Spring 2007 At JAI YOGA:
In this post:
Spring Fever-Letter & Practice Inspiration from Jen Nadeau, owner of Jai Yoga
Studio News- schedule changes and upcoming events!
SPRING FEVER
As I write this post, it is Snowing on this fine April morning. Which ruins my initiative to take a leisurely walk through the woods. Yes, I typically like to walk thru woods while a quiet snow falls. But at this date, my bones can’t seem to fight out the cold. It sinks in, and I really don’t like it. So I am opting to stay in this morning for an extra cup of warming tea and time reading by the fire. I really want this weather (cold, damp) to be over. I feel ready for spring, desparate even. I was surprised to find myself even angry at the soft, fluffy, innocent snowflakes. I don’t want snow! So I have chosen to hide from it. To let the snow block my original intent. If it is going to snow, I can’t go for a lovely wonderful walk through the spring woods. The condition is not what I have chosen to enjoy. So by default, am I choosing not to enjoy? And here comes my yoga practice like a lovely demonic angel to coax me on……
In our yoga practice, we learn to ride all the sensations of a pose. We learn to become fully aware of each thought, emotion, stretch, pain, release in every precious moment. Especially the unpleasant ones. One reason to learn this from a yoga master’s point of view is to strengthen our container (our human body, mind,spirit) to withstand the full spectrum of human existence. The benefit is that we are then living our whole lives. That sounds good. The other reason to practice this high level of awareness is reflected in the old saying: “What you resist persists”. By turning our awareness on the very thing that we don’t want to be aware of, it no longer persists. In fact it dissolves, it changes, or at the very least your perception of it changes and the grip of unpleasantness dissolves. And that fellow yogis, is what I call the releif from stress. AND THAT FEELS REALLY GOOD. Yes stress is nothing more than the resistance of what is. Through our yoga we learn to dive into what is. And then BINGO, like magic the resistance fades, and so does stress. Ahhh.
SO. To walk the talk. I will go out for that walk afterall. I will practice being with all of my discomfort, and anger from the cold. Hmmm, that’s appealing isn’t it?! But truly I know that my self knowlegde will grow so much from the experience. I know from my practice on the mat, that when I let my awareness turn directly on that cold and damp and my mind in it, that the resistance will dissolve. I know that the power of my awareness has never let me down. It always works. Once you shine the light on the monster, you realize that it never was a monster. Along with my winter jacket, I put on my courage, because I need that if I’m bringing along the powerful tool of my awareness. When you see me at the studio, just ask and I’ll let you know how my experience walking in the cold and damp April snow went!
“Now yoga begins!” ~the first sutra from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras
Namaste,
Jen
STUDIO NEWS:
One of our ongoing goals at Jai Yoga is to help you stay grounded in your practice on the yoga mat, and to challenge and inspire you to take that practice to your life off the mat. We are in the process of strenghtening our “off the mat” offerings. If you have requests or suggestions, please send them along. We want to serve you! info@jaiyogahome.com
Monday 7:30pm class is cancelled for the rest of this quarter. No one has been coming, so we’ll try a different time/day in the future! Would you like to request a time for a yoga class? Please email us! info@jaiyogahome.com
CRYSTAL JOURNEY CONCERT TICKETS NOW ON SALE! FRIDAY MAY 11 7PM! $20 ADVANCE $25 AT THE DOOR
LIVE CRYSTAL BOWL MUSIC WITH CRYSTAL JOURNEY AND YOGA CLASS: SAT MAY 12 10-11:30 AM $30
AT JAI YOGA NOW!
SOON AT BULL MOOSE MUSIC LOCATIONS TOO!($2 SERVICE CHARGE)