Yoga Retreat

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Shiva Meditation in Chiang Mai

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Shiva Meditation in Chiang Mai

Deep relaxation with Shiva Meditation! Pranayama, yoga nidra and seated concentration. Concentration, meditation, and Samadhi are hard. Most of us need to work on the lower limbs to prepare the body to sit, prepare the mind to concentrate, and learn to turn inward and let go of the outer world. If you are not sure of what direction to take in your life? If you are not sure what intention to set and use in your practice? If you are not sure about your purpose? Start to do some more investigation and get to know yourself a little better. Start practicing! Get on your mat and the answers will come. A good practice is also to look at the 8 limbs of Ashtanga Yoga and think of how you could practice each one a little more than you are doing right now. Could you be a little more kind? Could you tell the truth more? Could you stop stealing on a more subtle level? Could you clean up things in your life a little more? Practice more gratitude? Could you work a little harder and go deeper into the fire? Could you study the mind a little more? Could you let go of something you’ve been holding onto? How could you deepen your asana practice this year? Maybe it’s time to introduce a pranayama or a pratyahara practice too? How could you simplify your life? The yamas and niyamas are very helpful at reducing conflict and eliminating distractions. The asana practice will help you to find more comfort in your body, cleanse and release tension, and help train your mind to focus. Pranayama will purify the energetic body and make the mind clear and sharp. How will you take your yoga off the mat this year? My teacher, Mr. Ramaswami used to say that eventually you have to take your yoga off the mat because one or two hours of practice a day will never compete with 22 hrs of living in chaos. Yoga is not asking us to be perfect, just to move forward one step at a time. Put in the effort and don’t worry about the results. Just show up and do the work.

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A magical yoga retreat in Chiang Mai

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A magical yoga retreat in Chiang Mai

Yogi’s! We’ve just finished a very magical yoga retreat in Chiang Mai. The thing that always amazed me about yoga from the beginning of my practice is that we do the practice in just an empty room. There’s nothing special there. You get out of your practice what you put into it. If you choose to make that room a sacred space then it will be a sacred space. If you choose to make your practice transformational then it will be transformational. You can choose to just do yoga exercise but why would you? Ride your horse to the destination. You’ve been given this incredible technology to conquer the mind. Don’t waste even one second getting distracted. Concentrate. Go into the fire. Take a journey into stillness and experience the true nature of your self. Yoga can change your life. But you’ve got to be ready to change. Here’s some pics from our opening night dinner and opening ceremony. We set the stage that first night for the week ahead. I love these opening ceremonies. I love hearing from each of the students and getting to know each of them a little better. Thank you, everyone. Thank you for showing up for yourself. What a nice start to the retreat. To survive, science teaches us that we need food and water. But to thrive, we need to also be seen and heard, to feel connected, and to know that we belong. So much of yoga practice is about finding that connection again. Connection to our self. And connection to each other, to our community. We were off to a great start after our sharing circle at the opening ceremony. I could feel that this was going to be a really great group right from the moment everyone arrived that first night and introduced themselves. Thank you, everyone!

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Chiang Mai Retreat - Day 3

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Chiang Mai Retreat - Day 3

Day 3 on our yoga retreat to Thailand! Another strong Shiva Power class to start the day! Lots of deep twisting, and some work on Mayurasana, the Peacock Pose. The Peacock represents Sattva, a state of balance and equilibrium, illumination, a state where the light can move through you. When you check in at the end of your practice, hopefully you are closer to a place of balance than when you checked in at the beginning of your practice. Maybe your body is a little more open and a little more relaxed, your breath is flowing a little more evenly, and your mind is a little quieter. You might even feel a little more calm and a little more at peace. You might even experience a deeper connection to your Self. During the practice, though, as you work on finding balance you might not feel balanced at all. The practice is supposed to take you out of your comfort zone. You’re supposed to feel vulnerable and uncomfortable, and your “stuff” is supposed to come to the surface. That’s the point. That’s the cleansing part of the practice. Yoga then asks you to shift your perspective. Sit in the fire. But try to stay calm in the middle of all that intensity. Walk to the center of your wheel. Stop asking the wheel to slow down. Stop asking the world to change for you. Change your relationship to the world. Change your relationship to the movement of the wheel. Move from Tamas, through Rajas to Sattva, and experience the true nature of your self.

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Core workshop in Chiang Mai

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Core workshop in Chiang Mai

Core strength Workshop! Here’s some pics of the students on our retreat exploring the function of each core muscle. One of the great things about understanding anatomy is that you can understand the purpose of each Asana a little better. The body is amazing at getting the job done. The problem is that we all have some muscles that aren’t doing enough and some muscles that are doing way too much. When we break it down and get really specific we can see clearly which muscles we need to strengthen and which muscles we need to stretch. We can start to undo some of the physical patterns that are leading to imbalances in our body, that might be causing pain, and that could lead to injury. Anatomy literally means to cut the body into pieces, so that by understanding the microcosm we can understand the whole body, the macrocosm a little better.

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First Shiva Power class in Chiang Mai!

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First Shiva Power class in Chiang Mai!

Shiva Power class! Here’s some pictures from our first morning practice together in Chiang Mai! After this class I felt like we had really arrived. I remember my teacher, Mr. Ramaswami teaching us the yoga sutras in my teacher training program with him. So clear! So easy to understand. And I’ll never forget him saying that if you understand the first 4 sutras then you understand the whole book. The rest of the book just elaborates on these first four sutras. Sutra 1.1. Now, time for yoga instruction. Sutra 1.2. Yoga is the practice of quieting the distractions of the mind. Sutra 1.3 Then, (when the mind is quiet) you experience the true nature of your self. Sutra 1.4 The rest of the time you are caught up in the distractions of your mind (and you never get to know your self). So simple! So clear. So easy to understand. Now, we know the goal. And the rest of the book systematically breaks down how to quiet the mind, how to reach the goal. The students were so focused and dedicated on this retreat. It was a lot of fun to hold the space for them and share the teachings. Really, they did a great job holding the space for themselves. My job was easy. Thank you to everyone for your hard work this past week and for going into the fire with me!

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The volcano Haleakala!

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The volcano Haleakala!

The volcano Haleakala! It’s been dormant for almost 300 yrs. Incredible! I love the girls jumping in their Shiva Yoga shirts. Great shot! Maui has so much to see and explore. And the different parts of the island are so different. I will definitely be going back to explore a little more. Not enough time in just 1 week! And it’s so close — I can’t believe I haven’t been already until now. Beautiful! This incredible planet we live on. Let’s take good care of her and try to leave behind something better than what we found.

Galapagos Islands - Day 7!

Galapagos Islands - Day 7!

This was our last day to explore the islands. The trip had started off feeling like it was going slow and then a few of the days just flew by and suddenly we were on our last day. We had bonded so much as a group. It had been such an amazing time together on the islands. I was going to miss this Galapagos Islands family and our home away from home at Semilla Verde.

Galapagos Islands - Day 6!

Galapagos Islands - Day 6!

On Thursday of our retreat we had a day off from excursions. I led the group in a late yoga class that started at 7:30am. The turtles were all hanging out in the turtle pond and we got to watch them during class, right outside the window of the yoga studio.

Galapagos Islands - Day 5!

Galapagos Islands - Day 5!

We started off with an early morning pranayama and meditation practice at Semilla Verde. Love watching these yogis transformation after these seated practices. Powerful stuff!

A quick breakfast at Semilla Verde and we were off to Tortuga Bay for some hiking, hanging out at the beach, and kayaking.

When we arrived at Tortuga Bay we hiked through this beautiful forest to get to the beach. The trees were all white and silver and it looked like they had been blanketed in ice. It was really beautiful!

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Galapagos Islands - Day 4!

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Galapagos Islands - Day 4!

Day 4 of our Galapagos Islands adventure we were up early to do an asana class to start the day off!

I was getting up a little earlier than everyone else to do my own practice on the retreat before leading our morning classes and most days when I headed from my room to the studio it was still dark outside. I often came very close to stepping on one of the giant turtles who were sleeping on the pathway to the studio or nearby. The turtles hiss at you when they are scared or startled and it sounds very strange.

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 3!

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 3!

Day 3 of our Galapagos Islands adventure took us to North Seymour Island.
We woke up early and I led the group through a challenging yoga class to get us ready for our day.

After class, we grabbed a quick breakfast at Semilla Verde and then took a bus to the port to board the Sea Finch.We arrived at North Seymour island and went exploring with our guide, Steve, giving us deeper insight into all of the animals we encountered.

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 2!

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 2!

This was our first official day waking up at Semilla Verde. I was up at a little before 5am to do my practice so I could lead the group through a morning session at 6am. We did a sun salutation practice, followed by a seated seedless meditation.

After a quick breakfast, we were on our way to the port to head to Bartolome Island.
Steve, a really nice, down to earth guide was to lead us on this journey. We lucked out with Steve as he turned out to be a walking encyclopedia.

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 1!

Galapagos Islands Adventure Yoga Retreat! Day 1!

We left from LAX on Friday morning. I was flying with three other students coming from Los Angeles: Amber, Alexa and Jaro. We flew to Panama City and then on to Guayakil, a small city in Ecuador. We met up with two more students, Peter and Tina, at the airport in Guayakil. They had arrived on a different flight but were booked at the same hotel that we were. We spent the night in Guayakil.

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When the Student Is Ready the Teacher Appears

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When the Student Is Ready the Teacher Appears

One of my teachers used to say the world is like an echo. You get back what you put out. If your message is, "I hate you!" The world sends you back the message, "I hate you!" If you're message is, "I love you!" then the world sends you back the message, "I love you!"

We are all vibrating at different frequencies. It's why sometimes we disconnect with people. You're not vibrating on the same frequency as them. They're not really hearing you. You're not really hearing them. You're not really 'getting' each other.

One of the things that I've noticed since teaching yoga is that the clearer I get with the signal that I'm sending out, the clearer I get with what I'm teaching, with what I'm offering as a teacher,...it's like that signal gets heard loud and clear by the people who want what I am offering. These students pick up on it and they find their way into my class. We gravitate towards a teacher that we're ready for. When the student is ready the teacher appears.

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