The Wave and the Water

Today I watched Shanti, my friend, my teacher, my sun ray, glisten in the ocean. She floated on her new birthday board, a dark silhouette amidst shades of blue...

Being that I mostly admire the ocean waist deep, I observed with utmost admiration and playful curiosity as she tackled her new hobby. Wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait ... and it occurred to me: there she was. There she was practicing her yoga in the water. Fierce little Shanti, always showing me things, always teaching.

She emerged from the ocean, dripping, salty, and grinning ear to ear. As I put my book down, she began to eagerly tell me the story of how she had been severely shaken by a huge wave the day before. It had thrown her around like a rag doll and made her lose all sense of up and down. Any perspective of ocean floor beneath or sky ceiling above, gone, just water and tiny Shanti. Naturally frightening.

As she sat down next to me, she expressed deep gratitude towards that moment. It had been her big fear, her source of hesitation and then it had happened. Just water and tiny Shanti. And it was okay. She emerged and got back on the mat, I mean ...

Wait, stand up, fall, get up, wait, stand up, ride, flow, fall, get up, wait...

The Wave and the Water

There are two dimensions to life, and we should be able to touch both. One is like a wave, and we call it the "historical dimension." The other is like the water, and we call it the "ultimate dimension," or "nirvana." We usually touch just the wave, but when we discover how to touch the water, we touch the highest fruit that meditation can offer.

-thich nhat hanh

Hot Vinyasa Flow - bring your water!

I am excited to announce that starting April (next week Tuesday, the 3rd) I will be teaching a Level 2 Hot Vinyasa Flow class at Yoga Shakti! It's Shakti's first ever official "hot yoga" class - come to life by student demand. I hope to see you sweat junkies on the playground. Tuesdays & Thursdays, Irvine Location, 9-10:30am

Found this flyer at YS! Looks nice :)

Please note that it's not Bikram style heat (105) but somewhere between 85-95F. However, don't let the 10-15 degrees fool you. It's quite easy to get dehydrated in this type of heat + rigorous asana, so please drink plenty of water before and after practice. Also, in any of my classes you are always welcome to leave the room for any reason - to cool down, to use the restroom, or get a drink [etc].

Heat increases the heart rate and may not be appropriate for pregnant women or people with cardiac problems, high blood pressure or autoimmune disorders! Everyone else, leave your wooly socks at home and I'll see you on a mat.

I also want to thank Lululemon at the Spectrum for having me as a guest teacher today. It's always great fun to be a part of their community. However, teaching around all those cute clothes always makes me want to shop (eeeeek), so I am glad I had to jet to teach another class, or it would have been a pricy morning (ha ha).

Every week, lululemon stores and showrooms push their products aside, unroll yoga mats and turn their spaces into instant yoga studios. If you're short on $ (because you spent it all on lulupants?) hit up their space for some free weekend yoga! FREE YOGA! That's fantastic.