we are all one

Murmuration

A chance encounter and shared moment with one of natures greatest and most fleeting phenomena.

Check it out!


Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

stretch and decompress

What do you do when you're feeling sore from too much yoga?  Do more yoga!

My body is sore and tired.  I've recently taken on more classes and yesterdays schedule kicked my ass.  I have a nice little mix throughout the week between classes and privates.   But yesterday was a day full of classes and it was exhausting.  When teaching a one-one session I demo here and there but mainly rely on verbal cueing, physical adjustments and gossiping during down dog.  Aside from the odd dry throat from yammering on, it doesn't take much out of me.

But yesterday I taught four classes, three of which were back to back.  These were core flow classes which is a mix between Pilates and yoga.  By the third class I had a serious case of the wobbles in warrior 1, by the fourth class I all but fell over.  These are beginner classes with people who have "heard" of yoga and want to give it a try.  They don't know their chaturanga from their vrksasana and don't seem to care.  They want and NEED the visual.

Having made the decision to pursue yoga as my "career" I'm thankful for any classes that come my way.  It's tough building up a full time schedule teaching yoga.   So when a clinic offers me 3 classes in a row, I take it.  I just might fall over in the process.

Here's a little flow I use to help stretch and decompress.

Moving slowly.  Flow in and out of each pose a few times before settling in for 10 breaths.  Stay longer if it feels good!  Take your time and enjoy!

waiting

Every now and then I read something that feels as though it flowed through me, like it could have been my words.  Something that resonates and settles deep within. I had a yoga class tonight and spent some time this avo searching for the right poem to close the class.  This is what I found:

“Waiting” by Leza Lowitz


You keep waiting for something to happen,
the thing that lifts you out of yourself,


catapults you into doing all the things you’ve put off
the great things you’re meant to do in your life,


but somehow never quite get to.


You keep waiting for the planets to shift
the new moon to bring news,
the universe to align, something to give.


Meanwhile, the piles of papers, the laundry, the dishes, the job—
it all stacks up while you keep hoping


for some miracle to blast down upon you,
scattering the piles to the winds.


Sometimes you lie in bed, terrified of your life.

Sometimes you laugh at the privilege of waking.


But all the while, life goes on in its messy way.


And then you turn forty. Or fifty. Or sixty…
and some part of you realizes you are not alone


and you find signs of this in the animal kingdom –


when a snake sheds its skin its eyes glaze over,
it slinks under a rock, not wanting to be touched,


and when caterpillar turns to butterfly
if the pupa is brushed, it will die—
and when the bird taps its beak hungrily against the egg
It’s because the thing is too small, too small,
and it needs to break out.


And midlife walks you into that wisdom


that this is what transformation looks like—
the mess of it, the tapping at the walls of your life,


the yearning and writhing and pushing,


until one day, one day


you emerge from the wreck


embracing both the immense dawn


and the dusk of the body,

glistening, beautiful

just as you are.

It was in that first line, You keep waiting for something to happen, the thing that lifts you out of yourself, that had me hooked.

~much love~

a letter of love

I'm back from Indonesia and missing it with every ounce of my being.  I'm not sure how I can express all that I learned and experienced and really do this magical place justice.  A love letter perhaps, will have to do for now.


I laughed more than I thought I could
danced more than I thought I would
fell in love with your world and the people who fill it
through yoga I learned it's okay if you spill it


in Borobudur I played with the children
no mother, no father, just big hopes they were fillin'


my feet had an itch they were longing to scratch
your beaches and jungles and temples did that


my soul had a spot it was looking to fill
up dog, down dog, for once I was still


I learned of the Truth, of the body and peace
through study and practice my mind felt at ease


this something, the what, the unknown I've been searching
I found on a whim on an island afar


my soul now complete
no itch in my feet


the sunsets and boatrides and music I'll miss
to you my dear Indo I blow a big kiss


through you I was able to learn of myself


much love and much thanks are coming from me


I took more than I dreamed


terima kasih