every
heart longs to see itself in reflection.
how are we ensured that we're getting the full,
true
picture?
we see ourselves reflected back by our kula,
the company that our heart chooses to keep.
and every heart in the kula
stands affirmed in her place of power and
recognition.
the company of your choice is all the many ways you access
the vision of your self,
and it's all the many ways you are
(and i'll quote Mary Oliver here:)
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
april 2008
vimarsha.
this is an invitation to
reflect.
back, on what you received.
with gratitude.
what is the taste of the
experience of your experience?
what has it been like for you?
what did you get?
kula? a pose? a seat? a practice?
and reflect forward,
towards what you'd like to get.
what would you want more of?
how much?
contemplate these three:
what do you want?
how much do you want it?
what are you willing to do about it?
the way in which you answer the above
shapes the way we go forward.
as a yoga, and as a kula.
(yes! I do want to read/hear your vimarshas.)
March 2008
in any
position, there is
potential
for optimal alignment and health.
simultaneously, wherever you are,
you are already
full, purna, perfect.
imagine for yourself an energetic twin,
who holds you in all your fullness and perfection.
when we make
conscious efforts
to synchronize with that blueprint
our body senses that we're meeting our potential.
it becomes stronger, more resilient.
everything flows with more ease.
February 2008
vinyasa -
a sequence of poses held for a short amount of time
without interruption or resting
it's about swimming to match the current,
not
getting swept away.
more about placing ourselves, our bodies, our kula
in a special way,
moving within the rhythm (tala) of our breath
January 2008
niralambaya tejase
this last line of the Anusara Invocation literally means
a light not supported by anything else
a light that doesn't depend on anything else will endure.
when we connect to this radiant, ever-burning, heat-building
light,
we connect to a certain power.
a certain kind of stamina and strength
to hold ourselves in our choices with integrity.
December 2007
it's on the
tip of your tongue.
you know the experience you're having.
you just don't have the words to describe it yet.
this space between experience and speech is
soft.
like ghee.
not yet hardened by pronunciation.
it is an opportunity for clarity.
November 2007
to
be optimal
isn't just trying to balance by bringing more of the opposite
or reducing excess.
it is to take the situation we're receiving to a whole new
level.
the flickering of fire becomes the steady illumination of
tejas.
hyper-mobility is efficiently directed along the pranic winds.
a tendency toward staying in the same state holds the promise
of
contentment.
October 2007
when
the head moves back, the heart is unveiled.
just by virtue of not pushing forward, clutching forward,
or contriving our way forward.
the love of your life walks in the room,
and everything else just recedes.
September 2007
things
of value invite us to two challenges. they stabilize what is volatile.
think of the place you have chosen to live, sweethearts, children,
friends.
think specifically about your personal volatility before these
valuables were gifted to you.
but, they also shake us up.
think of something so important that you would move for it.
that you would leave for it.
that you would pull yourself from the trenches and go running
towards it.
what matters enough that you would engage it?
what matters enough that you would embrace it?
this month, make a sweet choice to hug in so that the moving
is gentle.
August 2007
months
of practice have been spent moving more towards the core,
and now we radiate out.
our countenance becomes more vibrant, more awake.
we are more mentally dexterous, more creative, more mobile.
we become the offering from our hearts to each other and to
ourselves.
July 2007
the
next focus in the pulsebeat of the practice
is the ever-contracting spiral
this is the one that fires us up, creates a lift, and fuels
another kind of expansive fireworks.
we keep the freedom (of our legs, pelvis, hamstrings, and
more)
even as we move forward into the shape of our
choice.
June 2007
it’s
time to splash around, play around, get serious about lila,
the divine game of hide-and-seek.
The rules we’ve learned so far are
1. place yourself well and open to Grace.
2. Draw on your inherent, sufficient power.
Which leads us to #3.
it is this contained power that fuels the ever-expanding
spiral of the legs and pelvis.
What does this mean for our practice?
We become more fluid and are more receptive, more like water.
And, like water, we can become shape-shifters, making our
forms fit perfectly to where we are and who we need to become.
May 2007
last
month we set our foundation and got brighter from the inside.
this month we hug on to that brightness.
we pull to the middle,
pull ourselves together,
and gather the diverse parts into a meaningful whole.
our kula, the community of the heart, becomes more
than just the sum of its parts.
April 2007
when
you come to your mat this month, put your attention on your
foundation.
the manner in which you set the foundation reflects your intention.
your intention is your heart’s desire.
it is the iccha, the urge, the longing that brings you to
the practice.
the practice is what helps us get better and better at taking
our seat with confidence and feel supported enough to
open to grace.
March 2007
the
only way to figure out the universe is to endeavor to figure
out the universe.
The more we endeavor, the more we try, the more we can figure
out.
The figuring out allows us to be more confident and comfortable
in our
endeavors.
February 2007
once
more, with feeling.
as Infinite Bliss celebrates its FIFTH anniversary, we move
towards a deeper exploration of how
we can continue to be in love with a practice.
we start out madly, passionately pursuing the practice, new
poses, new friends, and are rewarded in kind.
then, we start to know the story before it’s even told.
we anticipate the next move. we’ve made this connection
before.
it is both comforting and definitively less exciting.
yoga invites us to a reinterpretation of the story, a retelling
in our own words in our own bodies.
we are not mandated to not change it. we are called to make
it more meaningful.
January 2007
one
year turns into another
we turn over a new leaf, turn the page, take a turn for the
better
turn towards that which matters.
(what’s interesting? what’s important?)
you can’t do just anything,
but everything you do is what you choose to do.
instead of life happening to you,
make a turn in
some certain direction,
make a choice that comes from the steadiness of drawing to
the middle.
then the heart is free to lead.
Infinite Bliss Yoga, 1500 Bardstown Road,
Louisville, KY 40205
On the corner of Bardstown Road & Eastern Parkway, 2nd floor
of the Schuster Building
502.485.0121 or Allison@infiniteblissyoga.org
