Seattle Yogini

I have an anger...

I have an anger, but it isn't the "good" kind.  You know the kind I mean?  That self-righteous anger that can flare up, fill you with a surge of adrenaline and make you feel alive?  The anger of road-rage, of pure indignation and "how could you?".  The kind of anger that burns quickly and completely and then *poof* dissipates, leaving almost as quickly as it swelled.

That's not what my anger is like.

This is an old anger.  One with tendrils, like the bamboo in my backyard.  We pulled it out when we moved in five years ago, but every once in awhile a new, proud shoot juts up through the dirt.  We try to pull it out, but the root travels across the whole yard, it doesn't budge.  The shoot has to be cut, which really only ensures that we will be cutting lots of shoots for a long time to come.

Cutting those shoots without pulling out the roots feels similar to the way I have interacted with this anger.  I've tried to "fix" it: to dress it up in joy, smother it with love, disguise it with cheerfulness.  I've tried to douse it with tears, offer it to God, and, finally, to convince myself that it was spent.

It wasn't.

This fall has been a quiet one because the anger was welling up, a tidal force that finally...blessedly...hit my shores last week.  I am so thankful for its ostentatious arrival, because I cannot ignore it any longer.

This anger is old.  This anger runs deep.  Balms, salves, ice, none of that soothes the burn.  And so, I will be with it.  It is not *who* or *what* I am, it is one of many emotions.  It is a "dark night".  It is a demand that I turn inward and feel the complexity of who and what I truly am.  The Light and the Shadow.  The flow of life and the log-jams of my own creation.

I may not befriend it and invite it to stay, but I know that it will not be ignored for another moment.  And so I will sit with it, listen to it, let it talk itself hoarse and burn itself to ashes.  I will feel it as completely as I know how.

I am finally, thankfully, courageous enough to be angry.

Thanksgiving Yoga Classes

Catch me teaching yoga in different time slots from Wednesday (11/25) through Saturday!  You can easily register for classes or the workshop at www.mlcyoga.com

• Wednesday:  7:30 - 9pm  Level 2 (Ongoing Practice)
• Thursday:  Studio's closed!
• Friday:  10:30 - 12 pm    All Levels, Topic = Twists
• • Join us the Friday after Thanksgiving for a practice designed to help you deal with the big meal. Twists improve digestion, increase circulation (nervous and blood flow), and tone the muscles of the back and abdomen. They really help you get moving!
• Saturday:  10:30 - 12 pm    All Levels, Topic = Tapas
• • Tapas refers to discipline and effort. In this special post-Thanksgiving class, we will focus on the tapasya of asana (yoga poses) with a strong practice to generate heat, cleansing, and a refreshed perspective in the body and mind. Plenty of time will be set aside for a soothing Savasana, ensuring that the tapas are balanced with peaceful relaxation.
• Saturday, 2 - 4 pm   Workshop = Yoga Nidra
• • Yoga Nidra is the "sleep of the yogi". It is a state of deep physical and mental relaxation akin to Savasana but much longer. This is the ultimate healing opportunity, offering the time, space, and support needed to reach a level of quiet that facilitates true healing - of the body, mind, emotions and psyche. Kelly will lead students through a process that relaxes the body, quiets the mind, and reaffirms the presence of inner healing potential within each participant.

I look forward to seeing you in class!  Namaste

Maple Leaf Community Yoga video

Hello!  Since returning from the UK, we have been very busy preparing Maple Leaf Community Yoga for the holidays, with special classes, workshops, and prop sales.  It's been wonderful to brainstorm new offerings, but it has taken up every bit of creative, mental, and emotional energy...and I still have to publicize December's fun!

Tonight I wanted to share this lovely video about our studio, the power of yoga in real people's lives, and the (non-) effects of the "economic downturn" on our corner of the yoga world.  Remember when I wrote about our decision to opt out of the recession?

Okay, without further ado:

Please leave a comment on youtube about this video (you can navigate there by double-clicking on the image above).  Does it inspire you?  Does it motivate you to get out your sticky mat?  Are you a student who wants to chime in?  Let us know how yoga at MLCY has affected you...especially during this financially challenging year.

A great big hug of thanks to: Erica (one of our fabulous teachers!), Jim , Christian & Josh (kind students who shared their experiences), Sandra (a colleague shown teaching at Yoga Centers in some of the footage) , Marchella for the beautiful music, and the cameraman, Joel.

London and Edinburgh in Pictures

At the tale-end of my trip to London to assist Aadil, Rob joined us.  He and I had planned a week's holiday in Edinburgh to honor our anniversary.  The trip began with a lovely day in London.  We did some sight-seeing on Monday:  we peeked into Chaumet and purchased a beautiful little necklace for me, I took him to Liberty so that I could pick up a gift for my assistant, who kept things running smoothly at the studio while I was gone for those three weeks.  Then we took the tube to the Tower of London to check out the armouries in their exhibit, "Henry VIII:  Dressed to Kill".

The slide show below starts at the Tower of London, and then goes into Edinburgh.  It was a beautiful week, and we look forward to returning and soaking up more of Scotland some day.

There's music, so adjust your volume as needed!

Yoga on the road - Suggestions for maintaining your yoga practice while away from home

Maintaining a yoga practice while on the road can be a challenge.  By expanding your definition of yoga, however, you will find numerous opportunities to put the practice to work.

• asana: Some basic and poses are easily done in a hotel room, park, or even an airplane aisle. The sun salutations and the mroning series require minimal space and props (you might want a mat or something clean to lie upon, and you might need a strap or similar aid for the hamstring stretch). Simple standing poses can be done on the airplane, upon landing, or during a walk around your hotel's neighborhood:  a lunge for the hip flexors, calves and ankles, use a wall or the back of a chair for half forward bend to release the hamstrings and back, or a little shoulder stretch. Garudasana (eagle pose) and gomukasana (cow face pose) can be done in the car, on the train, or in a plane.  Neck stretches, simple seated twists, the wrist series and the foot series can by done anywhere there's room. 

• nutrition & lifestyle: Just because you're away from home doesn't mean you should give up your healthy choices! It's still a good idea to avoid alcohol, caffeine, tobacco and sugar. In fact, if you avoid those things at home then you really should continue to do so, lest you feel the shock of sudden change while you're away. Continue to hydrate, get enough sleep and take good care of your body, and it will run more smoothly as you explore new places.  If you use further support for your health, such as Alaskan Essences, Young Living Oils or Sunrider Herbal Foods, then pack whatever you feel necessary in order to maintain your customary regimen as closely as possible.

• applied philosophy: Travel offers excellent opportunities to put this aspect of yoga to use in new and interesting circumstances.  Stay joyful, flexible, patient and present.  Maintain your center even if you find yourself in a storm of jetlag-induced confusion. 

• meditation: Purna Yoga's meditation "snacks" are perfect during travels because they each take only a couple of minutes and their results can last for hours. Since travelling can be over-stimulating, the mental centering and cocooning snacks are especially beneficial.

I find it very helpful to maintain as many of my yogic practices as possible while I'm away. It helps me feel more grounded to keep a little sense of connectedness to the familiar.  My yoga practice, which is so much more than asana, offers me tools for staying centered and present during any situation - even when I'm somewhere as busy and different as London.

So here's to our fearless exploration of the mind, body, spirit AND world! May your yoga practice support you wherever you land.

What are your tips for keeping up your yoga practice(s) while you're travelling?

*** Check out my Facebook page for the London Trip 2009 photo album. Look for Kelly Pretlow.

How do you put a price on value?

Our Prop Wall:  chairs, pads, blocks, bolsters, sandbags, and more!

One of the biggest challenges a small business owner faces is pricing.  How do you determine a price for the product or service you offer?  How do you help people understand the high value of your business, and the way in which value is translated into price?  How does your price set you apart from similar businesses in your area?

As a boutique yoga studio, Maple Leaf Community Yoga offers a unique experience:  semi-private yoga instruction for regular folks.  Teachers who are highly trained, experienced professionals.  A space that is clean, peaceful, and conducive to the inward work of Purna Yoga.  The opportunity to strengthen community relationships.  What we do here matters.

It is life-changing.

It is valuable.

Our Rope Wall accessories.

How much should it cost?   This summer we did a whole re-organization for the studio.  Based upon student surveys and suggestions, we developed new programs.  We built a new website, hired more teachers, scheduled in new classes, created a new look, designed a new logo, and set up a new payment structure that empowers students to organize their own class schedule.  New prices ensure that we will be able to continue to offer our students that which they desire:  small classes, expert teachers, safe yoga experiences.

The fabulous Rope Wall and the fabulous husband!

If you are a small business owner, whether it's a storefront business or an etsy shop, how do you determine your prices?  Join the conversation and we'll help each other succeed!

On Being the Solution

 Maple Leaf Community Yoga is, as the name implies, a neighborhood yoga studio.  Its home is in the street-level office space of an apartment building two blocks from my home.  I walk back and forth multiple times a day and, in so doing, bump into lots of Maple Leaf residents.

I run into current students.  I run into past students.  I run into "potential" students.

Lately, the phrase "Oh, I've been meaning to...(sign up for classes, get back into yoga, make an appointment for private instruction)" keeps popping up.  To the point that I finally threw my hands up in exasperation and took a look into myself to figure out what this was all about.

You see, as a yoga practitioner I believe that if an issue is irritating/exasperating to me, it is because I hold part of the problem within myself.  It appeared that some non-committal/best intentions/mañana mañana part of me is attracting people who like the idea of yoga classes but not enough to commit - at least, not today.  I decided it was time to find that part within myself.

For years I have been "meaning to" get back into dance.  I danced throughout my childhood, and as an adult my classes and opportunities for dancing - other than in my own living room - have been few and far between.  I have had in mind to join a dance class or two for a couple of years, but kept missing the sign up dates (due to poor planning) or just not getting around to it, or on the evening of the class deciding I'd rather stay home.  Enough!

Last week I contacted a teacher, went to try the class, loved it and am now signed up.  I feel so refreshed!  I feel so free!  I feel so...committed.  Not committed to dance, per se, but committed to finally doing the things that I keep putting off (organizing the office, anyone?).  Committed to following through on my dreams, even the simple ones about finding a once-a-week dance class.  Committed to my own growth and exploration.

Committed to that which brings me Joy.

Hopefully, others are finding their commitment as well.  Are you?

End of Summer Gifts

Well, I caught an end-of-summer headcold.  Yuck and a huge frowny face!  >:(

At least it wasn't Rob's flu.  Still, it was a clear and definite "wake-up call" to slow down.  I had been going going going during the time I was meant to be resting.  It was necessary, but I believe that neglecting my need to rest at such a critical time of transition was an unfortunate circumstance.  This cold, which first started showing up last Wednesday (that's ten days ago!) still has me walking around with a pocket full of tissues and sinuses in uproar.  Oh, well.  It has certainly made me rest!

There is a lot of good that's been going on, particularly with my studio.  That's for another post, though.  Today, I want to show some of the other end of summer gifts that we're enjoying...in pictures:

Gift the first:  Rob's new "Seattle Man Hat" for 2009.  It's completed now, and he lurves it, but I don't have a photo of him wearing it yet because (and I can't believe I'm about to write this) it's too warm to wear it still!

Gift the second:  I am trying to complete a sweater for myself...one that I will take with me to London this October when I go to assist Aadil.  So far so good, but I am still in denial that I'll actually be IN LONDON in three weeks!  Aack!

Here's the bodice, and a sleeve-in-process of Tilted Duster:

Some more gifts:  food-related wonders!  I've canned a lot this summer.  A friend and I had two jamming parties.  There are enough pickles for the year (I hope!  It's really sad to run our of sweet pickles in April!).  I have about five pounds of fresh frozen blueberries, a pound or so of gorgeous huckleberries and some raspberry puree waiting to be turned into...something.  More jam?  Also about 15 quarts of canned peaches to brighten our long winter mornings:

This quantity made about 9 of the quarts.  I enlisted Rob's help for the halving, pitting, peeling process:

Huckleberries can be hard to come by.  I was very happy to take these home from the Farmer's Market:

****Note****  For knitting-related details, check out my Ravelry pages.  Look for "seattleyogini"

Thoughtful Sidewalk Art

Sweet sidewalk art.  The little girl down the street left a pile of colored chalk out overnight.  Someone else came by and put it to good use!

Questioning the Answers

I have asked the question over and over again in prayer, in meditation, in the in-between moments that are the real stuff of life:

"What must I do?  How must I grow, change, re-form in order to live as You?  How must I change in order to welcome new life?  What must I do?"

But I don't like the answers that are coming now, finally, fast and furious through my body and mind.

I don't like them, and wonder,

"Could that really be true?"

There is nothing to do but continue to ask, continue to listen to the answer.  Have faith when the answer continues - and gets stronger - that I am not deceiving myself, making up an answer because I want one so sincerely.  As the answer continues, the same, I will know it as my answer and

I will act.