Out with the Old…

Every year we promise ourselves, this year is going to be different. This year I will lose the weight. This year I will be healthier. This year I will spend less money. This year will be different – I just know it!

But with all the promises of becoming a better person, yogic wisdom teaches us to be content with ourselves, our lives, and who we are, even when it'd not perfect. In the coming going days to the end of another beautiful year practice being accepting of who you are; Practice having contentment with your situation. Don't go into another year telling yourself this one is going to be better because I hope it will, try to count the blessings that carried you throughout the year, and encourage yourself to be appreciative of the beauty that lies in you, even if it's flawed.

So you couldn't make it

As the year rushes to an end, people seem to start telling themselves what they haven't done, what wasn't completed, and how they failed again.

Why do we as people seem to only notice what we couldn't get accomplished? Why isn't it easier to say, I did lose 5lbs, even if I didn't get to 20lbs. Why do we short change ourselves?

I'm not really sure. Life seems to be a very overwhelming, and sometimes it's easier to see what we didn't do, instead of what we did. Yoga, has changed my thinking, my ability to cope, but it has never gotten rid of my doubts. So, sometimes I ask myself, am I living the Yoga way? How can I doubt myself and still try and be open, exposed, and promising to my being and the world around me, under me, and the unseen?

Because I am human. And my yoga practice is a practice. I am not a master. Yes I am a teacher, but I still learn like any other student. To become aware of your being; what you do accomplish, what you still reach to accomplish, and what you need more practice in, is not a bad thing. You must question who you are? What you are? What you give? To become better at it all. If no question arise, then you will settle in the same space, and never grow, never fail, never accomplish. You will be just what you are now. In the few days that we have left in this year, reflect on your yoga practice, thank yourself for doing everything you've done good in the last year. Think no negative thoughts!

And on the 31st... Write down FIVE things that you were great at this year, promise yourself that you will take those things into the NEW YEAR... and don't look back =)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

NAMASTE

Studio Update

Like Water wants to stay in Downtown Richmond, and we have tried to build a schedule that allows a class for every type of yogi. But we have noticed that our Easy Stretch class isn’t doing as well as the other classes.
So, we wanted to notify our students, and supporters that we are cancelling:
Thursday’s Easy Stretch class scheduled for 5:15pm
But we want to give you something Fresh & Fun to take the open spot!
So introducing our new class:
Rhythmic Yoga
What is Rhythmic Yoga? It is a fun yoga styled class. Traditional Vinyasa style yoga is fluid & movement partners your breathing. But Rhythmic Yoga uses modern music (dance) and partners Vinyasa style yoga with Dance movement. This class will use upbeat music that will raise the heart beat, and encourage your body to heat up faster, allowing you to become more flexible & fluid in your movement.
This new class will start December 10th, 2009. So mark your calendars for the change & we hope to see you there. Please bring a bottle of water to class & maybe even a towel.

VA and yoga mess!

VA. yoga regulation a stretch for teachers
Instructors sue over state's move to certify training classes

Again, I am reminded why VA is not the place for me or my yoga studio & practice. I can across this story posted on the Washington Post website.

Three yoga instructors on Tuesday asked a federal judge to halt a state plan to regulate yoga instructor training. The Old Dominion, they say, has stretched too far into an ancient, spiritual practice.
"Yoga is the study of the self through direct experience," Suzanne Leitner-Wise, a plaintiff and president of U.S. 1 Yoga Teacher Training said outside federal court in Alexandria, where the lawsuit was filed. "You simply can't put regulations on that. It's just dumb."
Yoga enthusiasts were knocked off balance late last year when Virginia announced that yoga teacher training programs, which officials consider vocational classes that prepare students for a job, must be certified by the state. Officials say it will protect students who invest a few thousand dollars in the training.

Read the rest by clicking here