Back in Full Swing
My mother just called to tell me that my newsletter is no longer current, so I better get moving. Clearly she’s doing very well. It makes me long for that slow pace of the summer where I pretended that I was retired too.

Thanks to all the wonderful teachers that took over my classes while I was away. And thanks to all who showed up to those classes.
It’s been two months since I’ve been back from my summer in the south. I plan my classes for the fall when I’m sitting on the beach. When I return, I teach the schedule that I’ve created which all seems to make sense at the time. So now while the majority of my classes are at my home studio, I have a lot of different classes, at different studios. Which is all really good, challenging and exciting. It’s good for me to shake things up and leave that “comfort zone”.
So instead of staying only with the students that I know and feel comfortable with, I’m out getting out there more into the whole yoga community. Now I find myself in places and with people who are unfamiliar. The good part is my old jokes still work, and the challenging part is putting myself out there to be judged.

But I love challenges; it’s what keeps things fresh and alive. I remember leading bicycle tours in Vermont one summer. At the end of the day, the people didn’t talk about how beautiful the ride was that day with the rolling hillside. What they did mention was the huge hill that they climbed. It is sometimes these challenges that not only make us stronger, but also keep things fresh.
Sometimes we get a bit complacent in our yoga practice as well as our lives. We do what’s familiar and safe. But what if we tried the unfamiliar? What if we kept ourselves challenged and growing? Would we be better equipped to handle the changes and challenges that life throws us?

I love the fact that we have many choices in this area for yoga Studios and places that offer yoga. Each style of yoga has it’s benefits, and there is not one style of yoga that is “the one”. Yoga is about your personal journey and your personal choice of practice. Whatever your choice is, practice that choice, and respect others for the choice they’ve made.

So I’ve got some challenges coming up for you:

I would like to thank the Farzaneh family who were basically the only ones to show up for the Intro to Yoga series for 4 weeks on Saturday. They not only came each week, they got their father/husband to show too. What a great thing to witness, the closeness and laughter of kids with their folks all while practicing yoga together.

Feel free to email me any questions or concerns you may have, or if you just want to chat.

Namaste,
Lauren

PS I leave you with this story I read in Nischala Joy Devi’s book The Secret Power of Yoga.

The wise woman’s stone
A wise woman, who was traveling in the mountains, found a precious stone in a stream. She reverently placed the gem I her bag. The next day, she met another traveler, who was hungry. The wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone in the wise woman’s bag, admired it, and asked the wise woman to give it to him. The wise woman did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the jewel was worth enough to give him security for the rest of his life. But a few days later he came back, searching for the wise woman. When he found her, he returned the stone and said, “I have been thinking. I know how valuable the stone is, but I would like to exchange it in the hope that you can give me something much more precious. If you can, teach me the secrets about the power you have within you, the power that enabled you to, without hesitation, give me this precious stone”