Happy Summer!

I hope the blue sky and shining sun in of early Summer is bringing you a sense of ease and joy. Summer is often an active time of year, with the seasonal energy of yang, movement, growth, action, fun. You may be enjoying more time outdoors and enjoying the feeling of warmth. It’s a wonderful time to bring some intentional joy into your life and heart. Ānandā (आनन्दा) is a Sanskrit word that could be lightly defined as joy, bliss, the energy of bliss, a joy that is fully felt with the senses, happiness.

You might enjoy playing with one of these mantras from one of my most beloved books, The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche:

“I am nourished and filled with the bliss of my soul.” (Sva ananda bharitam)

“I am suffused with the nectar-essence of life.” (Sva amritam)

Lorin Roche defines amṛtā (अमृता) as immortal, imperishable, beautiful, beloved, the nectar of immortality. He suggests, “you could begin meditating with the amrita that permeates your body – sva amrita – and as you shift levels, you accept that the entire universe is filled with your joy and your essence. Or you could meditate on the cosmos and your body simultaneously as being filled with your ananda and amrita.”

May your days be nourished by your heart-felt practices, whatever they may be. We love to practice with you and hope to see you in the studio soon.

with ❤️,

Laela

Eugene's Saturday morning class themes for May–June

Join Eugene anytime during the next 6 weeks to dive a bit more deeply into class.

Eugene will be offering a six week, join at any time, series on Yoga Terms - making the inspirational words we hear in class more tangible, and incorporating them in our yoga practice and daily life.

“We will use anatomical details, imagery, poetry, yogic philosophy and daily wisdom to play with these concepts in our regular flow class.”

May 20 - Grounding / Nurturing

May 27 - Lengthening / Evolving

June 3rd - Releasing / Forgiveness

June 10th - Awareness / Compassion

June 17th - Courage / Opening

June 24th - Transformation / Healing

Class Schedule Changes in April

Hello dear community, we wanted to let you know about some upcoming class changes and cancellations.

Wednesday evening yin with Anna has been cancelled. Anna will continue teaching yin both Monday and Friday mornings at 7 am. It’s a lovely way to start the day. We hope you’ll join her.

Starting in May Wednesday morning flow with McKenna will transform to Wednesday morning Sunrise Yoga with Amber from 6:30-7:30 am. Big thanks to McKenna for holding beautiful meditative flow classes on Wednesdays. McKenna looks forward to connecting with our community with workshops and specialty classes from time to time.

We also are cancelling the noon classes on Mondays and Wednesdays with Amelia. We will get to practice with Amelia through the end of April, so please book a class with her while you can. We do hope to stay in touch and hope to see her in the studio and in the neighborhood.

Thank you to our wonderful teachers – it has been an absolute treasure learning with and from you!!

Poems to welcome Spring

These are only a few poems that remind us of Spring. Please feel free to add your own. Happy Spring everyone!

Near Spring Equinox by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish –

A ruby crocus near the porch sends up

hope—winter of sorrow is waning

the dire moon of almost-spring rises

full with promise of renewal,

shaming twinkling city lights in its splendor. 

I search for my faith, wonder where

I lost it, find it in deep cinnamon

mud smushing up between my toes.

Across a spent field, a lake in shadow

serenades curvature of earth.

As if on cue, a comet streaks

across somber roiling river of sky.

+

Spring by Mary Oliver –

Somewhere
a black bear
has just risen from sleep
and is staring

down the mountain.
All night
in the brisk and shallow restlessness
of early spring

I think of her,
her four black fists
flicking the gravel,
her tongue

like a red fire
touching the grass,
the cold water.
There is only one question:

how to love this world.
I think of her
rising
like a black and leafy ledge

to sharpen her claws against
the silence
of the trees.
Whatever else

my life is
with its poems
and its music
and its glass cities,

it is also this dazzling darkness
coming
down the mountain,
breathing and tasting;

all day I think of her -—
her white teeth,
her wordlessness,
her perfect love.

Welcome by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg –

You come through the gate,

and your life on earth begins:

green wavering into the hue

of early spring, the growing

heat pouring leaf into form

just as you did, are doing,

will do with lack, rain, rivers,

kisses, wind, and horizons

that come each turning.

You stand up in your dream,

lean on the fence, look wide

toward the lights spilled

across the black expanse

that carries the world.

The next destination pours

toward you as you walk.

A thunderhead powers upward,

spends itself over the past,

behind you to your left.

You turn and look one direction,

then another until you’re back

where you started: welcome

as rain in the tall reach of the weather

of your body, of this life

that breathes in time, breathes out light.

+

Revery by Fenton Johnson –

1. 

I was the starlight 

I was the moonlight 

I was the sunset, 

Before the dawning 

          Of my life; 

I was the river

Forever winding 

To purple dreaming, 

I was the glowing 

Of youthful Springtime, 

I was the singing 

Of golden songbirds,—

        I was love.

            2. 

I was the sunlight,

I was the twilight,  

I was the humming

Of winged creatures

    Ere my birth; 

I was the blushing 

Of lily maiden, 

I was the vision 

Of youthful striving, 

I was the summer, 

I was the autumn, 

I was the All-time—

      I was love