Who the hell are you?

No really think about that - and make sure you're reading that question like this: Who the hell are you? (Instead of how we usually think of it "Who the hell are you?")


Why do I ask this? --- think about the two contexts of those same five words: in one instance, it is a question directed outward, and in the other, it is a question directed inward.

We've all heard the term "giving away your power." Well, in the sense of Chakras (which is the kick I'm on for this holiday season) the third chakra - which is located at the soft spot between your belly button and your solar plexus, and is called the MANIPURA - is our sense of self. Our sense of self-worth. Our sense of power. It means "city of gems," which seems entirely random, unless you dig a little deeper (which I always love to do). It is our own individual "city of gems;" a place of resource and power.

Where last week's sacral chakra svadisthana (the lower abdomen, where the base of the spine connects to the hip bones), is about pleasure and enjoyment, and the first chakra muladhara was about our primal selves (survival, or fear, if that survival is compromised), the manipura goes a bit further. Our sense of self is awakened, and along with it, an ability to choose - to use willpower, and be proactive, instead of reactive or inactive.

Sooooooo, realistically, there's no way to realize and actualize everything that the chakras represent in one week's time. But, like I allllllways say, hang on to what works for you, be willing to learn a bit at a time, and as my Minneapolis yogi hero Laurel Van Matre would say,

ITS ABOUT SHOWING UP.

Hope to see many of you on Sunday :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)

Get your insides ready for the "H word."

HOLIDAYS.  They'e coming. 

No - don't look at the displays in stores (that are already there on October 4th).  It cannot be healthy. You know what is? Getting your digestion ready. As in, help all that yummy food make its way through you, like its supposed to.  Read on. (there's a story.... as there always is with me.)

I have a tendency to be the kind of practitioner - in ALL my practices: music, yoga, cooking, teaching - who likes to get bare bones instruction and then physically figure it out on my own, trial and error. Yet, last weekend during master yogi Christina Sell's visit from Austin, we referenced B.K.S. Iyengar's Light On Yoga several times for alignment. (For those of you saying BK-WHA?? Iyengar is considered one of the modern-day grandfathers of yoga who helped bring its teachings to the western world).

So every once and a while I get on this kick of "oh yeah, lets read that book, written by that master." for a few weeks. Today marks day 2-in-a-row of me practicing with my trustee "yoga bible" Lino Miele's Astanga Yoga. 

So I'm sitting there on the floor in perhaps my favorite pose of them all: Paschimattanasana. (a.k.a. seated stretch.) And when I say favorite, I mean sometimes I will hang out here for fifteen minutes or more and simply RELISH in all that internal shifting. So I thought - what is it about this thing? Why does it feel SO good to me?  Well, according to Mr. Miele (and Astanga master Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and a doctor, and a few other contributors), this pose is pretty key to all the abdominal organs, which all aid in digestion and blood purification. Which I found interesting (and telling) that I love this pose so much, and I happen to be someone with all kinds of interesting digestive issues (gluten, dairy, probably all kinds of other things I've never seemed to pinpoint). So it shouldn't be too surprising to see that this pose is like YOGA GOLD for digestion.

<-- This was literally me, sitting in one of the other poses (which happens to be super fun to say - all together now!: Triang Mukhaepada Paschimattanasana) reading about regular old Paschimattanasana and all the inner goodness it provides us.

Hoo ray for digestion!  There's more, come to class :)

Yoga with Calley (normal schedule!):

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (for beginners!)
Tuesdays @ 6:30 pm - Full Circle Yoga