Field of Yoga

Every Friday evening at Poetry of Yoga we sit in the space between the fish and the moon, which beloved Rumi speaks of. What does this mean? As Coleman Barks says on his relationship with the poetry of Rumi, "These poems are beyond me, that's why I like working on them, they leave me where I need to go." Poetry and Yoga (and music) walk hand in hand in my life. Oh, you are holding my hand as well, as I hold yours. ... #fieldofyoga #poetryofyoga #handinhand #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath

Before I knew this poem that I often use to lead into savasana, I had a dream of this poem. Here is a story for you. For some of you this is what the author of The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy, calls a Great Story. (I will post her Great Story quote in my IG story) I waited a long time for my beloved grandmother Johnson to come and visit me in my dreams after her death. ... I longed to experience being with her; I miss(ed) her so. At long last she entered my dream world. Together, my grandmother and I were silently sitting on the edge of a large body of water. Then my grandmother gracefully slid into the water. I slid right in after her. She was laying on her back in the shape of a star. I was holding her up. We stayed like this for a time and then she quietly said to me "you need to let me go". I did. She released and started to ease away. Then I woke up. This post can point to trust, surrender, releasing, or what have you. This is an offering, if it serves you, wonderful, if not, as the Snow Geese of Mary Oliver who, "being the color of snow, catching the sun so they were, in part at least, golden" let it go by. #fieldofyoga #poetryofyoga #letgo #surrender #trust #gradualpath #walkingeachotherhome #beherenow #walkthewalk

Viriya is a Sanskrit/Pali word which means energy, courage, strength, perseverance, sustained effort. Here in Alberta, Canada we have moved back to Phase One in response to to the third wave of Covid. Viriya, I believe, is a wise response. My last post was on the cultivation of equanimity, to be calm and steady. Viriya and equanimity are two of the seven Factors of Awakening the Buddha offered to cultivate to lead towards awakening, which means liberation/freedom.... Let us be wise in our response to what is being asked of us as a community not only here in Alberta, but globally. Freedom from this pandemic will be the inevitable result. We must harness viriya and equanimity as we continue to "walk each other home." #fieldofyoga #gradualpath #walkingeachotherhome #beherenow

"See that boulder over there? Is it heavy? Not if you don't pick it up?" Ajahn Chah My yoga classes this week have a theme centered around "light". This is no way means that the phsycial practice will be lackadaisical (and of course the phsycial is only one aspect of our yoga practice together.) In my experience it takes strength, energy, effort and integrity to be light, fluid, graceful and composed. ... #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #walkthetalk #alltheweather

"Come closer, come closer, come into this come closer. You are quite the beauty..." Anis Mojgani. I see, celebrate, honor, celebrate, and love the divine within you. Namaste. #poetryofyoga #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #walkthetalk #alltheweather

We are big on ritual around here at Field of Yoga (which is not seperate from my life). Thich Nhat Hanh says this "This is a practice and a ritual. When you bring your body and mind together to produce your total presence, to become full of life, It is a ritual." #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #walkthetalk #alltheweather

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of sorrow. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift. Mary Oliver.... (Please note I have put the word 'sorrow' in where Mary has the word darkness. In another poem Mary speaks about how she is fine with a change here and there in her poetry. I feel it is important to change the narrative around the word darkness.) I received a box of sorrow from my (now ex) husband when I was 39 years old. Now at the age of 52 I understand that from sorrow there is an opportunity to deepen in compassion and understanding. This has been one of the gifts. Another is the birth of my relationship with poetry and the opportunity to share in the Poetry of Yoga with folks. Please join us this evening. Live-streaming 6:00pm-7:00pm M.T. and also recorded and available for 3 days. The cost is $12 Canadian. Link in bio.

"It is only when caterpillarness is done that one becomes a butterfly. You cannot rip away caterpillarness..." Ram Dass. Unfolding together. #fieldofyoga #poetryofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #alltheweather #walkthetalk

Freshly finished a pre-recording of a Saturday class for Field of Yoga All Class Pass Holders. While we do show up and livestream every weekday and Sunday (also recorded for those that can't make it at time of livestream) we wanted to provide an option for those that would like an asana class with us on Saturday. As Saturday is our day off of asana, we are pre-recording so it is available. A new offering in January is a Gentle Yoga class, which will also be pre-recorded and... which, if you have the All Class Plus, you can access as many times as you like during the week. Link to our class pass options is in my bio. #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #alltheweather #walkthetalk See more

I assume that most folks interacting with me here on my social platform know that 1. I am a mother and 2. I am a yoga teacher. In both of these roles love guides and informs me. In this photo from November 2019 with two of my daughters, I am wearing a stereo-typical yogin tank top, which I like and which actually is the way I think and feel. It says, "Let's Love Each Other". And also, I understand saying the words, and unrolling the yoga mat, and reading my yoga/poetry/dha...rma books, and taking my trainings, and doing my writings and whatever else my yoga/life rituals are, and they are meaningful to me and sacred and holy both, AND ALSO this deep inquiry and willingness to continually look inward and ask "How can I serve?" Service, like compassion, is a path of action. "Love is a verb" are words that I believe are true. May we live our love. May we respond to life in ways that serve and are rooted in our capacity to be both compassionate and wise. #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #alltheweather #walkthetalk

Protestors standing up for Black Lives Matter in contrast to the violent, rioters that stormed the Capital building. This past summer an acquaintance made a post in response to the BLM marches saying he thought a raging bull should be released into the crowds, which he called "rioters". We marched with a baby, a 3 year old, a 13 year old. Clearly there is no comparison.

"Sometimes melancholy leaves me breathless." Mary Oliver. My 3 oldest children are young women. Times moves us along. I am indebted to my practice of yoga which helps me hold the tenderness and reality of the fleeting nature of all phenomena.

"And what is more generous than a window?". The opening of the window to a new year, Mary Oliver adds "dash finally, frantically, to the windows and haul them open and lean out... shouting I'm here, I'm here!" You are here. We are here together. These are snippets of the first two poems I read to folks in forearm plank this week. (BTW, forearm plank in my classes represent the Gradual Path we are on together.) #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome... #gradualpath #alltheweather #walkthetalk See more

"We shake with joy, we shake with grief..." Mary Oliver. Through the joy and grief of 2020, Rick, Keith and I have emerged as ever devoted to expanding our hearts' capacities for love, inclusion and to living in ways that create as little harm as possible.... We look forward to our continued unrolling of yoga mats together, whether in person when the time comes and also we will continue virtually for those whom this serves. #fieldofyoga #walkingeachotherhome #gradualpath #alltheweather #walkthetalk

I have taught Early Morning Yoga, 5 days a week for about 8 years. My youngest was 5 when I started teaching EMY. Being a single mom meant that my children had to get themselves out of bed, make their own breakfast and get ready for school without me. I remember reading an article once on parenting and what sticks with me is it emphasized how important it was to be there in the morning when your children woke up. . This was not our families reality. If I was to write an art...icle on parenting it would say love your children without condition. Then I would add a few extra things that have been important in my role as a mother. For example: Don't try to live your life through your children. Try to say "yes" as often as possible so when you "no" they will know to truly consider why you are saying "no". Honor the unique human your child is. Be a good listener and a parent that they feel safe to confide in and seek refuge in, NO MATTER WHAT. None of this is dependent on a formula of some ideal family or living situation. It is all dependent on the hearts capacity to love always, continually and boundlessly. See more