+ An Even GIVE & TAKE +

Creative people need focus
and the first way to focus is by being supported
by at least one or two people who love and nurture you.
It’s very difficult to be creative on one’s own.
Everyone needs at least one or two people who believe in them.
Clarissa Pinkola Estes
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There are so many parallels between being an art student and a student of yoga.

My good friend and studio mate from college, Kim (aka Young Guns), recently gave me the sketch in this pic as a gift for Yoga Garden.  The sketch is by our painting and drawing instructor, Mr. Boppel.  He was a teacher and mentor to us both.  We loved Mr. Boppel.  By the way he dressed one would assume he rode up to the Art Building on a Harley which was endearingly offset by the cup of tea he always carried around with him, complete with saucer.  He used to check up on us periodically through our 3 hour painting class to make sure we were doing our work.  Which we always were, we loved being in the studio.  He’d say something inspiring, complementary or give us a suggestion on how we could improve and then move on.  No big deal.  All part of the process.  And with each sweep we drew our focus in a bit more.  Got a little clearer on what the image was we were trying to make.  An even give and take, he appreciated us too.

The idea behind Yoga Garden is the same. It is a place where we are artists/yogis individually but support each other collectively through having a studio space to practice the give and take.  As artists we try to find a way to express ourselves openly and fully to tell our stories a little bit at a time.  We look for ways to express our appreciation for what we see in the world around us in a way that is beyond words or conversation.  As yoga students we do the same.  We move through forms, make shapes, refine with action to see what images we can create.  Bring into focus what we are capable of with the help of an entire studio.

There is so much momentum behind the studio now as Yoga Garden comes up on finishing it’s second cycle around the Sun.  It’s exciting to see and feel and I feel lucky to be a part of it. We’ve got a great group of teachers who are all very adept with great training and always working on refining the focus in their teaching.  A great group of students who are entrepreneurial, artistic, curious and ever appreciative of the studio environment that continues to grow.  Again, I feel lucky.

An even give and take. 
A room full of teachers and students just happy to be in the studio.
Everything is possible.

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Minneapolis Yoga Classes

New Fall Schedule < < < < < < <


FALL@YOGA GARDEN

Settle Into a Peaceful New Routine for Fall @ YOGA Garden 
>>>> Come say Hello
New Classes > New Instructors > New Schedule
(All classes currently running unless specified w a start date)

– Sunday –

 Vinyasa Flow w Aubrey Weger > 1000 – 1115 am (starts Oct 20)

 Back to Basics w Laurel Van Matre > 430 – 600 pm

 Yin and Nidra Yoga w Pete Cairns > 630 – 800 pm

– Monday – 

Back to Basics w Jasvir Singh > 500 – 615 pm

Advanced Vinyasa w Laurel Van Matre > 630 – 800 pm

– Tuesday – 
Back to Basics w Laura Craig > 530 – 645 pm

All Levels Vinyasa w Lindsay Brost > 700 – 830 pm (starts Oct 1)

– Wednesday – 
All Levels Vinyasa w Elizabeth Camp > 900 – 1015 am

Back to Basics w Melissa Sue > 616 – 730 pm

– Thursday – 
All Levels Vinyasa w Laurel Van Matre > 630 – 800 pm

– Friday – 

Deep Stretch w Elizabeth Camp > 900 – 1015 am

All Levels Asana w Pete Cairns > 600 – 730 pm

– Saturday – 

Mixed Levels Asana w Stephanie Loes > 800 – 900 am

Back to Basics w Stephanie Loes > 930 – 1045 am

+ Show Up Everyday +

For Bios, Cost, Class Descriptions and all other info:

www.yogagardenmpls.com

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Minneapolis Fall Yoga Classes

> > > > > > Beneath the Layers of a Day

Layer after layer of civilized life
seems to have veiled our directness of seeing.
We often look for an underlying meaning of things
while the thing itself is the meaning.
Anni Albers

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I’ve been spending all my free time this summer here on my back porch.   Nestled in the corner in my redwood chair behind my screen of Virginia Creeper.  Underneath the lilac tree and the hot summer sky.  It’s my little chariot that bookends my summer days, starting w coffee and ending with a look at whatever phase of the moon we are in.  I get to sit here beneath the layers of the trees as they bloom and then leaf out, the sun as it changes throughout the summer and adds layers to the light and shadow of the surrounding landscape.  A stillness that is not still at all that I am happy to be reminded to be a part of beneath the layers of my day.

It’s become the puja or the ritual focus of my home this summer and I am it’s happy devotee.


fitness / health / yoga

> > > More from the Hot Summer Sun Series …

Not all weeds are bad…some are even kind of pretty.
Especially on a lovely August day overlooking the ‘Ol Miss on a riverbank in St. Paul. 
Not a bad way to spend the afternoon.

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> > Hot Summer Sun

Come next winter this little lady will be my Hot Summer Sun.
You know in January when we’ve got feet of snow on the ground blanketing inches thick ice underneath and a summery, hot, July day seems impossible.  I put her on my windowsill so her pretty yellow face is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning and look outside.


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^ Virgo Rising Attack ^

These new stamps are so pretty I can’t wait to send them out to friends…oh so Virgo rising of me to notice the little details.  The texture, the cut, the line, the color.  Put me in charge of the details to make things pretty and I am a happy lady.  Even if it’s just a stamp on an envelope.

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YOGA as EXPLORATION * * * *

What a great weekend it was.  
We had a great turnout and got a lot done.  We weaved in and out of our poses during a crazy storm on Friday night that pushed rain water through the ceiling and left many of us w/o power for days.  The weekend had originally been scheduled for 3 weeks earlier and had to be moved unexpectedly due to a hip injury Christina was dealing with.  So, there was a little bit of chaos from beginning to end which just makes me feel lucky.  I love it when things get a little chaotic.  We have to get creative.  It opens things up a bit and creates a space charged with the unexpected and leaves me feeling lucky with whatever it is I come up with as a result.  And it’s always more fun to do that in a group.
The chaos leading up to the weekend dovetailed nicely with a great conversation we had going about yoga as exploration vs. following a particular order of any one system.  Christina has studied many different schools of yoga extensively and has always had a great point of view on what makes each one of them valuable.  She is masterful at teaching from her own experience with each.  I think it’s really important to find a good teacher as well as a group to practice with, we can only get so far on our own. We need each others point of view to create useful boundaries to push off and into to grow as well as time on our own.  It can feel a little chaotic at times choosing between the two but we need them both to grow. 
So a little chaos is good.  It creates space for exploration.  The floor is dry, the power is back on, we all got to be a part of a great weekend with a wonderful teacher.  We all have new nuggets of info to practice on our own and share with each other.  
Christina has a great blog, you can read her entry about her time at Yoga Garden here.

Thanks again to all for a great weekend, L

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S O L S T I C E

whenever you think or you believe or you know,
you’re a lot of other people: 
but the moment you feel, you’re nobody-but-yourself
e e cummings

     ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) O ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( ( 

My whole thing is about autonomy.  I want all of us to have the freedom to be who we authentically are.  I’ve read one of the origins of the word solstice is ‘to stand still’.  So, today on the longest day of the year my wish for you is to stand still under the warm summer sun and enjoy being the only you you can be – fully, brightly.
HAPPY SOLSTICE EVERYONE!
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