Weekly Letter (Part 2): Why are you here???

*Weekly Letter is the letter I include in my weekly yoga studio newsletter.*

This article is Part 2 of last weeks letter.

Why would I say something like that?

Because we need to get ourselves out of the expectation that there is only one way to access our body and that everyone has to access it the same way. We need to redevelop a sensitivity to ourselves in a way that frees us from boundaries instead of placing more of them on ourselves. How can we ever expect ourselves to be open if we are struggling to move from the binds of rules? What if yoga allowed you a place to be more open to INTERPRET the rules?

If I were to hand you a completely finished Lego set of a treehouse and tell you that the goal of the set was not actually the treehouse, but the absence of it. And your job is to make the treehouse, disappear, how would you go about it? Would you take it apart? Rearrange the blocks into something completely different? Would you throw the entire thing in the garbage (you might argue that’s not making it disappear, but disappear from view)? How would you dismantle this structure so that nothing remained? And what would it feel like to have finished?

The 1^st night of 101, I see a room of fully constructed designs. My opinion of what we are doing during this time, is not getting to carte blanche, but the beginning of seeing the pieces of ourselves in a different way.

Free yourself,

~Carmen

Weekly Letter (Part 1): Why are you here???

 *Weekly Letter is the letter I include in my weekly yoga studio newsletter.*

I begin each Yoga 101 session with everyone sitting in a circle. No mats yet, its too soon to roll out the mats. The mats set an expectation and I want to wait on that for a bit. Some of the people in the room have never taken a yoga class before, so rolling out the mat makes this more about what they have seen and perceived to be yoga, as opposed to what yoga can be for them. I begin the 1^st class without mats so we can begin more slowly and allow this space to become what this group needs it to be. Not an expectation I place on them.

As the students walk in for their first day of class, they see a room with folded blankets placed in a circle on the floor. The packets containing the information they will learn are placed on each blanket with a pen attached. Some of the students will sit on the blanket, some will push it in front of them, they don’t yet know what the role of the blanket is. The conversation going around the room is kind and pleasant as everyone is new to what is about to happen, even me. We are all feeling the new energies around the room and how well we are going to settle into 8 weeks of being together.

I begin with a brief introduction of myself and the space, then everyone takes turns introducing themselves and what brought them to Yoga 101. This is the most important part for me. Why are you here???

Stress is a very common reason, timing of the class and their schedule is another, but another popular reason is usually something along the lines of, ‘I want to make sure I’m doing the postures correctly.’ All good reasons to be here, albeit, I don’t know a bad reason to be in class, but I am biased.

At some point during the first class, I usually break the bad news. ‘I’m not going to use words like right and wrong or correct and incorrect. I will use words like: feel, safe, unsafe. Things like that.’ And when I say that, I’m usually looking at the faces of the people who mentioned correct postures.

Why would I say something like that? (Part 2 next week)

~Carmen

Weekly Yoga: Yoga Marketing isn’t for you and I

 *Weekly Letter is the letter I include in my weekly yoga studio newsletter.*

I believe marketing for yoga is doing the industry a disservice.

It isn’t serving me and it DEFINITELY isn’t serving you. Where did it begin? Was it when P90X made yoga an exercise? When marketing firms only use young, blonde, skinny women in campaigns? Or was it when Carrie Bradshaw would leave classes early in her Manolo Blahniks? Who’s to say, but at some point, there came a disconnect between the people who actually practice and perceived practioners.

Where is the yoga campaign with the retired population that comes no less than 3 times a week?

Where is the campaign for the people who keep trying studio after studio looking for their yoga home?

Where is the campaign for the travelers? The real travelers where their practice is a place to be still and quiet for 75 minutes?

Where are the campaigns with the therapy dog, the people who practice in stretchy jeans, the people who have pain, the people who occasionally cry?

Where are the campaigns for the people who come in looking for relief?

I’m in the studio 6 days a week. And I rarely see the effortless person practicing. The people I see are the people listed above. The people that create an actual community where everyone has advice or the occasional garden produce to share. The community that signs get well soon cards and makes the extra effort to wish someone a happy birthday. The community that makes sure the new person knows where the bathroom is or grabs them a block off the shelf.

I see yoga as the community where everyone makes the effort not only for themselves, but for others. Can it be a singular experience? Yes. But the studio isn’t singular. The studio is a collection creating support for each singular experience. I can’t do it alone. And I would be infinitely less if I didn’t have you to do it with.

Stay tuned for more on this. I’m only just beginning.

~Carmen

Weekly Letter: 5 Things Yoga Taught Me

  *Weekly Letter is the letter I include in my weekly yoga studio newsletter.*

1.      Put the phone down

Yoga has been a great avenue for me to disconnect over time, but as technology advances, it makes stepping into places without it even more important. Ancient practioners didn’t have the amount of [silly] distractions that we do today. Yoga has changed because the sources of our stressors have changed. According to a survey conducted by reviews.org, Americans check their phones an average of 344 times per day.

Schedule time to be off technology.

2.      Pause before reacting

I don’t know when I started this, but I try to take a beat before responding. Maybe I repeat what was said to me in my head, maybe I’m checking a flare inside of myself, whatever it is, I try (keyword try) to pause first. It gives me space to breathe and a moment to be more intentional with what I say or do next.

3.      When things start speeding up, slow down

We are always trying to keep up, but in my experience that’s when I make mistakes. So when I feel something ramping up, I use that energy as a reminder to slow down, be present and breathe.

4.      You’re never going to get it all done

Make peace with that and use it as a tool to figure out what is actually important and use those nuggets of experience to feed your future.

5.      Being uncomfortable for a few minutes can be transformative

Am I figuring something out? Sitting with a sensation that is new or different? Do I not have all the information yet? We are in a society that puts a lot of energy into avoiding discomfort for the sake of our ego. But what if that discomfort was the sign your ego is transforming? Would you let yourself be with it longer? Who would you be after those moments passed? Who would you be if you set ego aside and said, ‘I don’t know.’

What has yoga taught you?

~Carmen