Five Minute Yoga Break

Take a five-minute yoga break! Come into downward facing dog. Breathe deep into your belly and out from your belly. Hold the pose for as long as you can without over straining. When your finished, bring your knees down and press back to child’s pose. Breathe here until you can come back into downward facing dog. Repeat this process until your timer goes off.

Notice how you feel.

Happy Friday!

Five Minute Yoga Break

Can’t make it to the studio today?! Take a five-minute yoga break! Set your timer for 5 minutes and lie down on your back in Shavasana. Breathe here. When the timer goes off, draw your knees into your chest, roll to your right side and come up to seated. Notice how you feel. Yes you just did a yoga practice! Isn’t that great?!

Remember there are no yoga police!

Our next event! Reiki and Restorative Yoga!

An evening of Reiki and Restorative Yogawith Gina House & Jessica M. Lang Wright

Tuesday January 21st, 7-9pm, Cost: $30 Advanced Registration Required! Space is limited!

Join us for a luscious evening that will relax and restore you! Jessica will guide you into Restorative yoga postures that will gently open your body, using of a variety of props to support you, allowing tension and stress to drain and release from your body. As you hold these fully supported delicious postures, Gina will administer the loving healing energy of Reiki to individuals as well as the group, further enhancing the relaxation and deep healing of the practice. You will leave this evening feeling incredibly relaxed, deeply healed and ready for a peaceful night of sleep!

READ MORE HERE!

Celebrate what you *can* do!

I’ve been sharing this quote I found on a friend’s Facebook page with my students this week:

Not everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid. -Albert Einstein

Now if there’s a guy that knows about geniuses, Einstein is probably it! I was really struck by this quote because how many times in our daily lives do we compare ourselves to someone or something else and put ourselves down because we don’t measure up? How many times have you looked outside and passed judgement on yourself because you thought, in comparison to Person X you …

aren’t as good a Mother? aren’t as good a Father? aren’t as good a Husband? aren’t as good a Wife? aren’t as good a Parent? aren’t as good a Cook? aren’t thin enough? aren’t tall enough? aren’t creative enough? or even…

aren’t as good a Yogi (cause obviously I’m not as good a yogi as Person X because they can stand on their head for hours without even trying and I can’t!)?

But the real question is,

Why?

Why pass these judgements on ourselves? How does that serve us? Certainly we want to find ourselves challenged in this life. We don’t grow or move forward without challenge. But why is it necessary to judge? Why can we find the celebration in what is for ourselves? Why not honor our own unique path and find celebration in our own journey?

Yoga teaches us that we are all born from perfection. We simply strive to be even more perfect in this life. What better opportunity to celebrate our perfection than on the mat/chair?! We can use our practice to turn compassion towards ourselves and celebrate the things we *can* do while knowing that maybe that headstand will be easier tomorrow if we continue to practice. We can find an opportunity to celebrate what is, rather than lament what might be. And if we practice it on the mat/chair, we’ll be more able to find that compassion for ourselves the next time we’re out in the world and find ourselves in a situation that challenges our self image.

You have been given the great gift of a body to serve you as you move through this life. Yes, it may challenge you now and then, but where would you be without it?? If you can breathe, you’re already ahead of the game.  Honor and celebrate what you are, because not everyone can climb a tree, but some of us can swim like a fish!