Everything that was broken

“Everything that was broken has
forgotten it's brokenness.

I live now in a sky-house,
through every window the sun
.
Also your presence.
Our touching, our stories. Earthy
and holy both.

How can this be, but it is.

Every day has something in
it whose name is forever.”

-Mary Oliver

Everything is waiting for you

Everything is Waiting for You
- by David Whyte

Your great mistake is to act the drama
as if you were alone. As if life
were a progressive and cunning crime
with no witness to the tiny hidden
transgressions. 

To feel abandoned is to deny
the intimacy of your surroundings. Surely,
even you, at times, have felt the grand array;
the swelling presence, and the chorus, crowding
out your solo voice. 

You must note
the way the soap dish enables you,
or the window latch grants you freedom.
Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity.

The stairs are your mentor of things
to come, the doors have always been there
to frighten you and invite you,
and the tiny speaker in the phone
is your dream-ladder to divinity.

Put down the weight of your aloneness and ease into the
conversation. The kettle is singing
even as it pours you a drink, the cooking pots
have left their arrogant aloofness and
seen the good in you at last. All the birds
and creatures of the world are unutterably
themselves. Everything is waiting for you.

Break The Shell

Hi team!

India Arie! Sings to our souls.
Turn up your volume, and let your heart feel.
So much wisdom in this song. Puts my hairs on end every. single. time.

Embracing the human predicament is the doorway to transcendence.
The wound is where the light enters us... if we are willing.
never easy, always painful, incredibly beautiful.
your deepest wounds can become your greatest blessings - this is the path of the yogin.

enjoy.
I love you.
Thank you for being in my life.

natasha.

living your practice.

Dear Yogis,

Over the next several months we will be adding a little more structure to the work we do on the mat and throughout our lives. We will do this by exploring the underpinnings and philosophical foundations of yoga practice, through both the Classical Hatha lens, the tantric or Kashmir Shaivite lens – and the intersection of both. It’s not necessary that you know what these words mean right now. By coming to class and joining us in the exploration you will become familiar from within yourself with these philosophies – and more importantly, what they mean to you.

At the heart of the matter is the question of Yoga itself. The word Yoga translates to Union – therefore the practices of yoga are aimed at bringing us to a state of profound union with our true, divine nature.

How does yoga bring us to union with our True, divine nature? It does this in a two-fold manner: through both purification and cultivation:

The practice of yoga first purifies us on a physical level: clearing toxicity and stagnation in the body, as well as the more subtle system of chakras and energy channels (nadis and meridians). Through this process, yoga will inevitably clears toxicity, confusion and false beliefs from our minds, hearts, spirits, speech and deed – as body, heart, mind and action are all part of ONE thing (mainly you!), and not a collection separate unrelated things.

At the same time, yoga gives us tools to cultivate that which is True, authentic, “divine” – and ultimately full Light. Purification and Cultivation therefore go hand in hand and are in fact two sides of the same coin.

One of the texts that influences classical hatha yoga as we know it today is called Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. This text is a collection of 196 sutras (aphorisms or one-liners) that describe the practice of classical yoga.

The Yoga Sutras outline what Patanjali calls Ashtanga: “the 8 limbs of yoga” (I think of it as 8 arm:).

These 8 “arms” of yoga are the following:

• Yamas (personal disciplines pertaining to our interactions with others and the world at large)

• Niyamas (personal practices that relate to honoring our divine nature)

• Asana (the practice of physical yoga postures)

• Pranayama (breath and energy practices)

• Pratyahara (drawing the senses and awareness inward)

• Dharana (concentration)

• Dhyana (meditation, focus)

• Samadhi (absorption, bliss)

An effective physical practice should naturally lead to greater self-awareness and capacity for concentration. This naturally allows the yogi to make better choices for himself/herself, in his work, and his community – as well as lay the groundwork for meditative practice.

One of the big influencers of modern hatha yoga was a man named Pattabi Jois, and he was famous for answering almost any question his students would ask him with the same response: “Practice and all is coming”. Through practicing one or a few of these “arms” of yoga, with sincerity, diligence and humility, the rest will naturally follow.

If you are interested in continuing your study of the yoga sutras at home, my favorite translation by TKV Desikachar in the back of his book The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice

So, we are launched!! Our exploration of yoga continues.

See you next week ❤︎
Natasha.