Tuesday Morning

Well, what a great weekend in Idaho. Karen and her students are so great. We had 30-something people there all weekend for a workshop that was about Taking Refuge in the Basics. It was really inspiring to me to spend the weekend considering the topic of Refuge- what is it, how do we create it, what supports it and how our basic practices and the simple things we do can serve as a refuge in turbulent times. It is a timeless topic, really.

So we worked with basic actions and basic building block poses and stayed somewhat squarely on the Level 1 syllabus, except for a few forays into poses like parighasana, gomukhasana and clasped parsvakonasana and such. The studentship among the group was top notch (another clue that Karen's dedication and passion is present) and wow- did we laugh a lot together. Really, it does not get much better than that. Focus and Fun.

It has been a busy few months for me and since September I have had the opportunity to visit some really stellar Anusara Yoga communities across the country like Portland, OR where Allison has opened Abhaya Yoga, Spirit House Yoga in Oklahoma City, OK under the guidance of Martha and Ted McQuaid, South Mountain Yoga in South Orange, NJ under the leadership of Emma and Chris Magenta, Yoga East in Louisville, KY (Not strictly an Anusara Community but an inspiringly seasoned community of practitioners with Laura Spaulding's passion as a beacon), Yoga Oasis in Tucson, AZ which continues to thrive as a pillar of the Anusara Yoga vision with Darren and his ever-so-dedicated posse of teachers, and Couer d'lene, ID this last weekend. And of course, I made a few trips to the Yoga Studio of Corpus Christi where Michelle Acebo is tirelessly expanding the South Texas yoga horizons with Anusara Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga, and even kids yoga in Spanish with Beth!

And in other news during this time we have had a local mentor group in place, I started an online program that has 20 folks in it from far and wide and my parents bought a house down the street!

So- I have had an incredible journey of learning, sharing and teaching these last two months in both new and familiar places. As I write this morning I am full of gratitude for the opportunity to have such a broad community in which to participate. Again I am reminded of how John Friend, when he shares his vision of Anusara Yoga, always shares it as a worldwide network of tight local communities. Getting to participate- as a visiting teacher- in so many tight knit communities over the last two months was just fantastic and reminded me so much of what is really best about Anusara Yoga. It gave me lots of food for thought relative to Anusara Yoga in Austin and how best to spend my energy. More on that later as none of my thoughts were at all conclusive.

This month I am more settled with two weekends in Austin for Immersion Part 2 at Breath and Body Yoga and a weekend trip to Corpus. (So no planes in November!) Part of my goal for this month is to get through the current round of edits for my book. Last time I talked with John he assured me that we are close and so now that I am home I can turn some attention that way. It is a must. It is now really grating on me that I have been lax on the task! (Although I have been a bit busy with other things...)

So anyway- time to get to work. Last week was back bend week so this week is a hip opening and forward bend week. Should be fun.