Ashtanga Primary Series Intensive — October 2015!
I'm excited to announce that I will be co-hosting an Ashtanga Primary Series Intensive in October with the fabulous Kelsey Bourgeois and Kristin McCoy. Read on for more info and Sign-up here!
Yoga @ No Limit Fitness — Mahomet, IL
Mindfulness in the Morning
In college I started literally rolling out of bed to do yoga. I would lay my mat out beside my bed at night and the second my alarm went off in the morning, without giving myself a chance to think, I would get on my mat. I’d flow through a few (sometimes very) slow and gentle sun salutations, most of the time with my eyes still closed, and the movement and breath would awaken me. I started loving the feeling of being woken up in my body, rather than just the nagging of my mind and alarm clock. After finishing these practices I would feel centered, warmed, calmed and ready for my day.
As the years have gone by my mat is no longer placed beside my bed at night, but my morning practice has continued to grow. I practice with others twice a week and I’ve added meditation and pranayama to that sacred time. Starting the day with asana helps me wake up enough in the body so that I can, at least for a moment, curb the daily rush of the mind.
Practicing first thing in the morning also ensures that I won’t miss it in my day. Since pretty much no matter what I have to get out of bed each day, dedicating those first moments to yoga means I am less likely to put my practice off for any number of reasons that may come up later on. Morning practice is when I set my intention for the day. I don’t recall a time when I’ve left my mat thinking, “I wish I hadn’t done yoga” so when I start my day with it I am setting myself up for a more mindful and connected day.
When and where do you like to practice? I encourage you to consider establishing whatever sacred time, space, or place that works for you and keeps you coming back to your mat.
Namaste.
Interested in starting a morning routine yourself? Join me for the Sunrise Yoga Challenge!
Here are mixes I've created to help motivate your morning practice!
The one thing I DIDN'T learn during YTT
After 10 yoga-packed weekends of asana, assists, pranayama, and practice (plus endless hours of studying, observing, and teaching in between) I’m officially a 200-hour certified yoga teacher! I couldn’t be more proud of myself and yet; I still don’t have it all figured out.
Throughout YTT I learned so much about so many aspects of yoga, my teaching, my practice, and myself. I had hopes going in to it that it would all ‘click’ once I finished this training, I’d feel completely equipped and self-assured, but to be honest, sometimes I still feel like a fraud. I don’t have all the answers to anatomy questions, sometimes I miss-cue in class or forget the Sanskrit terms, I still don’t meditate everyday, and the list goes on, BUT something that my teachers kept saying certainly rings true, “you’re learning more than you think you are.” I’ve learned that it’s not about how much I can memorize, but how I can apply what I DO know in my practice and my teaching. I’m learning every day just by existing and being myself, and from there I can teach with an authenticity and awareness, because I am an authority on my own experience.
So, it’s not so much that I didn’t learn something during YTT, but I realized that I don’t really need to know it all just yet, or maybe ever for that matter. With thanks to my teachers and their teachers before them, here’s to a lifetime of learning and never knowing it all. Namaste.