After 911, I gave up my 10-year Tai Chi practice (it is a martial art and I did not want to do anything martial after seeing so many people jump from those burning buildings in New York) and took up yoga. Initially yoga was just a great workout. I felt amazing, but the more I practiced, the more I questioned.

I stuck with it and after a number of years, I started catching some glimmers of something bigger. I got less grumpy, I became more patient, I saw more beauty, I felt more love. In truth, I started actually feeling all the Pollyanna, spiritual horse-hockey I’d eschewed the first 30-something years of my life. There was something to it after all, yoga can be a spiritual practice!

I am still sometimes a little skeptical about the spiritual aspect of yoga, though, so I asked my trusty companion, Mr. Google, for some insight. I found the Skeptic’s Dictionary. It is an online rant that lambastes everything spiritual since the beginning of the written word. In this dictionary, people like Deepak Chopra and concepts like Ayurveda and prana are skewered and roasted slowly over the hell-fire of self-righteousness. I read a little bit, (the dictionary did not like Chopra because he did not use his most recent photo on his book jackets to show that he is actually aging) until I chalked it up to the Haters-Gonna-Hate pile of information that is not going to make me any happier.

Then it dawned on me: Happiness is a choice. Chopra was right, even if he uses a 20-year old photograph of himself in his publicity. And the reason we are able to chose happiness is because it is part of our true nature. This is called Purusa (pronounced Peru-Shuh). The skeptics can call it something else if they need to, Purusa doesn’t care, it exists whether you believe it or not.

This is the purpose of yoga. The practice uncovers the truth of who we really are. And who we really are is good – The Dalai Lama, Desmund Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, Mother Teresa, Pope Francis, and even Patrick Leahy agree on this score.

Skepticism has its purpose, though. It is one of the veils we have to lift to find Purusa each time we practice. And like the dictionary I found online this morning, the dark things help accentuate the light ones. Yoga helped me figure this out. My only wish is that I’d started practicing sooner.

That is why I implore you to get your kids on the mat. Get them breathing and meditating and practicing asana while their hearts and minds are still wide open. It will be good for all of us…The kids yoga summer session starts July 3. Check it out.

You will have the opportunity to sing all together and in small groups. No intimidation here – risks are encouraged and mistakes help us all learn! Come join us in creating beautiful music together that will raise your vibration. For singers and non-singers of all levels.

Kirtan Soul Revival (KSR) is New York City’s funkiest devotional mantra music experience. Using traditional Sanskrit mantras, original music, spirituals and music from around the world, KSR creates a unique, dynamic sound that merges funk, rock, rhythm and blues, world grooves, and chants. Listen here.

Lush three-part harmonies add fullness and depth to their sound. Kirtan is a celebration of spirit through the chanting of sacred names. KSR invites its audiences to participate fully through call-and-response chanting.

Through KSR’s simple presentation, even non-singers can easily experience the joy of being surrounded by harmony in a space that encourages improvisation and exploration. The Kirtan Soul Revival experience invitesparticipants to open their hearts to Spirit and to life!

Saturday, July 27th at Evolution
Chant Workshop: 2:30-4:30 pm
Kirtan: 7-9 pm
Workshop: $25, Kirtan $15, or $30 for both

Vermont’s incredibly long, excruciatingly drawn out Spring veils Summer’s delights. Each year, we get to see life anew as we unveil the joys of Summer again and again. Chapter two of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali teaches us all about veiling and unveiling. So does parenting.

Having kids (or being in touch with your inner child) gives you a fresh perspective on life in general and summer in particular. It helps you unveil the truth of how great life can be. Especially in summer.

Incourage.me recommends the following summer checklist:

1. Put fresh flowers on the table.
2. Have a stack of books for summer reading.
3. Inhale lots of sea air. {Lake Champlain breezes?}
4. Eat breakfast outside.
5. Drink pink lemonade.
6. Go out for ice cream instead of dinner.
7. Dip my toes in the fountain.
8. Roast marshmallows after dark.
9. Have a picnic by a lake.
10. Run through the sprinklers.

To this we’d add:

1. Practice yoga.
2. Practice yoga with friends.
3. Blow bubbles.
4. Make new friends.
5. Hug them.

Namaste and Happy Summer!

For one week in Ontario, I had the amazing opportunity to spend all day every day doing what I love the most, having a morning yoga class and being around/riding horses. After this 35-hour intensive training, I can proudly say that I have the tools, structure and information to merge the two.

The Galloping Yoga training was held at the International Equestrian Centre in Wendover Ontario where, back in the 70′s it hosted the Olympic Trials for any horse-related event. I learned as a yoga teacher, as a student, and as a horse lover, very foundational principles for a solid relationship with the self and with the horse.

Each day started with a hearty two-hour morning yoga practice broken down to elaborate on the muscles of the body and how we change them to accommodate for riding. In the afternoon when we took our practice to the horses, where the learning was profound.

We worked on getting to know the horses on an energetic level, being able to be honest with our intentions towards them, and noticing how they react to our own energy.

We practiced yoga before mounting, including, alternate nostril breathing (nadi shodana) to create more balance through the body, an upright form of pigeon pose using the stall doors to hold onto in order to open the hips and allow the legs to be longer and looser. We also practiced an upright form of thread the needle to open our hearts to the horses, and relax our shoulders as riders can be extremely tense through the shoulders because they are holding reins that are harnessing most of the horses power. We learned to ride with relaxed arms enough to compare it to pushing a shopping cart. We then did a handful of poses once we got on our horses, adjusting our balancing and keeping our breath through all of them.

I went to this training for many reasons but one specific one was to remind myself what yoga truly is. Yoga just is, and the horses demonstrated this. They live in the present moment and they do not lie. They are big and powerful animals. They want to trust, however they are prey animals so their instinct is to be on guard at all times, unless they have found truth and trust in a human companion.

I will soon be offering workshops and one-on-one lessons with anyone who would like to experience these two realms merged together, building confidence, trust, mind and body awareness off the mat and onto the saddle.

I will be at Wanderlust assisting the yoga and horses workshop at Stratton June 20-23.

Morgan brings her sense of balance and depth of understanding into play when she teaches, too. Here’s her kids yoga summer schedule (starts July 3):
Tots on the Move (ages 1 1/2 – 2 1/2) – Wednesdays & Saturdays
New Explorers Yoga (ages 10-18 months) – Fridays & Saturdays
Kids Creative (ages 2 1/2 – 5) – Saturdays

She also subs sometimes for adult yoga classes. Look for Morgan on the schedule.

Sure we want to look good, but the marriage of impulse shopping and cheap fashion has created a throw-away clothes culture that can be devastating. Fashion is taking its toll: according to Eartheasy.com, “Approximately 12 million tons of textile waste is generated each year in North America amounting to approximately 68 lbs of waste per household per year!”

While ethical fashion is about a decade behind the localvore and slow food movements, more and more of us are starting to ask “Is it possible to dress ethically and fashionably?”

The answer is yes. Like organic, local food, ethical fashion costs a little bit more. It’s also worth it.

Come to the yoga studio and see for yourself! We are now carrying two great clothing brands: Synergy Organic Clothing and Beyond Yoga. Both companies are dedicated to sustainability and ethical practices in the design, fabrication, and sale of extremely well-made, good looking clothes.

All Beyond Yoga garments are locally designed, manufactured and produced in California. Synergy uses 100% organic cotton and Eco-friendly low-impact garment dyes. Its clothing is hand made in Nepal, according to fair trade practices.

Just think, you can practice ahimsa with your wardrobe!

Want to learn more about the carbon footprint of your clothes? Read on:

• Ethical Fashion: Is The Tragedy In Bangladesh A Final Straw?
• Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion
• The Case for Ethical Fashion 
• Fashion with a Mission

In balasana we sit back on our heels, rest our foreheads on the mat, take a break and just be with ourselves. Introspection is good in yoga, right? Yes, but you have to be conscious in order to make the best use of it. In other words, you have to be able to breathe comfortably in child’s pose in order to reap its bennies. For people of a certain gender or size, child’s pose can feel squished, even suffocating, as the bosom seems to stifle cherished breath patterns.

Vinyasa yoga (many of our yoga classes can be described as vinyasa yoga) is all about linking movement to the breath. In the case of Child’s Pose, it is about  linking stillness to the breath. In either case, this is difficult when the breath is hard to take. This just means if you are breathless in child’s pose, you have to breathe somewhere else.

Huh? Really. You can move the breath out of the front body – the chest, where we typically find it – into other parts of the torso, like the back body and the ribs. My favorite trumpet player taught me how to do this. Believe me, trumpet players know how to breathe. Here are a couple tips for moving the breath:

• Lie on your back. Place your right palm on your belly, just below your navel. Place your left hand on your chest. Exhale fully. Now focus your breath in such a way that you only move your right hand on the inhale. Try this a couple times. Now focus your breath in such a way that you only move your left hand on the inhale. Try this a couple times. Now focus your breath in such a way that you do not move either hand as you inhale. Breathe into the space between. See? You can do it!
• Lie on your back. Place your hands on either side of your ribcage. Exhale fully, then take a deep inhale that moves your hands. On the exhale, gently squeeze your ribs together. Stay focused as you repeat these actions. You can play the pranayama accordion!
• Take a comfortable seat, or lie on your belly. Place a hand on your mid back, between the shoulder blades. Now try to lift your hand with your breath.

If you feel squished and breathless in Child’s Pose, be mindful and breathe into your ribs or your back. Move the focus away from where you can’t breathe to where you can breathe. It is not always that easy and it takes practice, but it is always worth it:

“Mindfulness helps you go home to the present. And every time you go there and recognize a condition of happiness that you have, happiness comes.” ~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Breathing, really breathing, in Child’s Pose is the perfect place to find this condition.

It is one of the five niyamas, or inner practices of yoga as described in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. The yamas and niyamas, yoga’s ten commandments, are the foundations of living a yogic life. The yamas have to do with how we relate to one another in the world (restraints). The niyamas are about how we behave when no one is looking (observances). Ishvara Pranidhana, the final niyama is considered the queen mother of all the restraints and observances. She sums it all up: surrender.

To the uninitiated, the exotic polysyllables of yoga might sound like something from the Lost Realm of Cardolan in Middle Earth. Actually, it is not that far off – yoga even has role playing and interactive games. You can think of Mordor and Mount Doom as self-doubt and self-created limitations. Think of the “one Ring to rule them all” as the ego.

Destroy the Ring and save the community – it’s a kind of  hero’s journey. “A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.” (Joseph Campbell)

In yoga, the journey is always within: delve into the supernatural wonder of the true self and become a better person. Boons all around. This journey is sponsored by a surrendering to something (god, the divine, love, the universe) greater than ourselves. Through the yoga practice, we gain a decisive victory over doubt, self-loathing, apprehension, and fear as we become better equipped to see ourselves as we really are.

Surrender to something greater and you’ll see that you are that very something. It’s like giving money away in order to become rich. In Middle Earth, it’s like tossing the Ring into the Sammath Naur in order to kindle your own divine spark.

Precious.

Great examples of Seva are not hard to find. Mother Teresa’s life was the quintessence of Seva. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation represents the financial end of the practice of Seva. Habitat for Humanity is somewhere in between. But you do not have to live a life of poverty and service, nor do you have to be a multimillionaire or know how to swing a hammer in order to make a difference in the world.

During the first full week of May (6th – 12th), all you have to do is get on your yoga mat. Area yoga studios are raising funds to support our community by participating in The Day Station Seva Project. At Evolution, we are dedicating Monday’s Community Class to the cause: It’s Make a Difference Monday with Morgan. May 6th, 4:30-5:30. Sign up here.

All proceeds from this donation yoga class will go to the Day Station. The Committee on Temporary Shelter (COTS) provides emergency shelter, services, and housing for people who are homeless or marginally housed in Vermont. COTS DayStation is a daytime drop-in center that provides refuge from the streets and access to an array of services and medical care. The DayStation provides a free noontime meal each day.

For many yogis, veganism is part of the foundation of Ahimsa. For them, a diet that includes animals or animal-derived products causes harm to sentient beings. For other yogis, eating humanely slaughtered meats constitutes Ahimsa. For them, non-harming is based on how we act towards other people.

No matter where you stand on the issue of Ahimsa and yoga, cutting back on animal-derived products can have a huge impact on where you actually stand – right here on earth.

If each us of were vegan for a day, the impact on the health of the environment would be huge. According to  Vegan1day.org, if we were vegan for a single day, we would save:

• 2 BILLION animals globally (land and ocean)
• 100 billion gallons of water, enough to supply all the homes in New England for almost 4 months
• 70 million gallons of gas, enough to fuel all the cars of Canada and Mexico combined
• 3 million acres, an area twice the size of Delaware
• 4.5 million tons of animal excrement
• 33 tons of antibiotics
• Greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 1.2 million tons of CO2—as much as is produced by all of France in a single day.

It is worth considering. Even for just a day. Here a some great resources to get you started:

• Go Vegan for Earth Day
• Vegan Earth Day
• Pledge to Be Vegan for 30 Days!
• Welcome to the 30 Day Vegan Easy Challenge!
• Vegan 1 Day
• It is Easy Being Vegan

Massage feels great. There are few better ways to relieve stress than under the strong hands of a certified massage therapist. Some people still think it’s a luxury, but the human significance of touch suggests otherwise. Let’s take a look:

• We hold hands
• We shake hands
• We pat on the back
• We fist bump
• We high-five
• We embrace
• We nudge
• We tickle
• We cuddle
• We wipe away a tear

We touch to express our deepest feelings and we always have. The handshake originated as a gesture of peace: open palm to open palm meant “I am not armed” and “We are in this together.” The laying on of hands confers blessings in many religious faiths. Every single wedding album includes an image of the new couple’s entwined hands. Basketball players touch hands after each free-throw shot to show support. This week, after the explosions in Boston, the Internet is flooded with images “people being awesome” – at the center of almost all of these images is the human touch.

Now it’s your turn. Take this opportunity to express yourself with the gift of massage – Mother’s Day, Graduation, Spring, Father’s Day, mere existence are all perfect occasions to express your gratitude with the gift of massage. Buy a massage and save this Friday – schedule your massage anytime in the next two years!

Please note, our prices will be going up to $70 on May 1st, so this is a great opportunity to save big, as you take care of yourself or a loved one.