Free New Year’s Day class, Jan. 1, 2:00-3:30pm

Free New Year’s Day Class

new years yoga, the yoga house, free yoga, yoga class

Join Jacqui Nash for this annual event, a class to ring in the new year. This year, we’re dedicating 2015 to Maitri Bhavana, or cultivating compassion and friendliness, in an effort to view all creatures and all people with openness and unlimited compassion (not always an easy task!).

Space is limited, so arrive a little early to roll out your mat.

“matiri karuna muditopeksanam sukha dukha punyapunya visayanam bhavanatas citta prasadanam.”

By cultivating attitudes of friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and disregard toward the wicked, the mind-stuff retains its undisturbed calmness

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, 1.33

 

 

New Classes Added — Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays

  • Leigha now teaches the Mon/Wed House Flow classes, from 9:00-10:30am.
  • Amy Reed will begin teaching an Early Flow class on Wednesdays from 7:00-8:00am, beginning 12/10.
  • Jacqui has added a House Flow on Monday evenings, from 7:00-8:00pm.
  • We have a new class on Saturday mornings called Flying Flow, a challenging Vinyasa class that will incorporate inversions, arm balances, and yoga philosophy-based intention setting. Taught by Leigha, 7:30-9:00am.

 

December Focus of the Month — Natarajasana

King Dancer, Natarajasana PoseLast week we received a little taste of winter—a snowstorm that knocked us off balance as we prepared for Thanksgiving. As we move into the final month of the year, we give Nataraj, Lord of the Dance, the spotlight and unpack the rich imagery of his story, which offers us a reminder to relish rather than lament winter’s destructive power.

In Hindu mythology Nataraj is a four-armed, wild-haired dancer who balances atop a dwarf demon while he performs a dance said to destroy humankind’s ignorance. Whereas we mere mortals fear nature’s cycles – of birth, death, and rebirth – Nataraj, an incarnation of Shiva, happily rides these rhythms, benevolently assisting in the destruction of the universe so that new life can emerge. In Nataraj’s eyes, winter is no time to mourn or to hibernate, it’s a time to celebrate as we prepare for the rebirth of springtime. May we all be dancers this season!

 

Nataraj, King Dancer, Focus of the MonthFearlessness and Liberation

The image of Nataraj is an iconic one. The svelte and muscular dancer holds a drum in one hand and fire in another, all while holding hand mudras (seals) that represent fearlessness and liberation. He is encircled in a ring of fire and wears a serpent around his waist. He stands atop the demon Apasmara and maintains, always, a peaceful countenance.

By keeping a firm foot on Apasmara the dwarf demon, Nataraj protects humankind from at least two layers of ignorance. Take what you want from the mythology, of course, but the two forms of ignorance are:

  • The illusion that we are separate from divinity.
  • The illusion that the trials of daily life are all that matter.

 

Nataraj_Apasmara

Apasmara the demon is held underfoot by Nataraj to protect humankind from ignorance.

Apasmara would have us get caught up in the trivial ups and downs of our daily interactions. He would like us to believe that we are our worry, or we are our regrets, our anxiety, our hopelessness, our sadness, or our excitability, and he loves when these fear-based emotions take us over because they cloud our sense of self and obscure our relationship to deepest consciousness.

Winter is a natural time to sink into contraction and hibernation, but instead of allowing its fallowness to dampen our spirits, the image of Nataraj encourages us to remember that it’s an essential part of the birth-death-rebirth process, one measure among many in the song of life.

The Lord of the Dance reminds us not to get swept up in our own mundane dramas and instead choose liberation from fear-binding thoughts. Only by destroying fear can we be truly free. And how will we know when we are free? That’s easy. We will be dancing.

 

The Pose: Natarajasana

Natarajasana, King DancerKing Dancer pose is a one-footed balance and back bend all at once. In it, the practitioner grabs one foot or ankle and reaches the other arm forward. There are as many variations of the pose as there are yogis, but it is always a balance, and it is always a heart opener. It also opens the shoulders, stretches the hip flexors, and tones the back body.

To explore the pose’s significance, you might try it balanced upon a block which can symbolize the demon underfoot who if freed would see to it that we remain shackled to our own little turbulences. Stand on the block to symbolically break free of the patterns that keep you bound to fear.

 

NatarajasanaThe pose itself can strike fear, as many balance poses do (especially when we try them on a block). If it seems elusive, try it at a wall to cancel out any sense of instability. When you do eventually feel stable in the pose, draw your heart forward, tilt it up, and notice the pose’s power to liberate your spirit.

Feel lifted and light, peaceful and celebratory. Let nature’s rhythms course through you without resistance. Keep the beat with your breath and give yourself over to the moment.