December Newsletter
"When I forget, my practice reminds me who I am."
If you were to describe your past year in a word what would it be? Survived? Thrived? Endured? Celebrated? (Maybe it would be a bit more profane than these!) Most likely it was some of each of those, at different times and, as life usually goes, you may not have chosen your circumstances. Maybe they all hit at once in different areas of life: surviving an unpleasant job while finding a thriving relationship; enduring an illness or injury while celebrating your good fortune in another part of your life.
I practice yoga because it gives me the ability to come to a place of balance when all the vicissitudes of life are throwing me off center. To be in a steady practice, whether it is asana, meditation, self study (or all of those), means having a place where you can feel at home and come back to yourself, no matter the circumstances. While the asana practice is most often the vehicle we choose, and may be arguably the most powerful tool, a solid yoga practice should transcend the physical. If you make a connection between the mind and body you will have many avenues to find balance, connection and unity within yourself and with others.
For those of you who already practice with us, thank you. Your presence in our community is so very treasured. We have this remarkable studio because of each one of us, all of us, bring our energies together to create something special. We wouldn't be the same without you.
If you have lost sight of your practice (and it happens to all of us at one time or another), come back. You may find that things have shifted and you are ready for what your practice brings in a way you weren't before. Also, as teachers, we are always learning and growing because we too are students on this path. You may see your practice in a whole new light.
If you are new to yoga or to our studio, come and meet this remarkable community of students and teachers. We have a place for every student, beginner or advanced, able-bodied or living with disability. We have a truly phenomenal staff of compassionate and experienced teachers whose focus is on bringing our students the best yoga teaching available. We want your practice to be all it can be for you.
From all of us at the Yoga Gallery, best wishes for a great year ahead!
Come Practice With Us!
”You create a path of your own by looking within yourself and listening to your soul, cultivating your own ways of experiencing the sacred and then practicing it. Practicing until you make it a song that sings you."
~ Sue Monk Kidd~
Events and News from the Studio
~~~
New Year's Holiday Schedule Changes
December 31st - morning (and noon) classes only
5:30 and 7 pm classes cancelled
Jan 1- One class 11 am-12:30 pm
Read about it below!!
~~~
A Very Special New Year's Day Class
Donation Only
New Year's Mixed Level Flow with
Sue Park and Xi Nguyen
Tuesday, January 1st - 11:00 am to 12:30 pm
Please join us for this special class. Come, give if you wish and whatever amount you like. All donations will be split between these two charities:
Unleashed: Located in Mission Kansas, Unleashed is a non-profit animal shelter working Xi chose Unleashed based on her lifelong love of animals and a desire to see all homeless animals cared for and loved. Their website is at unleashedrescue.com.
Project Partner: was . Project Partner, selected by Sue, is on a mission to end extreme poverty in rural China. Sue selected this charity because she and her two sisters were sent to an orphanage at a young age due to family circumstances. She was adopted at the age of 10 and came to America fro Korea. She would like to see poor children around the world be given the opportunity she was given: to live a life of opportunity and receive an education. Their website is at projectpartner.org.
Greet the new year with a heart of service and with our warm and welcoming yoga community.
~~~
Absolute Beginners
Six week session begins Jan. 6th
ONLY ONE SPOT REMAINS!!
Read more about it on the website
Next 6 week series will begin in February. TBA.
~~~
A gentle reminder - please avoid wearing perfume or strong scents when you practice at the studio. Thank you!!
Just for You
Please take 5 minutes to watch and take this beautiful message into the new year with you.
You Are Who You've Been Looking For
by Adam Roa
Practice Tip
"Steadiness means that we can actually settle into the eye of the hurricane of life, yet remain unaffected by it. While there is turbulence and change, we can remain unchanged. Without this, you can't achieve the true state of yoga. If your experience of life, of yourself, is totally shaped by what is happening outside of you, then the state of yoga itself can never be a place that you rest in for very long... How is your steadiness?"
~ Rod Stryker~
Just for Inspiration
Messenger
Someone has been painting
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
across the backs of bus benches
blotting out the advertisements beneath
with green so the strong silver letters
appear clearly at corners,
in front of taco stands
and hardware stores
Whoever did this
must have done it in the dark,
changing paint cans block to block
or a couple of sprays-
they must have really wanted to do it.
Among the many distasteful graffiti on earth
this line seems somehow honorable.
It wants to help us.
It could belong to anyone,
Latinas, Arabs, Jews
priests, glue sniffers.
Mostly I wonder about
what happened or didn't happen
in the painter's life
to give her this line.
I don't wonder about the person
who painted HIV under the STOPS
on the stop signs in the same way.
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
Did some miracle startle
the painter into actions
or is she waiting and hoping?
Does she ride the bus with her face
pressed to the window looking
for her own message?
Daily the long wind brushes YES
through the trees.
~Naomi Shihab Nye~
Messenger
Someone has been painting
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
across the backs of bus benches
blotting out the advertisements beneath
with green so the strong silver letters
appear clearly at corners,
in front of taco stands
and hardware stores
Whoever did this
must have done it in the dark,
changing paint cans block to block
or a couple of sprays-
they must have really wanted to do it.
Among the many distasteful graffiti on earth
this line seems somehow honorable.
It wants to help us.
It could belong to anyone,
Latinas, Arabs, Jews
priests, glue sniffers.
Mostly I wonder about
what happened or didn't happen
in the painter's life
to give her this line.
I don't wonder about the person
who painted HIV under the STOPS
on the stop signs in the same way.
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE
Did some miracle startle
the painter into actions
or is she waiting and hoping?
Does she ride the bus with her face
pressed to the window looking
for her own message?
Daily the long wind brushes YES
through the trees.
~Naomi Shihab Nye~