Invitation to a Yin experience

If I was to say
STOP!
That would just be
more of the same

What if
instead
I was to invite you
to join me
crawling mindfully
flowing in slow sprawl

receiving time
receiving your own wisdom
receiving your own self
some time to just receive

receive your sweet dark center
crawling in the light

This one is for you

This one is for you
beautiful one
you know who you are

you are not this affliction
this harsh teaching
that reaches deep into your bones

at the root of this
is your own wisdom
that sharp shard of clarity
honed by shadow

your center holds
within the mist
beyond the veil
created in creating

how your fire burns
now slow glowing embers
flames flicker into the dance
a conflagration of consciousness
burning on the shore

the ocean that is your heart
makes waves
now turbulent
now dashing
clawing at the edge of solid spaces
to then lap gently in communion

speak freely with your wise self
tell her all your secrets
you know she knows them anyway

see your light
illumined
soft as the dandelion seed in flight
sharp as the thorn of the desert dwellers

you are not this affliction

know you are
this play of light and night
a symphony of silent sound
a resonance
a spaciousness

you know who you are
beautiful one
this one is for you

@jenny kendall, 2013

Yoga Moment: Fierce Peace

when fear bangs on the door to your heart
sigh it out
make room
     for breath
          for ease
for the ferocity of peace

stand as a mountain
root deep as the tree
sigh it out
make room

Yoga Moment: Relationship to Earth

Today is a good day to explore
starting with your feet
and the way they connect
to Earth.

And how those feet
those wonderful, marvelous feet
breathe

Breathe
with  your breath

Yes, today is a good day
to explore Earth.

Nature-al Yoga

It was finally beginning to feel like fall around here, but now it looks as if we are heading back up to near the 100 degree mark during the day, with slightly cooler evenings. While it's a bit warmer, it's not that unusual of a day here in the desert.
What's a good yoga practice for this subtle time of transition?

In our Peaceful Yoga for Women class, we move outside of our casita shala to practice in the lovely garden. We take our cues from the flitting butterflies, the bushes that flower and quickly fade, and the still-biting mosquitos. We practice our balance poses on the unevenness of the patio stones and take in the sounds of the neighborhood around us.

At Horse Yoga, we quietly notice the white dove, the scraggly blackbird, the stately blue heron who join us at the round pen. I scold the little house dog who seems determined to head out to the road (and instead runs to the porch, where he's let in to the house), and we get back to our walking meditation mandala, with Carrma, our teacher for the day.

Taking your cue from the world around us, how do you incorporate Nature into your yoga practice?

A Yoga Moment: Add the Martian Flourish

Stand.
Breathe.
Inhale -  arms out to the side with a flourish through the wrist, hand, fingers.
Exhale.
Repeat.

To see it in action: Go to somewhere just before 55s on the video. Watch close.

And it works even better if you imagine you have those 4 arms instead of 2.

Are you holding? Let it go.

That one, the one with her back to you, that's me, yours truly. Take a look at that right shoulder - that's classic holding. I'm pulling my right shoulder blade in that causes tension all the way through my elbow to wrist, hand, and fingers.

If you look at that right hip (it's okay, this is a kind of anatomy lesson), you can also see how I'm more drawn in than I am on the left. Can you see how it affects the back of my right knee and calf?

Yoga Sutra 2.46 (sthirasukhaasanam) tells us that our posture should have the dual qualities of alertness without tension, and relaxation without dullness or heaviness (from Reflections on Yoga Suutras of Patanjali by TKV Desikachar).

My left side in this photo is close to that balance yet my right side is drawn in. To find that balance, I need to release that tension on my right side, which I can do by first being aware that I'm holding, and then exhaling and using visualization to send that exhale into the holding area. Three long exhales will usually do it. And, yes, it's that simple. What initiates that holding anyway? Mind, of course. So Mind needs to engage fully with Breath to help Body find its way to that place of stability and comfort.

It can be a lot easier to see than it can be to recognize when you are holding or locked into a gripping pattern. What is the difference between holding and gripping? And what difference does it make to you? We'll take a look at that next time.

Oh, and that's Ephiny in the background with one of her new students.  We practice Horse-Assisted Yoga with her and her herd mates at Judith Tarr's Dancing Horse Farm every third Friday of the month (Tucson). 

Thanks to Evie Brett, the photographer gifted at catching these teaching moments.