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clararobertsoss

Teacher of Yoga, Mantra & Meditation
Seeker of the Sacred.
Facilitator of conscious movement.
#PracticeWithClara

In this morning’s live class I pulled an Osho Ta

In this morning’s live class I pulled an Osho Tarot card to share in class. It was titled Participation. Here’s the reading I shared:
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“Each figure in this mandala holds the right hand up, in an attitude of receiving, and the left hand down, in an attitude of giving. The whole circle creates a tremendous energy field that takes on the shape of the double dorje, the Tibetan symbol for the thunderbolt. The mandala has a quality like that of the energy field that forms around a buddha, where all the individuals taking part in the circle make a unique contribution to create a unified and vital whole. It is like a flower, whose wholeness is even more beautiful than the sum of its parts, at the same time enhancing the beauty of each individual petal.
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You have the opportunity to participate with others now to make your contribution to creating something greater and more beautiful than each of you could manage alone. Your participation will not only nourish you, but will also contribute something precious to the whole.”
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The second image in this post is the card itself. Half way through the class I looked up at this stain glass (pictured beside me) and realized that it’s the same shape as the flower on the card. That made me smile.
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I look for signs on the daily - subtle signs encouraging my walk on this path and this flower felt like one.
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I closed the class with a meditation of giving and receiving that I’ve only ever done in person but thought it would be cool to try it in the virtual space. We envisioned someone who inspires us on our left and someone we want to send love or support to on our right. I was left feeling a deep sense of love and belonging.
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To those of you who joined me - Thank You. It was a gift to share sacred space with you.

We are midway through Shadow School 30-Day Yoga Ch

We are midway through Shadow School 30-Day Yoga Challenge and I feel as though I’m at a crossroads...again.⁠
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This week, Steph asked me if I would be offering in-person training in the New Year. I stopped what I was doing (Steph and I tend to do too many things at once while talking) and thought about it. I realized I hadn’t thought about it at all. I feel I’m just getting used to offering my work in the virtual space, and I hadn’t even considered coming back into the physical space with my community.⁠
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The future still feels so uncertain — hasn’t it always been? I used to plan my work schedule a year out. Since covid and Karmen entered my life, I’ve had difficulty planning even three months out.⁠
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Has pandemic parenthood life made me more present?⁠
The short answer is yes.⁠
On the days I’m with Karmen, I plan our outings based on the weather in the next few hours.⁠
On the days I work, I plan my schedule in the morning.⁠
The thought of the future has been giving me a bit of anxiety lately — just pile that on top of my daily anxiety dose, and we’ve got what feels like a weighted blanket of heaviness. ⁠
Back under the covers, I go.⁠
No, no, up I get.⁠
Get dressed and start with baby steps.⁠
INHALE. Plan the next week. EXHALE.⁠
INHALE. Add three months. EXHALE.⁠
INHALE. Look into the future. EXHALE.⁠
What do I want to see?⁠
What do you want to see?⁠
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Is there space in our brains and lives to be both spontaneous and have an outline?⁠
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The obvious answer is, OF COURSE.⁠
The next question is HOW?⁠
How do we hold both the planned and spontaneous?⁠
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I’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below.⁠
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This coming week, I will try and make loose plans for the future while leaving pockets for the impromptu coffee you might invite me to.

We are conduits for energy and ideas. 👐🏼 Tea

We are conduits for energy and ideas.
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Teaching has always been a portal for me. When I sit at the beginning of a class, workshop or training, I close my eyes and open myself up to, what I call, the current. I slow down my breath and thoughts and listen to the whispers of spirit.
From that place and listening, I open my heart and eyes and teach.
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How do you connect to spirit?
Share in the comments below.
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Teacher friends and curious students, if you’d like to learn more about my teaching process, join me for the Art of Sequencing virtual training, Nov 5-8th.
You can for info in the link in my bio.
Early 🐥Price ends tomorrow.

Hello, fellow beings on the path,⁠ We’re enter

Hello, fellow beings on the path,⁠
We’re entering week 2 of Shadow School. We decided to go through the seven themes and revisit them each week for this yoga challenge as an experiment. We thought it would be interesting to return to the same themes several times over the 30 days to see how our experience of the classes and concepts changed.⁠
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The themes I chose are Fear, Guilt, Shame, Grief, Duplicity, Illusion and Attachment. Whew.⁠
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This week, attachment gave my breath and body the most resistance. I’ve been sitting with how attached I am to certain outcomes. I would define attachment as being invested in the outcome of an action or situation. The problem with attachment is that it takes you out of the present moment because you’re focused on the outcome. ⁠
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When you’re not present in your actions, you move with less awareness and are therefore not fully engaged with your whole self. So why is this a problem? The issue is that you lose the joy of the moment. And, if you’re with another, the joy in the exchange.⁠
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This week, and really since the beginning of Karmen’s life, I’ve been obsessing over my daughter’s sleep schedule. Without getting into the details, I’ll just say that I’ve been thinking about what time she should be asleep instead of enjoying and being present for the bedtime routine. I didn’t even catch myself until day 3 of this mindset. I realized it as I was rushing through her bath to try and make it to the bedtime story by the set time. As I got her dressed for bed, I took a few deep breaths and looked into her eyes. I was suddenly aware that I hadn’t really looked at her since we started the bath. ⁠
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At that moment, Karmen smiled at me, and I felt myself arrive—fully— into the room and our nightly exchange. I slowed down my breath, my pace and the rest of that night’s routine felt joyous.⁠
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What are you working with this week? ⁠
Share in the comments below. ⁠

This week you find me in a funny spot. I'm super e

This week you find me in a funny spot. I'm super excited, overwhelmed and ready to spend all my waking moments curled in bed with either a tv series or a big book of fiction. I'm waking up with thinking about work - what I want to offer, create and share with my community. Five minutes later I get overwhelmed with how much mundane work needs to get done - cooking, child rearing, cleaning, laundry etc. Then I close my eyes and wonder if I have time to watch or read for 10 minutes before I am needed out there. Can I do all the things while doing nothing? ⁠
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Some other questions I'm sitting with at the moment:⁠
᠅ Can I go big while lying under my duvet? ⁠
᠅ Can I tick off, what feels like, the endless tasks on my to do list, while rolling around on the ground with no goal in mind? ⁠
᠅ Can I cook all the meals for the week while I fantasize about the pizza in my freezer? ⁠
᠅ Can I continue to create and share with my community and minimize how long I spend on social media? ⁠
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What would you add to this list? ⁠
Are there any opposing feelings you are currently sitting with? ⁠
Share in the comments below. ⁠
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I leave with you with this gem...⁠
"The miracle of the psyche's ways is that even if you are halfhearted, irreverent, didn't mean to, didn't really hope to, don't want to, feel unworthy to, aren't ready for it, you will accidentally stumble upon treasure anyway. Then it is your soul's work to not overlook what has been brought up, to recognize treasure as treasure no matter how unusual its form."⁠
~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes⁠
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For more info and to join us for Shadow School this month, click on the link in my bio.

Hello Monday! I just wanted to share a few announ

Hello Monday! I just wanted to share a few announcements that are getting me excited about October, Shadow School - our next 30 day challenge. We’re doing things a little different this time around. 🧘🏻‍♀️3 Live classes a week for the month!!
-yep, I’m not only teaching Saturday mornings at 9am but will also be offering a 6am and 6pm Lila Flow class on Thursdays for the month - both will be 30 minutes long. What?!?! 📚Book list!
-for all you readers out there, Steph and I complied a list of our favorite books that have inspired us. 💻Daily email sent right to your inbox with links to the class of the day as well as a journaling prompt! 👜Practice With Clara tote bags!
-We’re giving away tote bags to anyone who has five of their friends sign up for the challenge. Have them put your name in the “How did you hear about my class?” question. We’ll keep track and send you one of our denim tote bags! For information on all the things, click on the 30 Day Challenge link in my bio. I’m really excited to get back into a daily yoga practice this month. Hope to see you there! 💁🏻‍♀️

Do you ever say something out loud and it surprise

Do you ever say something out loud and it surprises you - along with you leaving you wondering where you learned it?⁠
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I come from a long line of spontaneous speakers - that's a polite way of saying we speak before we think. It has worked out in my work life as I've spent a lot of time studying, therefore what comes out of my mouth is usually from an educated place. In my personal life, the results have been a mixed bag.⁠
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During the morning practice for the Equinox retreat on Tuesday, I started speaking of the power center in the belly and continued with that as my theme into the meditation. I had had a different meditation planned to share but something inside told me to share about the hara.⁠
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I've worked with the third chakra in the yoga tradition, the one point in the shamanic tradition and with the hara in the marital arts tradition for many years. I found it natural very for me to connect to - giving me energy and insight. When I feel centered I speak and move from my belly - when I'm off kilter I'm up in the ether feeling untethered and unable to focus. Our bellies hold so much wisdom - as these traditions I mentioned, along with many others, have figured out. ⁠
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On Tuesday morning I was offering a meditation to connect to our bellies, our innate wisdom and the term "hara" just came out. I couldn't remember, in the moment, where I heard it. I just went with it and continued sharing an exercise I've been doing the past few months to connect to my power. Afterwards, I got on the google oracle and searched it. The first article that came up explained that it's a Japanese term. I thought "of course!" - I learned it from my dear martial arts teacher, Constantine Darling, the creator of Chien Lung! ⁠
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There are a few traditions that believe that we have three minds - our mind, heart and gut/belly. The mind governs our intelligence, our heart governs our emotions and our gut governs our intuition. All three are important and need to be heard. ⁠
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A few questions to ponder:⁠
Which mind do you listen to the most often? Why do you think that is?⁠
When was the last time you said or did something that surprised you?

FAMILY!⁠ ⁠ School is going into session next w

FAMILY!⁠
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School is going into session next week and the topic we're focusing on is - YOU!⁠
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This event is 💠 FREE 💠for non-members! ⁠
Use the coupon code ⁠
🔱 SHADOW2021 🔱⁠
at checkout. ⁠
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Shadow School is your summons to acknowledge and connect to your wild side, work with your intense emotions, and expunge the parts of yourself you no longer need. ⁠
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Yoga is more fun with friends! Tag someone you think would benefit from daily yoga in the comments below. ⁠
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For all the information and to sign up, click on the ⁠
💀October 30 Day Challenge 💀 link in my bio.

Welcome to my favorite time of year – the fall equ

Welcome to my favorite time of year - the fall equinox - coming up on Sept 22nd. Not only are we moving into sweater, warm tea and soup weather, we're also moving into the more self reflective time of year. As the nights become longer, the days grayer here in Vancouver - we naturally start to slow down, think more and take the trip into, what I like to call, our spiritual basements.⁠
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As all good yogis do, it's time to set intentions for what we want to focus on in the coming season - i joke, kinda.⁠
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A few questions to ponder:⁠
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⭕ What have I observed in myself in the past few months? Habits? Thought patterns? Actions?⁠
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⭕What about myself would I like to learn more about?⁠
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⭕Where would I like to put my focus on the coming months, mind, body, spirit, all of them?⁠
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⭕What can I do on daily/weekly/monthly basis to either create the time/space to explore these intentions?⁠
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⭕Are there any affirmations, mantras, questions, that I can repeat to myself to remember my intention?⁠
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A few offerings to explore these intentions with me -⁠
🔵 Sept 21 - Day Long Virtual Retreat on Practice With Clara⁠
🔵 Oct 1-30 : A month of Shadow School with our 30 Day challenge on Practice With Clara⁠
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💥All the information is in the link in my bio.💥⁠
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PS-Instagram restricts how many words you can post. The saturday post is from my newsletter, if you like to read the whole shabang, sign up - link in me bio. ⁠
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“Instead of worrying about what you cannot contr

“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
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This has been my mantra in the last month or so.
I’ve been putting my energy into creation instead of mulling over what I can’t change or control. It’s been really helpful for my anxiety and head space.
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One of my creations I’m super proud of is the guidebook steph and I co-created for next week’s virtual equinox retreat.
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I’m so proud of it!
If you’re looking for inspiration this coming season, you can download it. Link is in my bio.
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I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.
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You can also join us for some or all of the retreat next Tuesday - it’s open to all.
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To access the guidebook, click on the link in my bio.
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Photo by the oh so talented @britkwasneyphoto ☀️

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