it is an intensive yoga teacher training!

Hellllooo Dear Friends, We're five days into our yoga teacher training! Yip...happy! All is well here in the Outer Banks.

The yoginis are rocking along. We've covered sun salutations, standing poses, balancing poses and more.

We've dived into the oh so juicy eight limbs of yoga.
And the five koshas....you make my heart go pitter patter.

We're talking Sanskrit, yoga speak, and breath cues. There are toes touching the sand daily. And a few nose dives into the Atlantic Ocean.

We're dancing meditating levitating gravitating to the love y'all.
We've got Shelli on the harmonium...
We've got kirtan, singing, and yoga yelling.

Did I mention daily hot tubbin' and sauna sittin'. These bodies are working hard hard hard.

We're sharing the most delicious meals ever (thank you Miss Jen Lile) prepared with so much intention, attention, focus,and heaps of love.

There are blocks and bolsters and blankets and straps and yoga mats covering this yoga mansion which today we learned Jennifer Lopez and rented and stayed in the yoga mansion. Yep, cool.

As the yoginis practice and I teach, out the window we see dolphins dipping in the ocean. Birds soaring, pelicans diving, even deer frolicking! Yes, deer!

I see them supporting one another. A hug here. A kind word there. Sharing and caring. Becoming a true yoga community in and of themselves.

Different. Yet the same.

It's just THE coolest thing ever.

I thank the sun, moon, and stars daily for this opportunity to be here doing this work with these people.

Blessed.
Blessed.
Blessed

do you feel the possibility?

Do you feel the possibility?
Awakened energy is poised to flow.
Freedom beckons from every direction.
This is a moment to throw caution to the wind and dive right in
or fly high above the rocky terrain of doubt and fear.
You've lived your life anticipating this opportunity.
Rejoice, for it is here.

This brilliant passage is by Danna Faulds. I saw it posted yesterday on Facebook by Barbara, one of the lovely yoginis joining in this yoga teacher training adventure.

I think it speaks so beautifully to what we're all feeling right now.

It may look like this training is beginning and finishing in two short weeks. That couldn't be further from the truth.

I can tell you that this is a long planted seed beginning to take root for these women. Some of these yogis have dreamed for years of doing a yoga teacher training. They have fallen in love with yoga. And likely out of love with it too. Only to fall back in love again.

They have thought of the perfect program in the perfect place. They have made sacrifices to be here. Their families and friends have made sacrifices to support their decision in being here.

To prepare they have read books, practiced with teachers, honed their own practice, started a meditation practice, observed yoga classes, spent hours on the phone with each other, and shared their stories of excitement, fear, joy, and anxiety in a private forum.

Today those dreams begin taking shape.

My dream of sharing this powerful practice of all things Yoga continues to spiral, twist, turn, unravel, and unfold.

Oh.
My.
Goodness.

on the yoga road again - outer banks bound!

Nine strangers....
Picked to live in a house....
And learn what happens when yogis get real.

Andy called me this morning as I was packing for the big trip, the big training in North Carolina.

That was how he greeted me....the opening from The Real World. I was a big fan back in the day. ;)

The house above is the yoga mansion where the nine yoginis joining together from across the US and up to Canada (love that there is always a Canadian!)will live, work, and play. Isn't it amazing?!! It really is perfect.

My boxcar is loaded with my prized possessions.....

Vitamix
Juicer
and yoga mat of course.

I've got lots of yoga clothes, blankets, blocks, straps, and a zafu cushion.
I've got some treats packed (including a HUGE bag o' coffee). You can take away a lot of things from yogis....but for some....well best not to mess with the coffee.

I've got half my weight in books packed. Tests are printed, certificates in folders, handouts and manual. Speakers, pinktop, incense, candles, Ganesha, and more. A framed photo of Andy and myself on the beach.

I have a lot.
Yet I'm sure there will be something I forget.
And that's ok.

I read this poem this morning by Rumi and thought of the gals I'll be with for the next two plus weeks. The work we'll do.

And how so much of it is just as Rumi says...
We're going mining for magnificence.

Whatever you love here in existence
Has been gold-plated by God's qualities;
When that gold goes back to Origin
Only a dull copper will remain,
And you will be disgusted and reject it.
Don’t go on calling counterfeit coin "beautiful"
That beauty you love is only borrowed.
Gold will abandon all surfaces in the end
And return to the Mine of Magnificence.
Why not set out for that Mine?
The light will return from the wall to the sun;
Go now to that Sun that dances always in harmony.
From now on, take your water from heaven directly
Why go on trusting a rusting drainpipe?

Please send awesome thoughts our way. I would greatly appreciate that.

I'll be thinking of the treehouse, the teachers, the students, and all my fam and friends and I journey off to do this work that truly lights my heart afire.

so much love,
sharon

this much I do remember

Then all of the moments of the past
began to line up behind that moment
and all of the moments to come
assembled in front of it in a long row,
giving me reason to believe
that this was a moment I had rescued
from millions that rush out of sight
into a darkness behind the eyes.

Even after I have forgotten what year it is,
my middle name,
and the meaning of money,
I will still carry in my pocket
the small coin of that moment,
minted in the kingdom
that we pace through every day.

~Billy Collins

why I wake early

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who made the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and the crotchety –

best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light –
good morning, good morning, good morning.

Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.

Mary Oliver


This is the poem I shared in class this morning. I know I've shared it in class and here on the blog. Yet I never tire of reading it....both silently and aloud.

I want to share the simple beauty, the simple joy of my day. But I don't want to crowd my head with the details.

So instead I'll share Mary Oliver's brilliant words.
Acknowledge nature as the best preacher there ever was.
Express gratitude for the kindness of others.

And end my day in happiness.

mind mapping to-dos + a closer look at time

Happppy Friday Friends!

I snapped the above picture a few moments ago. This time next week I'll be leaving to travel to NC to lead our intensive yoga teacher training (!!!!).

I have a mile long to-do list. I've made a commitment to enjoy this process of "getting ready" as much as I can. I started with my to-do list. Rather than making a list in black ink in my planner I chose to bring my lil jar of color pencils and map it all out....similar to a mind map.

I have to say it was much more enjoyable and having the linking visual helped me to think of things I'm not sure I would have thought of otherwise.

In the past seeing a list of this magnitude or a map with so many branches would have left me feeling all out of sorts.

For a while now I've worked on my relationship with Mr. Time. I consciously eliminated the phrase "I don't have the time to....." from my vocabulary, knowing well that I do indeed have all the time I need to do whatever I choose to do. Mostly it's a matter of how I choose to use my time. The choice and the responsibility falls back on me, which is pretty empowering.

Sometimes I use my time efficiently and effectively. Sometimes not so much (hello internets).

Just like yoga, it's all I practice and as long as I stay present and awake with it....well it's all good.

happiness

"Ever since Happiness heard your name, it's been running through the street trying to find you." ~Hafiz

This was the theme for the class I taught tonight.

Between teaching something new that I'm feeling really inspired by...

The arrival of Spring...

And the Cats big win...that aside from a few couch burnings resulted in thousands of ecstatic fans running happily through the street...

Well it feels like Happiness has found me.

And it feels really good.

**Photo of Andy taken during the end of the BIG game.**

what the heck is yoga nidra?

Do you love the end of a delicious yoga practice? Many students love savasana, the closing pose in all of our practices. It’s a quiet time when you lie still, relax, and integrate your practice.

This is similar to yoga nidra. Known as “yogic sleep”, yoga nidra is a state of deep sleep, however with conscious awareness. To access yoga nidra, yogis use a systematic method of inducing complete mental, emotional, and physical relaxation. Yoga Nidra is a tool for examining, attending to, and eliminating our habitual patterns or samskaras.

Here is what a yoga nidra practice can look like:
• Getting comfortable lying down
• Stating your sankalpa, or your intention for your practice
• Rotation of consciousness through the body (aids physical relaxation)
• Establishing awareness of the breath (also aids physical relaxation)
• Feelings and sensations practice (aids emotional relaxation)
• Visualization practice (aids mental relaxation)
• Reconnecting with your sankapla and slowly coming out of the sleep state

What does this mean for you in your life? It means that when you finish the practice you feel relaxed and refreshed. …calm yet alert and awake. Some students report that they feel more energized after a practice, some sleep better, and some simply state “feeling good.” Feeling good usually means we feel whole, complete, less stressed, and more alive.

We’ve added a monthly hour long yoga nidra to our class schedule. This takes place on Sunday from 5:30 – 6:30 and counts as a regular class.

Join us for a delicious taste of yoga nidra on April 29 and May 20.

I guarantee you'll sleep like Baby Max afterwards. :)