My intention in yoga this morning was GRATITUDE.

Let's talk about gratitude, shall we?


I'm in Southern California for the week, and I've been practicing at Yoga Shakti in Irvine every day. It's been AMAZING to experience all sorts of different types of classes again. I don't currently have access to these types of yoga studios (I've also practiced at Yoga Works in Newport Beach since I've been here) so this has been such a treat! It's neat to see the way so many yoga instructors blend their own style with the tradition in which they've been trained. I've heard a LOT of cues involving lifting all four corners of the heart, which is a new one for me. I've heard a lot of heart-opening cuing, generally, though, which is something I really need to weave into my own teaching. I've been aware of good cues and not so good cues, and of course, my biggest pet peeve, not safely cuing the release of a pose. Mostly, though, I've been incredibly impressed with the teachers I've had out here. I have a LOT of new ideas and new sequencing to build into my own teaching, and that's exciting. (As an aside, and in case anyone from my Saturday class reads this, I was also vindicated in discovering that wide-stance downward-facing dog really IS a legitimate position and not something I made up because I really dig that specific hamstring stretch - great news! Haha!) I'm REALLY fascinated by the fact that there has been chanting in every class I've been to so far - both at Yoga Shakti and Yoga Works. Some of the Sanskrit I recognized from our morning prayers at Kripalu, some was totally new, but it felt really comforting to hear it again.

I've also given a yoga class to my lovely hosts, Molly and Buddy, which was a lot of fun. Molly has a ton of pilates and yoga experience, so she was easy to teach. Buddy, however, had never, ever, ever, ever, EVER done ANY yoga before. Ever. So that was GREAT experience for me, because I really got to work on how to cue to someone who doesn't have that yoga intuition that really helps us along after we've established a solid practice. 24-hours later he hasn't sued me, so I think it went well. =) No, he said he really enjoyed it and how he felt afterward, so that's a good sign.

In addition to one or two 90-minute yoga practices a day, we've been doing lots of fun things like going out for sushi, eating LOTS of delicious cheese, taking long walks in the BEAUTIFUL weather, going for frozen yogurt at Yogurt Land, and even seeing Dachshund races at Oktober Fest in Huntington Beach. Oh, and hitting the hot tub, watching mindless TV, drinking good wine, having fabulous conversations, drinking even better margaritas and getting LOTS of sleep. YAY!

Grateful? You better believe it. =)

Shanti, shanti, shanti! Peace, peace, peace!

xoH