when the world comes crashing at your feet
it’s okay to let others
help pick up the pieces
if we’re present to take part in your happiness
when your circumstances are great
we are more than capable
of sharing your pain.
– rupi kaur –
Hello, fellow friends on the path,
Wow, we are a little over halfway through our month of yoga together! YIP YIP!!
Well done to those who are showing up to their mats every day!!! As we know, the hardest part is making it to the mat, so good job, friends!!
I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we launched the first virtual challenge. I can believe it’s been a year since we went into lockdown. Vancouver is back on semi-lockdown with new restrictions. Who’s over this?? ME ME ME. You? You? I’m looking forward to when we get to look BACK on this.
This week’s theme is community – heh – as of now, it’s still virtual, but we can still be here for each other. I hope you’re reaching out to your peoples, getting outside, and doing things that feed your soul and keep your spirits up. Me, I’m trying. Cooking, taking care of my house, going for walks with Alejandro and Karmen, and enjoying the sun we are blessed with lately.
I love coming together as a community; Kula is my dharma, and it’s something I’m very much looking forward to when things eventually shift and reopen.
Community may be the very thread that holds the fabric of our lives together; it’s a space we may rely on with the support of like-minded people of similar interests. Coming back to the quote at the beginning of this email – it’s important to talk, express, and share how you’re feeling with your inner circle/support network – both the highs and lows.
Questions to marinate on:
- For those of you in the challenge: what has changed in either your body, mind, or life since we started the challenge?
- If you could describe how you feel right now in one word, what would it be?
- How are you feeding yourself today?
- Who is in your inner circle/support network? When was the last time you reached out and had a catch-up?
See the details for the upcoming LIVE classes:
Here’s the info on SATURDAY’S class:
The Origins of Love
This week’s myth comes to us from Greece. Clara first heard this myth in the play “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” and loved it. It is Aristophane’s theory of the origin of love. Clara loved the perspective it gave on why so many of us don’t feel “whole.”
After the myth, we will work towards the inversion headstand, Sirsasana.
The class will work on opening shoulders, side waist, and hamstrings. We will strengthen our chests and core.
Props you’ll need 2 Blocks, 1 Blanket.
Spotify Playlist
Here’s the info on WEDNESDAY’S class:
Better Together
Join Clara and guest for a partner yoga class focused on the lunar/cooling part of the class.
You’ll learn how a few hands-on assists support your partner in exploring the stretch in their bodies.
A partner is not necessary for this class; you can still participate if you’re practicing solo.
We’ll be exploring 4 poses that include a twist, hip opener, and forward fold.
The class level will be open, but I will always offer modifications to make it accessible.
Props you’ll need: 1 Block.
There is no Spotify playlist for this class.
Three New Classes on PWC:
Modifications for Common Injuries & Sensitivities
MODIFICATIONS FOR SENSITIVE KNEES
In this short tutorial, learn the various modifications for knee sensitivity or knee injury in a vinyasa yoga practice. Our knees take a bit of a beating in our day-to-day, so be conscious of the flexion and internal/external rotation around the knee joint to preserve longevity. Happy knees = happy people!
WRIST MODIFICATIONS & STRETCHES
In this short tutorial, you’ll see how to modify for a wrist injury and sensitivity in a vinyasa yoga class, plus some great wrist stretches to warm up your hands and forearms for arm balancing practices!
LOW BACK MODIFICATIONS
Protecting and preserving the spine is one reason we practice yoga; this tutorial features the modifications for low back injury and sensitivity in common poses offered in a vinyasa yoga practice.
The Various Lenses to Perceive the World:
An examination of systems that classify behaviors and energies.
The way we view the world is subjective and assumed from our perception. Perception is the process of making sense of the various stimuli we encounter combined; interpretation is based on the meaning we assign to each event. How we form and apply meaning depends on our experience, cultural and socioeconomic context, upbringing, trauma, education, and inherited beliefs.
No two people share the same sequence of experiences. Even twins, who’re conceived simultaneously, have unique experiences of being in the womb and are brought into the world at different times. As a result of the vast and diverse events we experience, perception, interpretation, and meaning are distinct to the individual.
The way individuals assign meaning may seem confusing, eccentric, or upsetting to our own methodologies and may disrupt how we communicate and resolve conflict.
When two people, or groups of people, do not see eye-to-eye on a subject, it’s usually a result of two opposing viewpoints of the world coming into contact. Our belief systems are a significant contributor to how we see the world and are generally linked to politics, culture, social structures, and religion.
When our beliefs are challenged, we’re tasked with developing confidence and clarity in communicating the intentions behind our thoughts. Adversity may be a great teacher in showing us where our passion and principles align. Disputing the ideals and refuting the ideas of others may strengthen the bond we share with our tribe’s mythologies.
We may also use these experiences to practice radical acceptance for the alternate views and realities of others.
Ahimsa is the Indian principle of non-harming or nonviolence, and it also relates to the concept of radical love towards self and others. From Patanjali’s Eight Limbs of Yoga, Ahimsa is one of the five Yamas, which governs how we integrate with others and act with integrity.
A practice of radical love towards self and others can be as simple as a practice of acceptance for how others live, act, think, feel, perceive, and assign meaning to the world and events.
Throughout the centuries, humankind has created numerous methods to classify human personalities and recognize the various energies present in the world. An example of such classification would be the generations. Millennials and Gen Z belong to different ages marked by distinct personality traits; such concepts are devised by humans and don’t exist outside of the rhetoric we provide.
Classification provides us with information to better understand ourselves and all the unique personalities we encounter. It’s a way to learn and appreciate all the qualities we perceive globally, especially the qualities we find upsetting or outrageous.
Here are a few of the methods used to determine a person’s personality and preferences:
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