Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Tuesday Morning

Well, I had a vision yesterday of doing lots of yoga and I did. I made it to Matt's 12:00 Ashtanga class at YogaYoga Westgate which is always a fun way for me to spend Mondays. Mondays are kind of like my Saturdays. And then in the afternoon I went to Peggy's Int/Adv. class at Austin Yoga School which was great. Peggy worked on back bends and having done the primary series I was already opened up and my back bends came along nicely with no major fanfare. I got a few great nuggets from Peggy and between the two classes I am nicely sore this morning. So lunch time ashtanga and afternoon Iyengar Yoga- great fun after a weekend of "All Anusara Yoga, All The Time."

Tonight I am teaching at 4:30 and 6:00 at Westgate so please join me. In fact, those of you who like those classes, please attend them this month because after the end of the month, I will no longer be teaching at YogaYoga. (Except for May 8-10 when I am giving a workshop there and in July when we have a TT to complete) So start making your plans now for Tuesday nights at 6:30 at Breath and Body with Christina Sell!

In fact, this Wednesday will be my first class at Breath and Body on their schedule so please come and support me and Desirae by attending that class if possible. Desirae is very excited about developing an Anusara Yoga program at her studio and about welcoming our merry (and sometimes crazy) band of yogi's to her studio. (my words, not hers...you know who you are!)She supports us, we support her, she supports us, we support her, and so on.... that's is how it will work.

When I taught a workshop at her studio recently she told the group that she sees the local yoga scene like "silos" where people do not go from the silo of their one studio to the silo of another studio and she wants to do her part to remedy that. Its a great vision, really. We all love yoga. What we love about the practice almost always transcends method, transcends studios, and even transcends the particular teacher with whom we may have the most affinity. Instead of there being a YogaYoga community, or a Castle Hill Yoga community or a Breath and Body Yoga Community or a Love Yoga Coop Community, what would be so cool is for each one of us to dedicate ourselves to a much bigger vision of Yoga Community. Here in Austin and beyond.

I love that about Anusara Yoga, although we are not the method about which this is true, by any means. Anusara Yoga is so much more than a community of people in our Tuesday night class, or in our "silo" studio or in our local town for that matter. Once we enter the embrace of Anusara Yoga, we find ourselves part of a worldwide community of people who love to practice yoga in its many forms and who are dedicated to bringing the High Teachings of Intrinsic Goodness into all aspects of their lives and work. It is amazing, really.

All right then, time to practice some asana and get on with the day. Thanks for stopping by.

4 comments:

Jen said...

Christina..thanks so much for reminding me of that! Since moving away, I have really missed being around the kula. Even though I am so far away, I still feel the support of our community, and it warms me. I love the fact that we are all over the world, and that regardless of place and time, we are all part of the big picture...the method that has warmed our hearts, opened our minds, and has allowed us to shine our light from one side of the country to the other!

Dale said...

Of course, the tendency toward sticking with one main studio has a large economic component. Since I have an unlimited membership at YogaYoga, and it costs me additional $ to practice elsewhere, I have a large incentive to practice mainly at YY.

And of course, the various studios are in competition for a limited amount of yoga revenue.

So, how to foster an Anusara community that transcends studio affiliation? One radical (and probably unworkable) idea is to convince the local studios that working together to foster good yoga is better than competing in all ways.

This might look like class passes that were sold at many studios, and were good for use at any of those studios. Or perhaps a universal unlimited membership card. The studios could develop a way to share the revenue according to where the yogi is practicing.

Like _that's_ ever going to happen :-).

Christina Sell said...

Sure, I get that. It is kind of a context thing I think as much as anything.

When I was a studio owner I offered a discount to pass owners from the competing studio. So if the held a passa the other place they could come to classes at my place at a reduced cost and vice versa. Desirae's professional courtesy policiy of offerring $10 yoga class to active yoga teachers is in that same spirit. (Active, in this case meaning, that you actually have a class(es) that you teach, not just that you consider yourself to be a yoga teacher or that you completed a TT!)

Dale said...

Yep. I very much admire and appreciate that policy. In fact, I pretty much like everything about Breath & Body Yoga.

Now if Des would just open a Round Rock branch.... :-).