Intentions for 2012

One area of yoga practice that I frankly usually forget to do, but am trying to get better at, is setting an intention for the day's practice. I used to do this regularly years ago, but as time went on I have let the habit slip. An intention for yoga practice is something you contemplate at the beginning of your practice, as you center yourself. It could be a physical intention for your yoga, like staying with the breath, or relaxation. Or the intention could be something you want in your life, like love, or joy, or peace. Recently I have read about a format for an intention that I particularly like: “I let go of _______ and embrace ________.” I like this because we all both carry things we would like to be rid of, and at the same time desire to bring new things into our lives. I like it also because how can we make room for the new if we don’t make room by clearing out the old? I decided that, this year, instead of a resolution or goal for New Years, I would set an intention for the new year. I did lot of thinking about what intentions I wanted to make for the new year. On New Years Eve day, I made two lists. One list of the things that I want to invite and embrace in my life, and one of things I am willing to let go of. I want to embrace: Expansion Possibility Ease Joy Freedom Enjoying being where I am right now Letting My Light Shine To make room for those, I am willing to release: Impatience Worry Resentment Struggle Hiding Attachment to outcome Basically, I think it all boils down to this: I intend to let go of tension, and embrace expansion and surrender.

Looking forward to January's classes

My yoga class has been cancelled for the month of December because the Pearls of Wisdom bookstore rightly needs the space for managing the Christmas stock. :-) After two weeks of no classes I am finding that I miss the class greatly. I find myself poring over my yoga books and scouring yoga videos for ideas for new sequences to try. ;-)

You know, I am so proud of my yoga students in the month we have worked together so far!  When I first started teaching these two ladies a month ago, one of my students, a woman in late middle age who had never taken yoga classes before, thought herself very inflexible. But she came to class with a wonderful “I’ll give it a try” attitude and a joyful smile.

Just four weeks later, she says she feels much more flexible and is pleased at how much she is able to do. She feels more confident in getting up from the floor (something that had been an issue for her), and also reports greater flexibility in her neck, another problem area. I can tell myself, just by watching this woman in class, that she has greater awareness of what her body is doing and more sureness in the movements.

During our last class together before the break, I worked them harder than I have before. It was a post-Thanksgiving detox to flush out toxins and get the digestion moving. We didn’t do sun salutations, but we did move faster than we have before, generating a fair amount of internal heat in the process. We were all feeling the workout, but they held their own and kept up with me. I was so proud of how far we’ve come: them as students and me as a teacher. It was a great class!

I am looking forward to practicing yoga with them again next year. I can’t wait to see where we’ll go.