Dear Yogis,
As we embark on 2019, I want to wish all of you good health, contentment, courage, equanimity and prosperity in this new year!!
In a world where life can feel fragile and security fleeting, it is yoga that sustains me. It is yoga that has tethered me to life; been my lifeline to meaning and joy for over half of my life. It is always there for me, it meets me wherever I am, it never stands in judgement, and it always has compassion. It is yoga that is my guru, my greatest guide. And I wish this for each of you.
Teaching is as much of a practice for me as my actual practice. I am at the place where, according to the Indian rishis’ revelation, yoga is not something I do but something I have become and something I am. This has happened from dedicated practice (traditional practice), cultivated properly (with a skilled teacher), over a long period of time (25 years.) It is a gift to be able to do what I love with my life, to watch students grow and deepen their life force.
My intention for my students in 2019 is that you aspire to the traditional Ashtanga practice — six days a week, with moon days off. Keep a yoga journal, something I always wished I had done, create a sacred space for practice in your home for days when you can not make it to the studio, steadily add seated meditation into your daily life, and allow yoga to become rooted to your being. Do not be afraid to face old emotions or question conditioned beliefs. The earth is here to support you, the universe pulsing to the same beat as your heart and vibrating to the same hum as your breath. Not one of us is perfect except in our imperfections and it is our imperfections that both yokes us together and defines our individuality.
I started Ashtanga with Jois in Mysore in ’94 but when I left India, I had to find the motivation to practice by myself or let it the practice go completely because no one knew what Ashtanga was in New Orleans at that time. The practice was primally imperative to me and so, at that level, there was no choice, but that doesn’t mean it was easy. Nothing worthwhile comes without effort and part of this effort can mean integrating polarities in your life. In the context of traditional practice, this could mean integration between your spiritual life and your social life, or between your professional life and your free time, or between the desire to sleep an extra hour and the desire to start your day off with yoga. Daily is not an all or nothing proposition. It does not mean if you can not do your entire practice then you do not do it. It means meet your mat and do what you have time for and allow the practice to unfold in a manner therapeutic to your soul on any given day. “One by one you take” — one day at a time you begin again, one by one you put one foot in front of the other, one day at a time we come back to renewed security, deepened awareness, effervescent presence and wholeness.
Yoga is self care. Self care is defined by the Oxford dictionary as the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. It determines not just today but our approach to growing old and eventually our approach to death. As I approach my 50th birthday in May and watch my son grow and my parents age, I reflect more often on my own mortality. Yoga theory and Eastern philosophies teach death as an extension to life, a part of the process of change and evolution. I lead my life embracing the knowledge that the only thing that does not change, the only thing eternal, is Universal Spirit or what many call God. Until the time that I return to the eternal realm, it is important to me that I stay open to new knowledge, new growth, and be viably engaged in life. So take the best care of yourself as you possibly can and reach for wholeness every day! Deepen your practice into one that sustains, supports, uplifts and INFORMS your life!
Namaste
Melanie
HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2019
~ Weekly Led Primary Series, Fridays, 7:30 – 9:00am.
~ A Led Second Series Class. Stay tuned for dates.
~ Understanding the Chakra System and How to Integrate it Into Your Practice — Seven Saturdays beginning in March. Stay tuned for dates.
~ Next Yoga Immersion will begin in October, 2019. Stay tuned for dates.
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