It's the last day of LOVE Month

 February always gets me thinking about my  direction in life. This is the time when I start to  get spring fever, and want to move on to the  next step. Which can be dangerous, because the  seasons would have us stay in a nice slow mode  until winter is actually over. The result? Well,  for me this time it meant a big fat does of the  flu. Stay slow, Calley. Stay measured, enjoy  your precious little down time. These are the  things I have to remind myself.

 This thing I teach called YOGA, I've come to  realize after all these years of practice, is really  just continually cultivating your relationship  with your SELF by way of physically movement, stretches, breath, and stillness - and attempting new iterations of those four things, SO THAT you can better interact with the world around you. If you're a physically delicate flower like myself (with a good dose of fiery energy), you need a little more time to restore, reflect, and take care of yourself so you can just be functional. I accepted these parts of myself years ago as I was suffering through allergies that seemed to rule my life. Interestingly, I think the modern world and all its fast - paced - ness is causing more and more of us to feel the suffering of not taking enough breaks!

And I not-so-suddenly find myself in a position of teaching the very tools that I've collected for myself over the years to help others move through their lives more healthfully. It is always my goal as a teacher to make yoga very approachable. There are plenty of pictures of slim fit yogis doing crazy backbends and advanced poses, but this has never been my motivation as a practitioner, and it is definitely not my motivation as a teacher. My motivation is this: take time for yourself, so you can be your best self, so you can enjoy your life and the advantages that lie all around you.

That's it. That's why I get on my mat, its why I have to continue to get on my mat if I want those benefits, and its what I hope to teach (along with healthy form so as not to cause injury) to my students.

In the last few years, I've used February as a time to reach out to my "framily" and remind them how much a part of my life they are. And this year, as I augment my skills around my business, entertainmentjill.com, I decided to create an audio picture poem to go with the whole thing. The video is posted at the top of this post, and I hope it reminds or inspires you to complete your own cycle of love back to yourself in whatever ways that you need.

Happy Leap Year!!

#YogaWithCalley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

   

Sundays @ 10:30am - 90 min - Mixed Level II Vinyasa

Mondays @ 5:15pm - 60 min - Mixed Level I Vinyasa

1229 Tyler Street Northeast, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Yoga Garden is cash / check only. 

Please note the doors to the FROST building lock 15 minutes after the start of each class.

I'm done with all the bullshit.

This is an exciting time to be a yoga teacher. Yoga is expanding beyond something that only flexible white girls do. And in keeping with fostering my knowledge of how to help people help themselves, I know that I will have to continue my studies. I'll have to get trained, and certified, and get stamps on pieces of paper in the ways that the modern world wants me to, so that they know I'm qualified to be this thing called a yoga teacher.

As a relatively new yoga teacher of 1.5 yrs, but a practitioner of a dozen years exploring Anusara, Ashtanga, and several other offshoots of classical and tantric styles of yoga.... Well, I feel like I'm starting to know enough about this stuff to call bullshit.

You know when someone starts giving you advice on something, and you realize that they are more interested in telling a fact than understanding it? Or worse, they're actually miserable in their life and decisions, while they impart all their "wisdom" onto you? Stick with this, it relates:

As a person- as a part of my community and the director of my life- I am interested in having experiences. And I'm interested in having them from a place of balance, where I am aware that I'm having experiences. There is stress, there is hurt, there is laughter, there is love, and loneliness, and excitement, and responsibility, and patience, and losing patience... and these are all part of the game. It's not about only having one side of the experience wheel. Its actually not just about making money, and being impressive, and knowing things, and having things, and being viewed as a success.

It's about all of it. And experiencing it fully, so that you can then leave it, and experience the next thing fully.

This is one of the many reasons why I practice yoga. This is what I have always looked for in yoga teachers. This is what I hope to impart as I have begun to teach yoga. As an ongoing practitioner, I've refined my ideas about what is really yoga for me. I now look for teachers who can guide my thinking around the way I experience.

Like most who come to yoga, I was looking to "fix" something. Since I was a child I struggled with mental focus (call it ADD, anxiety, depression... or just call it living in the modern world - who isn't struggling with one of these in 2015?). After horrible allergies to plants and dust that started at age twenty-three, and lasted for years on end, leaving me something like a carrying vessel for mucous, and a direct supplier to my allergy specialist's annual salary... After trying cleanse after cleanse, an all-organic diet, a gluten-free diet, soy-free, corn-free, dairy-free, all kinds of herbs... After being a sick person looking for something to fix me... After years of observing that indeed when my mind was in the tank, my body followed... After finding a diet that seemed to stabilize me (gluten free, easy on the uncultured dairy) and after believing that I had to blindly follow the teachings of some untouchable yoga guru in order to get closer to this nebulous idea of enlightenment or even something as simple as happiness...

After all that, frankly, I'm done with that bullshit. Yes, those are experiences. And the bad is part of what we have to deal with in this life, as much as the good. But did you notice something about that paragraph? It's all focusing on getting somewhere. Its all focusing on getting rid of something. If you're always going toward, or getting away from, you're never just... THERE.

There's a lot of yoga today that focuses on these things. We are a culture that ignores our bodies until we can't, and then we pay all kinds of attention to sickness. And I feel like after twelve years of practice, and searching, and piecing together clues about diet, and emotions, and reactions, and treatments... I have done my fair share of looking ahead and behind for myself, my body, and my life.

Now I focus on what I have. I focus on what I enjoy, and what feels good. Its a relatively new way of thinking for me - only about a year if I'm to be honest. (And why NOT be honest?) But the change in my body is visible. The change in my persona is like a breath of fresh air. The change in my outlook of my options, my life, my advantages and disadvantages, the love I've had and lost, and my capacity to try... its all changed, and it feels fucking fantastic. And it feels much more simple because I allow it to be.

What do I have? (Not what do I want, or what don't I have.)

Of course, knowing a thing and using it are different. Now that I know this way of approaching my breath, and stiffness, and soreness, and challenging poses, and challenging life moments... one moment at a time, I can redirect my thinking to what I have. What is here, and working. How do I augment that so that I can make the next thing work? My yoga mat is my 2-foot by 6-foot space to practice these skills. And that's the way I want to continue to practice. And that's why I practice at YOGA Garden Minneapolis.

LAUREL VAN MATRE, YOU A BADDASS YOGI.

Sugar Kicker #5: Apple Crisp

This stuff was so good I ate the whole bleep bleep pan before I could take a picture of it. but you know what apple crisp looks like.... like this:

                      +  





            = 

Or something.

Try it. It's delicious:

BOWL #1
- 4 cups apples, cut up into wedges (I mixed Jonagold, Honeycrisp, and Zestar) Skinned if you prefer.
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- a few drops of pure almond extract
- 1 cup chopped up dates

BOWL #2
Mix in a separate bowl
- 1/8 cup quinoa flour
- 1/8 cup corn starch
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/2 cup sucanat -- this stuff is pricey, but has the best flavor of the "low glycemic sugar substitutes" that I've tried. I'ts basically raw maple sugar, and has a nice nutty flavor I like, similar to maple syrup. You could also try maple syrup, but the liquid factor might make your crisp a little gummy. Sucanat is a powdery granule substance like sugar.
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
-1/2 teaspoon salt
- 4 Tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces.

Use your hands and mix all of bowl #2 together, crushing the butter into the mixture till its crumbly.

Grease a 9 x 9 pan
Throw the apple (bowl #1) in the bottom.
Sprinkle bowl #2 on top.

Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes.

Let stand, serve with any goddamned thing you want, its delicious with anything.

#YogaWithCalley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

  

Sundays @ 10:30am - 90 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa

Mondays @ 5:15pm - 60 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa
1229 Tyler Street Northeast, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Yoga Garden is cash / check only. 

Please note the doors to the FROST building lock 15 minutes after the start of each class.

Sugar Kicker #3: "Caramel" Sauce

Ok, I went ahead and put "caramel" in quotations because this really isn't caramel. It's like vegan "sausage..." it's NOT sausage.

That said, whatever you want to call this, it is DELICIOUS, and is rich and sweet and creamy like caramel sauce. Right down to the ooey-gooey- texture we love about caramel.

Go nuts and put this on ice cream, apples for fall, as a lovely dairy-free frosting for a spice cake... or you know... spoon & jar.

NOT-CARAMEL SAUCE

Ingredients:
½ cup coconut oil
1/3 cup almond butter
½ cup maple syrup
seeds from ½ a vanilla bean pod or 1 tsp vanilla
up to ¼ teaspoon salt (start with a pinch)


Preparation:
Blend all ingredients, starting with a ¼ teaspoon of the salt, in a food processor or very strong blender.  Pulse until well combined, then let it process for several minutes. Taste to check salt level and add more if desired.  The mixture will warm slightly in the processor and the textures will meld, eventually forming a gooey, delicious caramel.

When you're done, it looks like this:


Aaaaaaand, if you want to watch a rather humorous video with a couple of women who show you how its done, and who really enjoy this stuff, CLICK HERE.


I had a student tell me today that she lost 10 lbs in the month of September, just from keeping sugar out of her diet.

Now again, I feel the need to disclaimer - I'm not a doctor, or a licensed food or health coach, and the whole point of what we do in yoga is to familiarize yourself with YOUR body and they way it reacts to things. Your age, stress level, the rest of your diet, activity level, genetics... they all play a part, and everyone is different. But in my corner of the world people have been telling me they have more energy and have been surprised at the difference, and I hope you're all experiencing some change in energy or feeling of well-being as well.

Hope to see you in class this week!

#YogaWithCalley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:30am - 90 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa

Mondays @ 5:15pm - 60 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa
1229 Tyler Street Northeast, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Yoga Garden is cash / check only. 

Please note the doors to the FROST building lock 15 minutes after the start of each class.

Sugar-Kicker #1: Banana Ice Cream

All it is is frozen bananas, ripened to your liking, blended in a food processor or blender.

That's literally it. And it tastes delicious.



If you want a little more for flavor like me, add some unsweetened cocoa powder (2-3 Tablespoons), and a teaspoon of vanilla. Or really, any other flavor you like: hazelnut extract, cinnamon, penut butter, vanilla extract by itself....

If you reeeeeeally need to see a whole step-by-step recipe, click here.


Happy no sugar-ing! Hope to see you in class this week!!

#YogaWithCalley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:30am - 90 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa

Mondays @ 5:15pm - 60 min - Mixed Level Vinyasa
1229 Tyler Street Northeast, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Yoga Garden is cash / check only. 

Please note the doors to the FROST building lock 15 minutes after the start of each class.

Why I Teach Yoga

I'm a musician to my core. Since I was a baby I've been musical. Singing was all I ever wanted to do. And I've been singing and working professionally - with varying degrees, and various parts of the entertainment industry - since I was nineteen. Since moving to Minnesota in 2013, a lot of things have shifted. For one, this is the smallest market I've worked in as a free-lancer, and I'm attempting to delve into a new area of entertainment in voice over and production. The days of paying bills with music have been skinny since I moved here, and I've had to be patient and realize that I'm attempting new things in a new place. I recently went to my formerly-usual Monday night hang at Ice House, and one of my musician buddies said,

"Calley you ever gonna come back to music?" 

He was referring to all the pushing I've been doing for my yoga classes. It made me think. I didn't really think that I'd left music, its just that work can be hard to come by when you're the new girl in town, and I'm putting efforts in new directions, including a very exciting project which is currently in the works.

But it also made me think about why I'm teaching yoga.

How to consolidate into one post?! I'm teaching yoga because I love to teach, and I love the way yoga makes me feel, and I think there are plenty of options of studios and teachers out there for flexible, pretty girls to feel good about touching their toes. Trust me, I am alllllways all about girls feeling better about themselves, especially the pretty ones who often get pegged as bitchy, or snotty, or dumb. Those girls deserve happiness as much as any other human. But with the growth of yoga as a business and a presence in our culture, I see a need for teachers who can connect with other types of seekers. The yoga I love and teach may help you feel better immediately, but its essence is never in the expectation for a quick fix. I teach with the intent to stay true to why I started practicing, and help offer this resource to others who are looking for a resource.


I recently came across an article on Omeleto about this yogi from Durham, NC. I don't know this girl from Eve, I have no idea if she's a great yoga teacher or not, but man do I stand for what she stands for.

And I hope she's an inspiration for some of you to invite your own humility, love yourself into a new habit, and show up on the mat.

Do What You Want - #DWUW

It doesn't take long for anyone who meets me to realize the things I'm most passionate about: music and yoga. The former has been a part of my professional life since I was nineteen, and the latter was
always my little gift to myself. Music is the thing I've made - with varying amounts of success, depending on the year - into my profession. Yoga was like my power cape that I brought with me everywhere. I put that cape on, and man, I can get through anything.

Over the years, I've had a handful of friends who have known me for varying amounts of time come to a very similar realization that they felt compelled to tell me: This yoga stuff is incredible. In fact I remember my friend Cameron once saying to me, "Damn I feel good. Its like some ancient wisdom."

After twelve years of practice, in four different US markets, with dozens of teachers and a handful of styles under my belt, I still feel like a beginner in the vast world that is yoga, but that very word -

V A S T

- is the reason I think yoga is so effective for so many people. "Yoga" is now common enough in our culture that it has a common association: flexible, healthy women in attractive active wear. In fact, just the other day I invited a friend to come to my class and he said he was worried that, as a young adult male, he'd be distracted by all the beautiful women in the class. This goes to show you what our cultural perception is of "yoga."

But this is exactly why I chose to add the hat of "teacher" to my yoga rack. Part of yoga's beauty - and its incredible and never-ending challenge - is that it can be an activity of almost any nature you need: yes it is a workout....  but also

It is muscular strength training, if you choose to engage your muscles in that way...

It is relaxation, if you bring focus to where your body is tight and have the patience to use your breath and invite the muscles and facia (the fibers that bind your muscles to your bones and organs) to release...

It is emotional healing, if you allow yourself to truly feel what you are feeling in that moment, no matter how beautiful or ugly your feelings may be...

It is allowing empty time for your brain, if you make efforts to try and think of nothing, and just breathe, and know that when your mind wanders back to active thinking, you are patient and bring it back to nothing...

It is a lesson in work and perseverance, if you use your breath, your deep down strength, and your belief that you can conquer this pose!...

It is physical healing, if you are patient with the limitations of your body on that day, and know with time, repetition, and attention, you can heal your ailments...

So yoga is whatever you want it to be. It's learning yourself, your habits, your body, your mind behavior, your sticking points, your stuff that makes you YOU. That's why you hear so often in yoga classes and yoga speak, "your practice." Because you really can do whatever you want. Teachers are there to suggest, to notice from an outside perspective, and to help, using their experience.

But the learning is up to you: DO WHAT YOU WANT. #DWUW

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (great for beginners!)
1229 Tyler Street Northeast, Minneapolis, MN 55413

Yoga Garden is cash / check only. 

Please note the doors to the FROST building lock 15 minutes after the start of each class.

Push Through or Back Off?

This is not a blog going out to hundreds of people, so you guys get a little special-ized Calley-centric perspective on yoga / health / wellness as I've gathered bits of info and practice over the last twelve years. And welcome to the mailing list for the new-comers!This week I was reminded of the importance of practice. As in, not talking about it, not thinking about it, actually doing it: practicing. Life has been a bit of a juggling act for me lately, as I'm moving into new business with my VO / production work, keeping the day job, teaching yoga, and somewhere in there hosting a podcast (that's been a liiiiiiiiiittle bit on hiatus through this time). I have not been getting on the mat as much as I want or need in the past month +, and so last week when I re-committed to not just squeezing in yoga here and there, but really dedicating time to practice FOR myself... ay ay ay. I'm a little rusty in some poses, I'm a little sore in some places, and I got a big fat cold.

Enter the perfect scenario to talk about pushing through or backing off? For me in this time period, pushing through means giving myself T.I.M.E. on the mat. As in, dedicate the whole freaking hour, because frankly there's only so much I can get done in terms of bettering my health and practice in 15 minutes (though I am ALWAYS the champion of 15 minutes is better than no minutes. Its the tactic I always recommend for people wanting to do more yoga - 15 minutes every day will take you farther than 1 hour per week in my experience). But once I got on the mat, and re-acquainted with my beloved Astanga primary series, I was reminded that oh yeah... I don't have the same stamina right now. Time to back off. Take some extra breaths. Sit in the pose a little longer, till I can really feel my body shift and move INTO the pose. If you don't know what I mean, go sit in child's pose or down dog or even stand on your floor in tadasana (aka mountain pose, aka standing with the attempt to have equal weight and balance in the left / right and front / back body) for FIVE WHOLE MINUTES. I mean it. Put a timer on. You will then understand that "pushing through" or "backing off" is a moment - by - moment adjustment, and only you can actually DO either of those things. A teacher can recommend, but at the end of the day, we're all our own keepers.Hope to see you tomorrow (or this) morning!

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

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

---

Don't Be A Barnacle

Before I tell you WHY you shouldn't be a barnacle, know that you're getting a double post this week, as I finish this cycle of talking about chakras, and how they can help guide your practice.

First a cheater - this was last weeks:

Chakra #6 of 7

I'm leaving you with simple words on this Saturday - the first of the new year.

Health is not hype. 
Its not something you can read in a magazine, or buy in the right pair of exercise pants, or get on an app. Health is a practice, its the way we see ourselves, the choices we make every day (or week... some days you just gotta get the Ben and Jerry's pint and eat the whole damn thing). Its the pits we fall into and then how we choose to either be thrown by them, or find a way - maybe a new way - to get out of them.

Your health is only yours to own and to practice. And with the freshness of the new year, this can be a great time to make an effort in that direction, whatever that means for you. This is what yoga has given me time and time again. Yoga is the the thing I can count on no matter what to treat me well, give me space, and help me find the light.

Change in unavoidable, but choosing to evolve with the change is easy to avoid. And that's why we have community, trial and error, and ultimately, ourselves.

Tomorrow we welcome the new year with a brief description of Ajna - the 6th Chakra which helps us observe the inner and the outer as a witness, an observer. It is a great place to start the new year and attempt something new without beating ourselves up for what we have done, or not done, before.

And now  Chakra #7 of 7

We're at the top, folks! The crown of the head, the point in the body where we no longer exist only physically, but where we start to understand a sense of greater connection - that we really are all a part of something larger than ourselves. I don't mean to get all Avatar on you guys (though I will completely admit to being a cheeseball about how much I LOVE this movie), but truly the challenge in accepting that we are a part of a larger unit is attachment. 

And enter the CROWN CHAKRA - SAHASRARA. This is the place where thought ceases, and is taken over by the sensations of peace, bliss, serenity, joy, and a feeling of the deeper meaning of life. The challenge of realizing these sensations is that they are just that - sensations. You can think about it, you can't muscle your way into it with logic - it is a letting go of our logical need to put it in a box, to control. You have to allow the thoughts to go, and the feelings to take over, and this is not an easy task. 

Do you see why I say don't be a barnacle? Not to sound like such a stereotype, but you gotta just let go...man.  Tee hee. This is why we breathe. It's why we practice being in our bodies and get out of our minds. There is value in unplugging, allowing the brain time to rest and not be in a state of work, and damnit if this isn't a huge tool towards greater happiness, and health. Which is kiiiiiiiiind of the point. We're all working on this together, one big happy (amongst other emotions) humanity. 

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

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

Speak truth, and "Be One With The Force." (A little Star Wars for your Saturday)

We're onto Chakra number 5 this week - Vishuddha - or throat Chakra. It is the location where our air enters the body, and get purified. This is where we draw air in, release air out, and tie in breathing practices like Ujjayi breathing, which I've been talking about in my classes - the one that sounds like you're trying to sound like Darth Vadar.

Physically, the nerves in this area are connecting our speaking and hearing centers. Taking that a step further beyond the physical, this is where our ability to express our unique and authentic selves lay. You may have heard the phrase "speak your truth," and this is where we realize this - its about
FINDING TRUTH THAT IS UNIQUE TO YOU
and is not bound by definitions of cultural and family conditioning. As Communication Central for the body and mind, it also governs
OUR ABILITY TO LISTEN AND AUTHENTICALLY HEAR OTHERS,
allowing for the basic human need of being heard.

As we've moved up the Chakras, we've gone through the elements (Earth to Water to Fire to Air) and we are now at Ether with Vishuddha - which in chemistry is an oxygen molecule mixed with 2 other alkyl or aryl molecules. This formula is only one molecule's change from water or alcohol. I like to use this practical thinking of something that is not quite water and not quite alcohol, but also realizes the previous four elements, and connects us to our own very life force: breath.


I also like to visualize the Hindu belief that this is the access point for both nectar - air coming in - and poison - air going out. They call this Amrita, and every breath IN is an opportunity to bring in new life, healing breath, soothing nectar, or **insert happy positive thought**. Every breath OUT is an opportunity to release old poisonous air (of which is very true, we know that exhales contain carbon dioxide, which our bodies make as waste), release tensions and expectations, or **insert thing that causes you pain and stress**.

It's gonna be a whoooooole lotta good heavy breathing this Sunday in class. Think of it like that exhilarating rush of fogging up the windows when you're a teenager... only less touching, and more self time. :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

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

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!)

Bandhas, breath, chakras, sex organs?

I've always kind of enjoyed being that friend / relative / person who says the thing that you're not supposed to say because its sooooo unCOUTH. But see, that's the thing with yoga - its supposed to be about dealing with real feelings, emotions, physical characteristics, etc. no matter what they are. Its good to unbutton every once and a while in life. (Hey, if we can adopt "It's 5:00 somewhere," we can use the word procreation when talking about yoga - especially around the holidays when its getting nice and cold outside... and everyone is warm inside... yeah you get it.)

So on that note, this Sunday in class (12/7/2014), we'll briefly talk about the second chakra - SVADHISTHANA, or the LOWER ABDOMINAL / SACRAL CHAKRA - which means "dwelling place of the self," and is directly governed by - you guessed it - the sex organs. It's also about emotions, sociablity, and movement.
Why talk about this? Welll...

READ LAST WEEK'S POST

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

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

What, What, What are you DOING?

Process: its how you get from A to B. To bake a cake there is a process. To launch a product there is a process. If you have a job - of any kind - chances are you understand that the "final deliverable" of whatever you do, is 1% of your job.  The rest of it is the process getting there.

There is a common phrase you'll hear in the yoga world (or at least the Astanga world) that says yoga is 99% practice, and 1% theory. Which I personally remind myself every time I can't remember the damned sanscrit name for a pose. My brain is just not fast at remembering terms and random factoids.  But processes: there I'm golden. (Good thing I'm a musician and a yogi right? Can you imagine, "Hello I'm Doctor Bliss, and you have an infection in your.... oh dear, what's it called?")

I'm re-using this fun little moving gif that I created for a post a few months back:

- partly cause it was a challenge to TAKE all the individual photos in the 3-second window from "click button" to "be in pose" so I wanna get some use out of this puppy.
- partly cause I'm too lazy and warm here in my bed on Saturday morning to get up and take a new picture for you all. Please forgive.
- partly cause these are great to look at process:

On first glance, here are the "end deliverables":
1 - reach hands up
2 - bend forward at the waist
3 - plank
4 - slow push-up for chaturanga dan
dasana

But lets talk about it from the perspective of process:
1 - reach hands up
     a. make sure feet are spread wide, even contact with the floor from all points of the foot
     b. feel your feet rooting down into the mat, but meanwhile lift energy up through the arches of the foot, and continue that muscular / energetic pull all the way up the legs to the hips
          i. toes are gently touching, heels are 1-2 inches apart, so as to open up the sacral muscles in your low back
          ii. legs are turning slightly in towards one another, activating this idea of a "hugging the middle line" up through the center of the body.
     c. feel the base of the spine strongly connected to the hips, and helping with the rooting sensation in the feet.
     d. feel the spine grow up gently out of the base, respecting your natural spinal curve.
     e. feel your shoulders resting on top of you elongated spine, as though they were placed on top of the spine, and are dangling around it, with a nice, relaxed, wide base across the clavicle and front of the shoulders.
     f. keeping this weighty, relaxed, "dangling" feeling in the shoulders, attempt to raise the arms to the sky, reaching out first, then swooping up, all the while, not allowing the shoulders to become part of the lift.
          i. take note that if you think of your arms as lifting up and out of the belly or even low back, it can help the feeling of keeping the shoulders down.

AND THAT'S JUST #1.  

So take that idea, and apply it to the harder poses. (This is also why its good to ask questions!) You will start to see that even in yoga, all the "end deliverables" (the shape, the pose, the form) is really just many many processes.

It's not about what you can or cannot do. 

IT'S ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minneapolis:

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

Ah yes, The horse.

This is a pre-emptive post for a lot of us - I will likely be linking back to it the first week of January, when we're all thinking about New Years' resolutions, and of course everyone's favorite one is something to do with health, wellness, or fitness. (Enter our magic friend yoga. Stick with her, she's slow to commit.)

But it's worth talking about while I'm revved up about it. Some days you just have to say, "Oh well, today I fell off. Tomorrow I'll get back on the horse."

Case in point - for the last 14 days or so I have be a BAD yogini... I was traveling for a tour with this lady, and you know, when you're traveling all day, playing shows at night, and then catching up with friends, or meeting new ones something has to give. So I did get on my mat a few times, and even got in a whole 45 minutes once on the trip. But mostly I did 10 minutes of salutations, and that has been it.

So what do I decide to do tonight?  Eat a bowl of crack-corn (as I call it) at midnight, when I'm teaching yoga in 10 hours, after not having taught for 2 weeks. I'm already off this damned horse, I figured I might as well get one last roll in the grass before I hop on back up.

I know, I know, there's all kinds of health professionals who would be telling me "never binge before you start (or return to) a routine."  You know what I say to them?  "It's one goddamned bowl of popcorn. It's not gonnna kill me, it makes me happy, and I'm still gettting on the freaking horse in the morning, leave me alone."

For real. This is why I chose yoga. Theres enough expectation out there to choke a bear. Yoga is a great place to just come to breathe, come to learn, come to turn off, and know that its always ok to just do what you can today. The yoga horse is chained to your ankle. He walks with you, and is always up for a trot around the block. You just have to show up :)

Yoga with Calley at Yoga Garden Minnneapolis:

Sundays @ 10:00am - Abbreviated Ashtanga (for beginners!)
Tuesdays @ 5:30 pm - Full Spectrum Yoga (new name, same class!)