ॐ February Fables ॐ

Hello to you, yoga enthusiast and friend!

In this months’ newsletter, read a short story about yatnaḥ - effort. Also included are some details about the pop-up classes happening this month and what is happening this year and why I am offering five retreats abroad.

Looking forward to hearing from you, if you like my monthly emails, send me a message - even if it is a quick hello. Life is fast and full and I don’t get to write as much as I used to (also revealed in this newsletter) so go ahead and start the conversation if you can.

Hope practice is lifting you up rather than bringing you down. You are finding your feet and making small changes towards wellness in all areas of your life and I hope to see you soon!

In light,

Sarah, Calvin and Dashiel

Yatnaḥ - effort

Let’s talk a little about courage; in order to maintain a daily practice there needs to be a willingness to get back to something that is difficult, like a project not quite complete. Who wants to do that when you did it yesterday and/or if it was hard? Being curious about what you are doing on the mat with a good dose of determination and humility will make that journey onto the magic carpet easier.

Maintain your goal of a daily practice by applying:

Courage
Curiosity
Determination
Humility

When applying all of these towards your practice you begin to endure what you can’t change. Iyengar says:

Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured, and endure what cannot be cured.

Applying these ideas towards your daily practice means that you can endure practices that aren’t glorious or fancy; even the worst of practices are appreciated if you think this way. Be honest: I am more often than I’d like to admit a troll on the mat and less of a fluffy cloud.

I set myself up for success with a plan. Check out the two mindsets below and notice how they are practical to that day.

“Today, I will do a practice of full vinyasa primary series with all of the finishing asanas…”

I set myself for this success when I have the practicalities of how to do this planned ahead of time (no work restrictions - no children to watch while I am practicing, and a two-hour time window already planned).

And:

”Today I will do all of standing and the last ten postures of the primary series (or the first ten of intermediate or the first ten of third) with all of the finishing asanas…”

This is my fifty-minute practice - just perfect for my lunch-hour yoga practice, just in time to eat a sandwich in ten minutes before returning back to work.

You could also have a third plan if you wanted - say an hour and a half plan - think about the time and energy you have for that day and use it wisely. The practical plan gives the practice the backbone it needs in order to be successful.

What happens when you get going, all is good, breath is smooth and sweet, however the practice reveals a hidden suffering that has been tucked away. This would be like a niggle in your back, or an ache in your hip, maybe even a shoulder that feels locked or immobile..goodness add to that a distracted mind, lousy clothes, the light being too bright and/or someone around you with a noisy breath bothering you…and you have the perfect recipe to stop your meditative journey.

I am here to tell you NOT to get worked up about practice and where you do it, how long you do it, and don’t set up yourself up for any grandiose plans that aren’t practical. Stopping half-way through and adapting your practice because of those niggles is smart and logical; don’t blindly endure pain. Adapt your practice or modify it so it can be smooth. Sit with the discomfort - however don’t wallow through something painful - it isn’t worth it so that you can snap the great instagram photo.

You will see as the years go on when you arrive on your mat - you don’t have the same energy as yesterday because that was yesterday. At that moment - that moment of the day you arrive on the mat - it is always new. You may float like a cloud or you may suffer with all the niggles niggling you to stop or do another type of niggling. What do you do then?

You listen: maybe you go into finishing and witness that humility teaching you - you aren’t that other instagram yogi - you are you.

Many of you have seen a few posts that I have shared about practicing in the back of the Patagonia shop where I work 2-3 days a week. This is why I practice in the small hallway - the workshop area in the back of the shop where boxes of jackets and backpacks and clothes wait to go outside…why am I practicing there you may ask?

On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I take my children to school - I shared in the last newsletter it has been surprisingly joyful! So I don’t practice those mornings - I make a juice for the boys, make them breakfast and make their lunches and then off I go to work. This means there is an hour in the middle of the day to do a shortie - a practical practice inside the warehouse. It is perfect.

Doing your practice at your workplace? What is the worst that can happen if you practice at your work?

”Oh I came into the back and you were breathing so funny! So loud! What is that thing you do with your breath?”

See. Weren’t even looking at the postures - the folks that came in to get a cuppa tea or do something were surprised not at the postures - the breath.

Where can you make changes to your practice or adapt your plan at the beginning to make it more successful, more thoughtful, and more at ease?

Stay courageous to get on your mat every day. Use that curiosity of why you practice in the first place and why you want to be on that mat and make a practical goal to do it - with determination - effort - and don’t be afraid if you fail or have to abort the plan. Be humble as you bobble along, you never know when you may just have to stop, re-set that plan, and try again tomorrow.

Writing to my Grandmother for thirty years

When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, I lost my penpal. I used to write to her every month - sometimes twice a month. And I have been doing this practice since I was about ten or eleven years old. Many of you have received a letter from me over the years and you may see how I haven't written as much in the last few years and this is why.

One of my goals for 2023 was to get back to writing letters. Getting out my favourite pen and getting back to sharing stories. My penmanship is failing, I am out of practice. Kinda like when some of you, my students, share with me that you’ve been out of practice and miss it - I too miss my practice of writing letters.

My grandmother and I didn’t talk much on the phone - she lived in Ohio and I grew up in the west-coast so our time-distance meant it was easier to actually write than call as in the evening it was later her time, etc.

Same here now - some of you are west and some are in the east - well I am here in Europe and not where you are so a letter is finely ideal! An email is always good, too. Often I don’t write back to the email…I am lousy! Send me your return address when you send me an email and this year, I promise to write you back that way - via snail mail.

So if you’d like to be my penpal, there is a vacancy.

Retreats in 2023

There’s a whole line-up of ways to study with me in-depth; you can pick and chose your destination and time that works for you. The reason I am away this year? To reset and take care of myself and you, yogi. I find that when I am on retreat - I sleep soundly, I eat beautifully and I reward myself with disciplined long practices early in the morning before teaching. There are hammocks where I take naps. I tear through books, and I also teach with my heart and soul two classes per day - usually 5-6 hours…which to me is music to my practice and to my soul.

Join me for one my adventures this year. Here is the lineup:

18-25 March: Yoga in Tenerife - with Purple Valley Yoga Centre

8-15 April: Family Ashtanga Yoga Retreat:
Yoga in Salento, Italy
We are bringing a babysitter with us - children are welcome but not mandatory; if you’d like to come, practice and have your children look after, this is your retreat!

5-11 June: Ashtanga Yoga retreat with Christine Hoar
Monte Velho, Portugal
Join Christine and I both for a week of in-depth yoga study, the sea and surf

23-27 July: Meadowlark Yoga Intensive and Workshop
Edinburgh
Join me for 4-Mysore classes and a Saturday workshop

30 September - 4 October: Ashtanga Liberation Retreat
YogApulia, Italy
Join me for a small 12-person in-depth study in Italy

Online + in-studio Classes

Mysore Classes and Chanting ongoing:

Select Mondays - Chanting 4 pm
Tuesdays, Thursdays 7-9 am Mysore
Sundays 7:45-9:45 Mysore

Online pop-up classes:

Wednesday 8 February 10 am
Monday 20 February 10 am
Saturday 25 February 8 am Led Primary
Monday 27 February 10 am

Zoom Class ID and passcode

My daily classes are always accessed through zoom:

583 779 3991 with passcode Practice.

Click this link to access daily class

The Fables of Dublin

What’cha reading yogi?

After tackling “Ulysees” (thank you Gretchen for the inspiration!), I thought I’d venture into some light reading post-project. Reading something massive like Ulysees is one big endeavour, so if you are lucky enough to finish it, definitely reward yourself with some light-reading after.

As a buffer, I read “Lessons in Chemistry” for a quick page turner to rid me of my project-reading blues. (I mean come on, after Ulysees I was quick-witted and smart so something easier was a breezy joy. Thank you, Magda!)

And now I am smitten with “Three Castles Burning” a history of Dublin in 12-streets. Now this has come from the work of the podcast. You can find the Three Castles Burning podcast on all your favourite listening channels - and what I love about this is the history and stories that make up this lively and very soulful city.

Being fully rooted here now, I embrace this city, the changes it has gone through and the story it is currently sharing with us. Come visit and have a look at the streets and the culture, you won’t be disappointed. And you will have yourself a good tour-guide as I make my way through the city and learn about it - there are lots of treasures to be found!

Thank you friends and yogis for your friendship and sharing your practice with me.

See you soon - online or in studio!

ॐ Om śātiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ