blog
Yoga is *Magic*!
- By Mrs. SweetSpot
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- 31 Jan, 2019
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A theatre artist finding balance in Detroit
Last week, I found myself stressed and overwhelmed. Away from home, I was on a volunteer trip in Detroit. We drove there through Snow Storm “Harper” and slept on cots in a church basement. The work we did was physically demanding. I also had work back home I felt I couldn’t pull away from. I needed a break.
It was always the plan to check out a yoga class while we were in Detroit, so I did some research and found
Citizen Yoga in Detroit’s Downtown. While there were other exciting offerings, such as Elevated Yoga (420 friendly) and DMT(Dance Meditation Technique), the fact that it was a “dry trip” (which I interpret as substance free regardless of local laws) and misalignment of schedules made them not the right fit. Citizen Yoga offered classes that day, so we decided to go to the Yin-yasa class.
The class is a combination of restorative and movement based yoga. The Yin portion of class was done first to prep the body for specific pivotal poses. I have taken the combination before, but never in that sequence. To my surprise, this was also a hot yoga class. Seeing how I was extremely sore and tired and it was 10 degrees in Detroit, this was the perfect fit. Katie was a fantastic instructor and offered lots of variations and modifications throughout the practice. In the yin section we held poses for 3 or so minutes, in the movement part of the class we went through several sun salutations and warrior sequences. Each got faster as the class moved along, and by the end of it, sweat was dripping down my body, and I felt elated and relaxed, all at the same time.
This one hour changed my entire outlook on life. Suddenly, everything was right again. I had a purpose, life had meaning and that harried self from hours ago was nowhere to be found. Which leads me to the question- if I can make myself feel this good, why don’t I take the time to do it? Yes, this was a nice studio with a really good class, but I can get a similar benefit from doing Yoga with Adriene or my own practice at home.
The best way to practice self-care is to slow down. I keep getting myself in way over my head, and struggle to find balance. Then, after some rest, I beat myself up about not doing enough and needing to do more. In those times, it’s good to remember my yoga mat is there. I can stretch my body, quiet my mind and focus on the present moment. Experience stillness or be mindful of the movement of my body. Balance on one leg as I fold my arms out like tree branches.
Or just sit
And breathe
In and out.
Teaching virtually, while never the same as in-person and face-to-face, expands our ability to practice together virtually, anytime, anywhere. So this is a great opportunity for us to examine how many classes are offered and when .
Many of you know me for my Mindfulness classes, but what you may not know is before I ever formulated Mindful Yoga with Steven, I taught Vinyasa Flow , and I am quite fond of a high energy strength and balance building Yang Practice , also prior to the pandemic, I traveled regularly to teach Workshops and Master Classes on Mindfulness, Mindful Creativity & Performance (ActingMindful.ly) and Breath-work , I had even planned to co-host my first retreat in Bali later this year, a project that will have to wait for another season.
Faced with these new challenged I've be forced to adapt to online classes and for those of you that have been joining use each Friday... it's gone pretty well! I feel it's really important to hold live classes rather than prerecorded content (even if the product is a little less polished) to allow time and space for us to practice together, and for me to offer suggestions and answer questions while we build a community and socialize together . I plan to continue using Zoom (new link to come) and dig a little deeper into cleaner multi-camera switching so you can see more when you need a little more guidance, and I plan on mixing it up with the music tracks to provide a little more variety in that ambient sound for those of you that enjoy it. If there's an interest, I may even develop some binaural tracks and other therapeutic soundscapes for us to experiment with.
On a final note (and this is VERY important)
I've decided to offer all of these classes on a modified Pay-What-You-Can or Pay-it-Forward model .
Starting this week I'll be posting the new yoga class schedule on my website where you can sign up to attend classes and, if you're able, make a financial gift. The financial gift you make to me, is entirely up to you even if it's $1 or nothing at all . I know what these classes are worth, I'm totally comfortable charging $10-15 a class, I know other instructors offer subscriptions and pre-purchased "class packs" for their businesses and I routinely charge $125+ / person for my workshops and master classes, but I want to do something different .
Even before the pandemic I was conceptualizing something more aligned with my values. A structure that encourages a Gift Culture rather than Transactional Capitalist Commodification. Now that the pandemic hit, I think it's even more important. So I'm putting my faith in you and the community we're building. I hope you'll go on this journey with me. The revenue from classes and workshops make up a substantial part of my livelihood, but I want you to have the experience of my classes, as my gift to you , no mater what you can afford to pay, and if you're able, I would be honored to receive a gift from you in any amount you can make.
...Ummm...WOW!
While there I got the rare treat of meeting founder of the method herself Fay Simpson! After the class I sat down with her her and discussed her unique Chakra based acting method, and its parallels with ActingMindful.ly
Completely genuinely, if I lived in the city I might abandon ActingMindful.ly to pursue teaching Lucid Body with Fay. It really is THAT GOOD. Honestly, I would LIVE at Lucid Body House if they let me... I don't need much, just give me a spot by the yoga mats to curl up each night. 😉
Enjoy!
Stream or download below.
Run-time: 26 mins 17 secs
Here they work to preserve their ancient traditions. One way they do so is through The Mystical Arts of Tibet touring show which features mystic music, dance or, in our case, visual art through the creation of sand mandalas or sand paintings. Taking five days to complete, the elaborate mandala is "painted" by laying down millions of grains of sand to create the traditional design.
While the monks were in residence the Venerable Gonsa Rinpoche and monk Beri Palden facilitated workshops and dialogues and even honored a Mindfulness for the Actor instructor with a private interview. In this podcast we talk about, art, emotion, relationships, performance, fame, mindfulness and so much more!
Stream or download below.
Run-time 1 hr 6 mins 52 secs
Stream or download below.
Run-time 21 min 39 secs.
