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Dear Yoga Community,
As I am home
barely 24 hours from Thailand, I'll leave this month's newsletter to the short and
simple, and let a couple of pictures do the talking!
In community,
Sarahjoy  Blossom Festival  Demonstrating at a yoga workshop
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Dharma Highlight
dharma: wisdom teachings, duty, wisdom in action
Hindered or Not Hindered?
I've just returned to Portland after my
12-day voyage in Thailand. After more than 20 hours in airplanes, 12 hours in
airports, crossing the international date line, and bathing my little dog with
big personality (and heavy doses of stubbornness), I have plenty of reasons to
practice yoga, and plenty of self-motivation. But that may not be the case for
many of us, and was not always the case for me historically.
I've been practicing yoga and meditation for more than 20 years.
Yet it took almost half of those years to establish a daily practice month in
and month out! Many, many students tell me how much they love yoga; and how sad
they are that in the midst of turmoil, transition, illness, or layers of
stress, their practice is one of the first things to go, just when they need it
most. Sometimes students also report that during times of joy, ease, or the
comfort of "things going their way," that the urgency for practice fades and
they don't find themselves on their yoga mat.
Practicing daily is the most effective way to reap the rewards
of yoga...daily research, daily exploration, daily cultivation of sensitivity and
joy, daily grounding and focusing, daily renewal. Consistency in our practice
not only yields the most results but offers us the most clear information for
self-knowledge. Like any research scientist, approaching the research
methodically greatly stabilizes the process and creates the conditions for
profound discovery.
We know this, yet we still may not find ourselves following
through. Why? Yoga philosophy would point us to the Nine Hindrances...which
include things like illness, doubt, or assessing ourselves as being further
along the path then we are. This month in the Dharma Study Group we'll reflect
on these nine hindrances as well as methods for researching our particular
samskaras (mental patterns) which not only prevent us from progressing, but
actually keep us stuck.
I'll end with a big invitation for you to join
us at the Dharma Study Group on Tuesday, February 23rd at 7 pm. The
books I'll be drawing from include The Heart of Yoga by Desikachar, Love is God
by Eknath Easwaran, and The Way to Love by Anthony de Mello.
Click here to read more about the ongoing Dharma Study Group at amrita...
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Muscle of the Month
This month's
muscle focus will be on the muscles that support the upper back and shoulders
for sound inversions and back bends! We'll look at serratus anterior and lower
trapezius more closely, as they're often a little sleepy and trying to overcome
the tightness or overuse of other muscles.
A useful book for your self-study on this would be The Concise Book of
Muscles, available in the lobby.
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Poses of the Month
based on the
seasonal changes & our evolution as students
We'll be researching the upper back for handstands and forearm
stands on our way to backbends.
Level 1: dolphin poses
Level 1-2: half-handstand at wall
Level 2: forearm stand balance
Level 3: headless headstand to backbend
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Karma Yoga
A chance to make a contribution to the changes
we wish to see in the world...
Benefit for Living Yoga and the Oregon Food Bank
Kirtan with Shantala, Heather and Benjy Wertheimer
Friday, February 19th, 8pm
The Old Church
1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland
map
$20 advance/$25 day of show
Special
concert as part of the "Unity in the Community" tour!
Featuring the amazing talents of John Dekadt on percussion
and Jeff Leonard on bass. A portion of proceeds to benefit
Living Yoga and The Oregon Food Bank.
Click here to purchase tickets online from amrita, or purchase in person at the amrita studio. Click here for a list of additional places to purchase tickets.
Read more about Shantala on their website: www.shantalamusic.com
Sponsored by:
Luna and
Larry's Coconut Bliss
Cell-nique
Karma Krew
Bhakti Ware
Stash Tea
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Ayurveda Lifestyle
...will return next month!
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Yoga Retreats
Spring Yoga Retreat at Breitenbush Hot Springs
April 15-18
Join us for a
magical weekend in the Cascade Mountains at Breitenbush. For this spring retreat, we'll be focusing on the nature of change, goal setting, and discipline. Informed by the teachings of the Gunas (rajas, tamas, and sattva) and the Doshas (vata, pitta, and kapha), and by my own direct life events, I'm delighted to deeply explore with you the choices we make on the mat and off, in effort and in surrender, in setting goals and in keeping perspective.
To benefit from the teachings of the gunas and doshas, we must know ourselves. Through the practices of asana, pranayama, meditation, and contemplation, we are revealed to ourselves in the immediacy of each undertaking. In this, all of the data we need for our most profound research and discovery is available to us. If we have been stuck, compulsive, repetitive, frustrated, passive, lethargic, or
disconnected and we don't know it directly, we won't know how to set out to work with ourselves through the course of transformation. And transformation of the sort that yoga provides isn't just short-term relief; it's a radical aligning with the innate intelligence of life.
If you're looking for a weekend retreat for personal renewal, to deepen your yoga practice, or to learn to surf the waves of life from a new perspective, please join us.
For beginning and intermediate students.
Click here for pricing and registration info...
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Quotations of the Month
Intended to simply inspire, mildly challenge, or thoughtfully provoke
contemplation!
"The great Western disease is, 'I'll be happy when... When
I get the money. When I get a BMW. When I get this job.' Well, the reality is,
you never get to when. The only way to find happiness is to understand that
happiness is not out there. It's in here. And happiness is not next week. It's
now."
- Marshall Goldsmith
"I'll
tell you how the sun rose, she rose one ribbon at a time."
- Emily Dickinson
"Are you
jealous of the ocean's generosity? Why would you refuse to give that joy to any
one? Fish don't hold the sacred liquid in cups, they swim the huge fluid
freedom."
- Rumi
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