Solstice Blessings

Dear Friends,

Sincere thanks to each of you for your presence in the life of Hollow Tree over this past year.  As my little household puts down roots in our new neighbourhood, I am looking back on the last twelve months with amazement and appreciation.  There’s amazement at the abundance of change that has unfolded in such a short span of time and appreciation for all the help, supports, and synchronicities along the way.

Some of you might remember the story I was telling when I returned from Yin Yoga II at Omega this summer – about the group of indigenous people who were travelling by plane and refused to be rushed from the airport to the next destination, saying, “Our spirits need time to catch up to our bodies.”  This story aptly describes my experience this fall.  I expected to hit the ground running and instead found that coming in for a landing has taken its own sweet time.  Now, journeying into the longest nights of the year invites me inward to a stillness that balances the outward busy-ness of the holiday season.  I am thankful for long exhalations, for surrendering into the quiet of darkness, and for the promise of that next light-filled inbreath.

As we celebrate, mark, recognize, and move through the coming weeks each in our own ways, I wish us all fulfilling connections with family, friends, nature, and the profound energy of infinite love and compassion that is ours to share.  I wish us a great capacity for forgiveness, that in the shadow of these long winter nights we may give ourselves the grace to let go and begin anew.  I wish us a benevolent and generous sense of humour, that we may find joy and laughter in the simplicity of the present.  And I wish us the certainty that yoga does indeed begin now, and now, and now, that it is never too late and always just the right time to come home to our hearts.

Namaste,
Susan

When Life is the Way

My response to a question posed on Tumblr…

Hi, just started following you. I used to do yoga frequently but I allowed life to get in the way.. how can I get started again?

i’ve been sitting with this question for a bit…seems like it would be easy enough to suggest ways to connect with local yoga classes or to set aside time each day to meet yourself on your mat.  in very practical terms, the best advice i’ve seen on how to fit an on the mat practice of yoga asana into a busy day is to look at how much time you want to spend on the mat and then look at your day to see what you could let go of that no longer serves you in order to free up that amount of time. but i have a feeling your message is asking something more.

so, i read your words again and thought about allowing “life to get in the way.”  what if life is your yoga practice?  the series of postures that we think of as yoga is just one limb of our practice; it is how we come to those postures, how we move through them that makes time on the mat yoga rather than stretching exercises.

when i consider that every moment is a kind of posture – washing the dishes, answering this question, filling the grocery cart, sharing dinner, hugging, struggling with emotional reactions, falling asleep, paying bills…then i ask myself, how can i embody Love, mindfulness, grace, compassion, humility, gratitude, benevolent curiosity, a willingness to learn in this moment?  if i accept the invitation to make every posture a prayer, what does that look like as i move through the day?

i don’t know what your spiritual perspective is, but i connect with a sense of sacred energy existing in all things, with an openness to see that Love is our true nature.  i see our practice as a remembering of who we are rather than as a self improvement program.

in practicing every day yoga, this prayer is meaningful to me as a call to awareness and intention:

divine spirit of Love
may all my speech and idle talk be mantra
may all actions of my hands be mudra
may all eating and drinking be as offering oblations unto thee
may all lying down be prostrations before thee
may all pleasures be as dedicating my entire self unto thee
may everything i do be taken as thy worship

i’m always learning and that leaves a lot of space for forgiveness, practicing self compassion when my actions are not in harmony with devotion to a practice of mindfulness and truth.  yet, as patanjali’s yoga sutras tell us, the practice of yoga begins NOW.  now is every moment, so it is never too late to get started again and again and again.  perhaps your yoga practice is as close to you as your own breath in this moment.

namaste.

Flowing Along

Dear Friends,

It’s been a blessing to connect with so many of you in class and conversation this past month.  Thank you all for your support of and good wishes for Sheilah’s and my upcoming move.  Folks have been curious about our plans and now I have details to share with you.

I am happy to be returning to serve the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa as Director of Lifespan Learning, beginning part time in mid August and then getting into the full time swing of things in September.  For those who ask what this work involves, it is broadly described as offering leadership and inspiration in assisting people of all generations to explore and develop their beliefs and behaviour as responsible and just world citizens and as spiritual beings consistent with the seven Unitarian Universalist principles.  Day to day, there is lots to do in coordinating programming, working with volunteers, connecting with individuals and groups – another beautiful expression of off the mat yoga!

Regarding yoga on the mat, I look forward to teaching a weekly class in Ottawa as well as occasional workshops and will keep you posted as times and places are confirmed.  Meanwhile, many students have been asking for suggestions of where and with whom they might continue their practice locally beyond the end of August.  I hope for everyone to find a new home for your class practice and to that end encourage all of us to share possibilities with one another.  In next month’s newsletter, I’ll include a list of suggestions that have come up.

Sheilah and I are excited about setting up our new home in Old Ottawa East, in the Riverdale Ave/Main St area, and will be moving on September 1st. 

With love and blessings
as we flow along in the river of change,
Susan

Transformations at Hollow Tree

Dear Friends,

This message comes to you with much gratitude for all the ways each of you has helped to create a safe and loving place here at Hollow Tree for our shared yoga practice and caring community.  I have been blessed over the past three years to serve yoga students here in Arnprior: it has been a great journey of learning, discovery, and meaningful connection.

As this journey continues, my daughter Sheilah and I are forging a new path for ourselves with plans to move to Ottawa at the end of August.  We are very happy and excited about the possibilites this change opens up for us.  I intend to continue teaching ‘on the mat’ yoga on a smaller scale, keeping my website as a blog to share reflections and let you know of workshops and classes I will be offering in the area.  I am hopeful that the adage, “when a door closes, a window opens” will hold true for the yoga community in Arnprior, that with my departure a space is created for other wonderful teachers to appear.

This past year has been one of much change in my personal life.  Nesting up here in the Hollow Tree has provided a time of being, allowing, integrating, shifting, transforming.  Thank you all for the support you have offered with positive feedback and insights, enthusiasm for happenings here at the studio, and the simple yet profound grace of your presence.  Both Sheilah and I are feeling well rooted in ourselves and ready to rise up in joyful appreciation and embrace of the new opportunities in store for us.

Our class schedule will continue as outlined on the ‘Schedule & Fees’ page until August 26th.  I look forward to our time together in the coming weeks, to sharing with you the experience of Yin II at Omega, and to being in this place where we are right now.

With love and blessings,
Susan