Beyond Bakasana Workshop - Nov. 7th

Workshop at Amara Yoga & Arts - Saturday, Nov.7th 1-3pm

Are you building confidence and feeling solid in your crow pose and curious where to go next? It's time to move 'beyond bakasana', in this workshop we will explore different variations and transitions in and out of bakasana-based arm balancing postures. The workshop will consist of a led warm-up, introduction of 5+ different arm balances with transitions and end with an opportunity to request posture breakdowns and ask specific questions.

Intended for yogis who practice bakasana (crow pose) regularly. Curious if this workshop is right for you? Please feel free to reach out and we can decide together! 

Cost: $40/$35 Amara Members

Meditation for a Rainy Day

Find a seated positon with the spine comfortably erect and the face slightly upturned. Let the hands rest open on the thighs, with the palms gently cupping upward.  

Close your eyes and draw your attention to the rain. Notice the repetitive sound, imagining the temperature and moisture in the air, maybe a damp, refreshing scent…

With awareness of the rain, then recognizing properties of water, that it can be life-giving, thirst quenching, refreshing and full of opportunity…and that water can also be cleansing, clearing, a washing or rinsing away of dirt or things to be removed.

Drawing attention back to the rain, start to visualize individual raindrops and image them collecting in your palms, creating small pools of water.

Each drop that lands in the left palm, is a life-giving drop, refreshing and exciting….and each drop that lands in the right palm is cleansing, removing negativity, washing away anything that doesn’t serve you or may be holding you back.

Allow the drops to collect without judgment, critique or weighting, just hold and be present with these pools of water. Recognizing that each drop is part of the whole, together washing and refreshing.

Slowly start to bring your cupped hands together at your heart and imagine releasing the pools and letting them come together and wash over you, all the clearing, all the drops come together and flow in to one, releasing, and passing over.

 Let yourself be here and again, bring your attention to the rain and any sensations you may be feeling. Take a few deep breaths, eventually letting the eyes open and returning to the present moment.

Dedicated to Leading the Cheer

As some of you may know, I have a background in cheerleading and while this certainly has impacted my yoga practice both body-awareness and flexibility-wise, cheerleading is what got me to yoga and reflecting back helped form my attitude and interactions early on.

 In reality, getting out of cheerleading is what actually got me in to yoga. During my Sophomore season in college I started to learn that cheerleading wasn’t for me. In part due to a traumatic nose fracture, but mostly due to the fact that it had turned too competitive—I wasn’t in it to be part of the best cheerleading squad, I was in it to lead the cheer! So as I recovered from my injury, I turned to yoga as a way to engage my body, without the desire to perform, compare, or compete.

Looking back to my early cheerleading days, one of the  things I’ve kept with me was part of my High School Code of Conduct which stated that, “we are here to cheer FOR our teams, not AGAINST anyone else.”

And while this may have been a cheesy way to remind high school kids that bad sportsmanship was not allowed, it totally stuck with me. This sentiment impacts how I respond to others now. What’s the point in tearing down, when instead you can be building up? And not only that, when you function from a space of encouragement and support that in turn breeds the same. So rather than putting down or pushing back, for the most part, I choose to be a cheerleader, and I encourage you to do the same when you can.

 Cheer on, Namaste :)