This month we will explore the many facets of our Yoga practices and philosophies that support our continuous search for maintaining balance. We all struggle now and then with finding balance in our lives. It is a dance, a constant shifting and altering of our priorities to keep us healthy and grounded. We look to mentors, counselors, teachers, books, CD’s, workshops etc. for clues and guidance in how to live a balanced life. As yogi’s we come to eventually realize that it is our Yoga practice that is the key to supporting the balance we long for. Our practices help us to find our center. Here we regain our strength and courage to explore our deepest nature and rise above life’s challenging times. As we practice Yoga on our mats through our asana, breath and meditation we explore various ways to hold to the balance of not moving to far off from our center. The mat time becomes the touchstone that supports our lives off the mat and allows for a life that is more harmonious and healthy.
We invite you to learn more in our classes, services, workshops, retreats and this months Dharma talk to assist you in living life with equanimity and sweet balance.
NOVEMEBER 2011 THEME: GRATITUDE
During my early yoga studies in the ‘80s, I learned and accepted the fact that the more grateful I was in life the more content and happy I was. Gratitude changed my way of thinking and living–promoting my health, my financial stability, confidence in myself and in relationships with others and my spiritual connections. It seemed the more I focused on what I was grateful for, the more positive things came my way. Today I am practicing the art of being grateful for those things in my life that, at first, seem quite negative or even painful. I have a friend I have admired for years who seems to have this “down to a science”. I watch her go through difficult times with such grace, awareness and poise. She allows the difficulty to wash over her, she learns what she needs from the experience and, within what seems like the next breath, comes forth with all the gifts she receives from the situation. It amazes me how quickly she can move through the trauma to find the gift to be grateful for. What a “practice” to move through our days looking for the gifts in every situation that comes our way and expressing gratitude for them!
This month we will explore the many gifts and blessings of living a life expressed in gratitude. Our hope is that as we focus on this experience of being grateful, we grow to share the blessings that uplift everyone who comes to the center. It has been mentioned many times a week over the course of Desert Song’s 28 years that the energy of the studio feels so good. I truly believe that some of the energy is pure expression of gratitude for having a place to come back to the essence of our spiritual selves.
May this month offer you many ways to feel the collective blessings of this community. May you always feel honored when you come to Desert Song and allow the spirit of our connection be a support to you along your path.