NEW Spring Classes Start Sept 28th!!

SPRING YOGA SESSION

September 28th-November 26th
(No classes Labour Weekend Monday)


Spaces are limited. Please contact me via email or phone to reserve your place in class.

Be the Artist of Your EVERY DAY

Spring is a season that awakens our spirits! The sunshine hours lengthen, the natural world blossoms and our bodies, minds, and hearts stir again. Can you feel it?

It is a tantalizing time of year! There is the sense of being at the very edge of something. Something so exciting, so beautiful that every moment literally vibrates with anticipation, with urgency. What is this feeling?

We feel compelled...

Perhaps we will long to paint a masterpiece, write a novel or poem, build a path for our garden, take up sculpture, learn an instrument, or in some other unique expression ...craft a way to language our life. What is at the heart of all of these deep dreams and longings? I believe it's the desire, power, and ability to CREATE.

I have never been an "artist" in the strict definition of the word. And for a long time, the very notion of being a "Creator" seemed foreign and unobtainable to me. Perhaps you have felt the same way?

One of the simple and profound truths that the practice of yoga has taught me is, that at our very essence and within our ordinary mundane world, we ARE all artists. In every moment and with every breath, we have the opportunity to craft our own experience of this life from what is being offered.

Our creative act is CHOICE.

We cannot always choose what will happen in our lives. Sometimes we miss the bus, sometimes our hearts get broken. One day we get promoted, the next year we must look for work. We cannot control the circumstances of our life but what we can do is choose how we will experience them, moment to moment.

Every yoga pose, every yoga class offers us "circumstances". There is a fixed form of the pose, a certain sequence to the class, particular freedoms and limitations of our body on that day, and (always) the fluctuating state of our mind and heart. Over all of these things, we may feel that we have little direct control.

On our yoga mat, we practice engaging our experience as it arises, moment to moment. Take a breath, soften our skin. Open up to exactly what the moment is offering right now. From that place, we get to choose...

How can I best align with the flow of nature? How can I use this vehicle of the body and this gift of the breath to make more beauty in my own world and in my community? With what quality of heart will I choose to face both my joys and challenges? I can aggressively blast past my edge, fearfully shy away from exploring it, OR I can approach my scary places with curiosity, tenderness and steadfastness. I'm the one that gets to choose! What an awesome freedom...

As we practice navigating our choices skillfully, each of us learns how to best become the ARTIST of our every day. We never know how much sharing our experiences, our expressions, our ARTISTRY will inspire and uplift those around us...

"When one flower blooms, Spring awakens everywhere"

John O'Donohue

I don't know exactly what a prayer is...
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver

The Potential of the Seed

Banish the Winter blues & shine thru the heaviness of the season!

Enrol NOW for my next session of classes starting July 20th.

Guaranteed to be nourishing, inspirational, playful, and (yes always) FUN!

Sign up for two or more classes and take 10% off your total enrolment

Below I've posed an article from my most recent newsletter.
If you'd like to receive info about my classes, workshops & events,
please email me and I'll add you to my list!

Winter is the resting cycle for most of life. The nights are long anddominates. All of the natural world has drawn more inwards - from outward expression to dark, inner core. Perhaps you are feeling this deep calling to pull in, hole up, and stay warm and nourished this time of year? I know that I am!

We tend to have the notion that light is GOOD and dark is BAD. But when we look at the world around us, we see that BOTH aspects are part of life. BOTH the light and the dark have an appropriate and necessary time and place.

Sooner than we think, we'll delight in the promise of Spring and after that, the exhuberance of Summer! In these experiences, we often forget that what we are actually celebrating is the tenacious and potent power of the SEED.

It is IN THE DARK that we plant the seeds of our intentions! Whether it's under the deep, dark cover of soil or in the deep cave of the heart, the darkness IS the time that from these origin seeds we begin the manifestation of our dreams.

While it's important to move with the cycles of life and honour winter's call for quietness and introspection, it's also easy to succumb to the forces of heaviness, stagnation, and lethargy. Even while we are in the DARK, we recognize a longing inside for brighter days, inspiration, and upliftment! Now that we have passed the solstice, each day will get a little bit longer and if you really watch carefully you'll see Nature stirs just under the surfaces...

What do you long to create in your life right now?
Every artistic impulse begins with a SEED - a deep feeling, a longing of the heart.

When we move from this place of our deepest intentions, the process of life becomes fun, exciting, and inspiring!
In yoga, we practice being a co-creator in the art of life. From these inner seeds of longing, we craft our own intentions - what will we choose to create, manifest, and offer today?

On the yoga mat, we take different forms and dance our deep intentions into every part of the body using the vehicle of LIFE, the breath! Our practice becomes a spiritual art. We make ART with our bodies in a way that glorifies life, celebrates our heart, and honours the one spirit that unites us all.

Workshop Wednesday! June 17th

Once a month, I'll be offering a two hour "workshop style" class where dedicated yogis can deeply explore and experience the elegant alignment principles of Anusara Inspired Yoga as applied to a particular class of postures or element of practice.

Join me for the first Workshop Wednesday!!

June 17th 5:45-7:45pm
Going Down & Deep! Hip Openers, Forward Bends, Twists
Cashmere Masonic Centre
$20

Some yoga experience helpful but open to all looking to unlock more freedom in their low back, pelvis, and hips!

Please register your interest in advance to reserve your space.

The softness that invites deeper strength

Last week I went indoor rock climbing for the very first time. For over a year now, I had given the same excuses to the same friends and last Wednesday my reasons, excuses, apologies just ran out. Putting trepidation and fear aside, I decided...WHY NOT. And what an awesome, empowering, challenging, and absolutely fun experience it was!!

Those of us who practice and teach yoga know that our practice is so much bigger than the asana that happens on that sticky rubber rectangle.

The best and deepest form of practice is the kind that seamlessly transitions from the mat out into the ordinary and extraordinary moments of our lives. What you practice on your yoga mat IS your attitude towards life. And the attitude and principles we cultivate and embody become the strongest tools we have for navigating day-to-day life with courage, confidence, and faith.

So should I have been surprised when what I called upon in climbing was the very same set of principles I teach in class...Not really!

First climb.
I walked up to the wall, put my foot on the first hold and reached my hand to grab the next. Fear, doubt, panic, terror. How strong are these ropes? Can my harnass break? How solid is a carabiner anyway? I'm not going to able to do this!!

First Principle.
I took a breath and softened my skin. Allowing my hands to touch (really touch the wall...like the way I would hold and hug a friend I haven't seen in awhile) I exhaled slowly and let go of my self-limiting ideas and in the letting go, I just opened to the possibility that I AM capable and I AM supported.

First Principle brought me back to my own expansive nature but that alone was not going to get me up that wall! I had to go back to the intention, the clarity in my hands. There is no floor beneath your feet. You have to HOLD ON.

Muscle Energy
As I actively used my fingers and toes, I could powerfully draw muscle energy from that engagement all the way into my arms and my legs. There was no doubting. I could feel my strength and every part of my body from that hugging in was alive, vibrant, and supported.

Hmmm....But here, as strong and as intense as my focus, my intention, and the muscles of my body became, that wasn't quite enough either. I could hang there and hold for sure but when I looked up, I could see the next hold at least a full arms length away. From my solid, stable perch I reached my arm straight up but no, it wasn't enough to make connection .

Then I remembered...I had to go back to softness!
Climbing like yoga compels not just a holding, grasping, reaching at the periphery but movement that comes from the core. From a deep connected place on the inside. And its a profound and willing invitation to actively soften, actively deepen that gets you there.

Inner Spiral
Keeping the support of my muscles hugging to the bone, I took my thighs back and apart and invited the feeling of deepness into my front groins and spaciousness into my pelvis and my low back. Keeping my finger tips firm on the holds, I drew my armbones back and seated the intention of my arms in the solidity of my shoulders.

Drawing the power of my own strength and intention from my legs and arms deep into the core of my belly, I softened my knees, sunk down deep into my legs, and with no belief that there was anyplace to go but UP...from that knowing place I pushed down through my foot and then from my belly I stretched up to sky. Outer Spiral - the root to rise.

And for one beautiful, ever lasting shining moment, there was my body, my breath, my heart fully expanded. No boundaries. Organic Energy.

My hand was on the hold!
My foot, one more step up.
I looked towards the ceiling.
There was more to go.
I took a breath and softened my skin.
The cycle, the dance began again.

NEW Yoga Classes Begin Soon!

Happy Autumn! What a magnificent time of year...

After a wonderful visit with my family, friends, and yoga teacher back in the States, I am excited to return to Christchurch and dive back into my life, my classes, and the glory of the autumn season.

Check out my timetable for NEW class venues and times this session! Look forward to a session of yoga that goes deep, is grounded in the support and delight of community, and is (as always) seriously playful!

Spaces are limited.
Please contact me if you are interested in joining a class.
Enrol in two or more classes this session and you'll receive 10% off your total costs.

See you in class!!


Returning to (AND Moving From) Source!

Autumn reminds me that beauty and grace are possible in TRANSITIONS.

All of nature, all of life is in constant cycle. Life IS flux, flow, a never ending dance or pulsation. As we move with this flow, we meet changes, challenges, and new possibilities on every level - body, mind, & spirit. While we may not have control over the external cycles of nature, it is during these transition times that we can PRACTICE how to move skillfully and gracefully with all of the changes in our life from a place of inner steadiness.

As nature outside begins to turn more inwards, we also have the opportunity to bring our awareness within and explore the deep inner beliefs that are shaping our lives. We can make the choice to let go of the beliefs that no longer serve us and cultivate with creativity and clarity those beliefs that will give us the vision and strength to participate fully in this life. No matter what arises!

In yoga, we practice EMBODYING our inner beliefs and intentions. By doing this, the vision of life that moves and inspires us is no longer just a "nice idea". It becomes our lived experience every day and the place from which we move out vibrantly in this world - in relationship to others and to all of life.

How amazing is that!