Tuesday Morning

I had a great day yesterday and even manged to relax a bit. (Well, relax for me, that is!)

I got to spend some time on the phone in the morning with an Anusara Yoga certification candidate from Montreal reviewing her video and that was really pretty amazing. I was able to help her with some detailed information about the "how-to's" of setting a theme and carrying it through the class and some tips of observation and adjustments. She was so open and so humble and so inspiring to work with. There was not one trace of defensiveness or resistance in her response to me. She was just open like the sky in terms of "how can I get better?" that I was really elated by the end of the conversation. I think we both were. Times like those are when work is really like play and when I really feel so grateful for the extended family of Anusara Yoga. We are pretty lucky to be connected with such amazing people all over the world. It is just so great.

(And just so we are clear, and just in case anyone is feeling defensive or tends to feel defensive, I do not think that being defensive is not like some tragic flaw or the worst thing in the world nor does it make us bad people if we are not "open like the sky" in every moment. Lord knows, defensiveness can arise in all of us even when we wish it would stay dormant. I am just saying that when we can work with each other without it- like when the heavens part and things line up and there is a clear channel for a transfer of help-it really is a kind of ecstasy.)

Hmm... yesterday, Kelly and I went for a long, humid walk in the morning which I love to do after a weekend of teaching inside. I caught up on a fair amount of business things and future planning and we had a lovely dinner together last night.

So- a few moments for shameless promotions. I have two retreats planned for 2010 that I want to mention. They are both tropical and they are a bit different.

The first is in Mexico in February. This retreat is limited to about 20 people and will be intimate and a great chance for rejuvenation and relaxation. The location is amazing, the food will be stellar and again, 20 people is a lovely way to connect to yourself, others and to your practice. February 13-20, 2010. Contact the folks at Milagro to sign up.

The second retreat is a bit different. It is in Costa Rica in March. Martin Kirk, the Anatomy Guru of Anusara Yoga will be presenting Anatomy through the lens of Anusara Yoga and the UPA's every afternoon and I will be teaching asana every morning. Other teachers will be there teaching that week also and while you sign up for one of us as your primary teacher for the week, you will have the opportunity to take classes from the other teachers as well. This retreat will be bigger, will have Benjy and Heather playing kirtan every night and will give you a chance to connect to the larger Anusara Yoga family and to learn some of the science behind the method. Contact the folks at Inner Harmony to sign up.

I do hope some of you out there might be able to join me during those weeks. Learning Anusara Yoga on retreat is such an amazing way to immerse yourself in the method, the lifestyle and the teachings of Anusara Yoga. So good. So deep. So fun.

So, the online mentoring group begins on Thursday and so I have some lesson preparations to make for that today, a practice to do and classes to teach. Onward!