Sauca in Spring

This time of year invites the urge to clear out, declutter, remove the old and let in the new.  It’s early spring and our hearts are beginning to see the clutch of cold weather fading into warmer, brighter days.  A gladness for fresh days of blue skies, bits of green poking up and a general sense of relief and hope replacing the heavy coats of colder days.

We move into a powerful time of alignment with Sauca, the first Niyama.  Clean, clear, organized energy to focus on removing the old is strong.  Mother Nature herself is busy warming the soil, digesting the leaves and debris; clearing the way for lovely shoots of renewed, clean material to grace the earth.

As humans, we have the opportunity like nature, to digest and remove old patterns, emotions, attachments and anything else that is covering our potential for new ‘shoots.’  We don’t even have to know anything about the new shoots coming through, we just know the energy to clean out and make room for them is strong.    

Let’s align with this energy of Sauca.  Our deep breaths on the mat this week will concentrate on clearing out and making room for the newness of the season.  It is time for Sauca.  It is time to clean, purge and remove debris that covers the light of your heart.  Our work will be to  remember the deep order of our lives.  Mother Nature herself leads the way.  She is gently, yet thoroughly preparing the soil for new growth.  All her instincts tell her to remove that which does not serve.  All her energy is in nurturing the fresh new patterns of beauty and growth.  She is cleaning out.  She is letting go.  There is no remorse.  There is only joy in the process.

Inner Body Bright

In Anusara yoga, our inner body bright refers to the soft radiant, open-hearted energy that gives the outer form of our poses a sense of fullness and buoyancy.   It is an expansive energy that rides with us into poses, breath, thoughts and experiences.  It is in our intention to connect with it that it appears.  Like a lovely body double made up of pure beautiful energy, this inner body brightness illuminates our awareness of our deep connection to everything in the world.  She is the heart of our natural spirit, free, spacious and joyous.

When we set our intention to Open to Grace, Anusara’s first Universal Principle of Alignment, we choose to align with this deeper energy within us.  Imagine simply choosing to see and feel this energy as an expression of our deepest desire to reunite with something bigger than ourselves.  This energy illuminates our world from inside.  It puffs up, expands out and rides into being with our very intention for it to be with us, as us.  It swells in sweetness; an inner smile of adoration for us.

This week we will invite into our awareness the energy of inner body bright.  She is a lovely addition to your practice.  She lifts you up from inside and fills you out to your skin in every pose.  She is the heart of your energetic form; shining brightly, expanding widely to embrace the glorious physical form of yourself. 

Step onto the mat at Good Life Yoga and meet your inner body bright.

March Toward the Vernal Equinox

This is it.  The dark has had its day, so to speak and we make the push toward an equality; a balance of day and night on March 20th.

This week we celebrate the equality of light and dark with balance poses and ideas on how to establish balance in your life.  The Universal Principles of Alignment offer us the opportunity to create balance in our poses.  But can they help us off the mat?  If you’ve been a student of Good Life Yoga and Anusara yoga for awhile you already know the answer to that.  YES.

This week we explore the qualities of the two pulsations that have the most bearing on creating balance in our worlds:  Muscle Energy and Organic Energy.   When these two are in balance we feel powerful, connected and joyous.  We step into the middle of a grand river of energy that delights in uplifting us.  Finding balance with these two energies requires not only understanding your own tendencies but understanding deeply the qualities of these two energies.

As always, the UPA’s offer us tools for better living.  And as always, you are perfectly supported in this endeavor.  The earth is aligning in a perfect balance of light and dark just for you.  Take advantage of this offering and join me on the mat.  You’ve got a shot at your best Tree Pose ever!

Serve and Support Your Strength

The point is, you ‘look’ around inside and sees what would serve the whole; what would strengthen the whole.  The strength is there, we just have to look for ways to reconnect with it.  Sometimes that means bringing in more muscle energy and sometimes that means allowing for more organic. 

As a teacher, I look for ways for you to find additional strength by cueing alignment principles that serve the flow of big energy.  Many times, I layer on instruction starting with the largest most dynamic pulsation of muscle and organic energies.  Then I move on to the expanding or inner spirals and outer or contracting spirals.  And then from there, I cue the loops.  Depending on the journey planned for the day, I cue on certain alignment principles more than others.  Every time, the end result is a fuller experience of the pose for you.  There is more of you to enjoy, move with, breath with and adore.

Off the mat when we look for ways to reestablish connection to the big energy through better alignment our lives become less stressful.  We accomplish more and with less effort.

We are powerful amazing beings and even more so when we use everything to our advantage.  Take advantage of all your strength this week at Good Life Yoga.  Look for longer held poses and an opportunity to find a stronger you.