to jump into the flow, to trust and let go, jump into the void, scream and cry

and laugh and lose whatever you need to. In the end you will win. Science, history, and

perceived miracles have all emphatically indicated this reality. We are one. Open to remember

all parts of yourself and this experience, let life move unhindered, unencumbered through the

perfect and divine vessel that you are and let us celebrate the truth.

I want to provide the space, skill, intuition and support that allows this movement. Honesty is

not always what we might call pretty. I strive in my daily class teachings to keep you feeling

safe. But am I helping you or cheating you? Am I a care-full harbinger or a lackadaisical

withholder? Evolution might not feel safe. Change can be scary. I also know that you can do it

and you will live stronger and brighter and more grateful on the other side. So I want to push

you, dare you, challenge your paradigm while I care for you. This might look more like tough

love than some new age pretty clean white nurturing. Nature is fierce. After years of riding the

healing pendulum I feel clear and connected to nature about when to be soft and pretty with you

and now I just request your permission for the fierce. I want to see you shine. I was born to

burn the haze of sleep away.

I love you.

I am living into my name. I am the lucid dawn, nature incarnate and I thrive on to serve

humanity. We must attend to our personal truth in order to effect planetary truth. The greatest

dream of all humanity has been to live in abundance and peace and I know this is possible but it

starts where the dream does... In the heart.

So turn ON! Turn on your heart light!

(Bust into Neal diamond...)

Connection to nature

What do I want

Impulse

I am pulse

Concern fr others dampens impulse

Of course care for your beloveds but attend to your health

First

We must start from where we are or we will not get very far.