October 17-23: Getting Started

Teaching Schedule:

Thursday 7am, The People's Yoga North, Morning Flow

Fall is here!  Apples and pears from a friend's orchard, thanks!

Thanks to everyone who made it to classes this week- we had a great time at the Morning Flow class at People's and the weekend classes at Sellwood Yoga and Exhale were a great time.  In the next few months I will be teaching and subbing at a lot of different studios, you can always check my website for details or sign up to get weekly emails which include my schedule for the week ahead.  Of course, you can always email me with any questions.

I have had a great time over the last week practicing with different teachers in Portland.  There are a lot of strong and talented teachers here and they all have something wonderful to offer.  Thank you so much to all I have met already, I am looking forward to continuing to expand my practice- it feels so good to be back in a studio every day again!

A month back I took an Ayurveda workhsop in Seattle with Tami Hafzalla.  Since then I have been integrating a few of the things I learned there to make it through winter time and maintain a sense of balance.  I wanted to share 2 techniques that have made a huge difference in my days:

So Hum (I am that) meditation: I've incorporated this simple mantra into my morning meditations, just 5 minutes or so each morning, in my head, I think 'So' on the inhale and 'Hum' on the exhale, the sounds match the breath and makes it easy to stay focused.  On the mornings that it is hard for me to settle in and sit still this seems to calm me and help me find my center.

Abhyanga Massage with Raw Sesame Oil:  Each morning before my shower I rub sesame oil (raw, not toasted, the smell is very mild) on my arms and legs, paying special attention to my fingers and toes since they tend to have poor circulation and get chilly.  I wait 5-10 minutes after that and then take a nice warm shower.  My skin feels soft and moisturized all day long and I seem to stay warmer throughout the day.  Sesame oil has a warming quality to it and supports circulation.  I am not a big fan of lotions, they always seem to have a strong scent and I have to reapply them throughout the day, the oil is once a day and adds a bit of luxury to my shower.  I suggest you try it out.

Hope to see you all on he mat soon!