) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Return to Find a Voice

The Wild Iris

At the end of my suffering
there was a door.
Hear me out: that which you call death
I remember.
Overhead, noises, branches of the pine shifting.
Then nothing. The weak sun
flickered over the dry surface.
It is terrible to survive
as consciousness
buried in the dark earth.
Then it was over: that which you fear, being
a soul and unable
to speak, ending abruptly, the stiff earth
bending a little. And what I took to be
birds darting in low shrubs.
You who do not remember
passage from the other world
I tell you I could speak again: whatever
returns from oblivion returns
to find a voice:
from the center of my life came
a great fountain, deep blue
shadows on azure seawater. 
Louise Gluck

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^ Laying Bricks to Back Bend ^

I felt that everything is beautiful, 
but that which man tries intentionally to make beautiful; 
that the work of an ordinary bricklayer is more valid than the artwork of all but a very few artists.

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Back bends can be hard…I used to really avoid them.  I couldn’t understand how people could love them and do them with out having insane lower back pain afterward.  Now I love them.  Because I do them from the legs, from the bottom up.  One brick at a time, build the pose from the bottom up and you will make something  > > > 
Simple, Strong and Beautiful…just like Ellsworth Kelly


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+ KEEP it SIMPLE +

Back bends made simple and pretty, like this painting…all week.  Really, they don’t have to be hard, or painful or intimidating.  Just keep it simple and do what you can.
Come show us your moves.

+ Show Up Everyday +


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>>> Learn, Unlearn, & Relearn

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write,
but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
Alvin Toffler



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We have an idea of what we know.  And we can choose to repeat what we know and stay comfortable or we can take it apart and put it back together again in as many ways we can think of.  A perfect quote for working on triangle pose this week.  It’s such a simple shape.  Let’s see how many ways we can make that shape and what we’ve learned by the end of the week.  

That challenge is more interesting than comfort, don’t you agree?
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^ INTERESTING and PRETTY ^

I love it when my students pic the pose.  This week it’s triangle which just so happens to be in my personal top 3, I spend a lot of time here when I practice.  But it’s a tricky one too.  I’m seeing a lot of irritated hamstring attachments from what I think is over stretching with out engaging muscle in this pose.  So we will be working on this one all week.  I love the drawing, it reflects our need to know the 
‘facts’ what is the’right’ and ‘wrong’ thing to do in a pose but also our own interpretation of how we make it our own.  Never get tired of that play…that’s what keeps it interesting and pretty.

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= Without Effort =

I love this time of year when the line between our lives indoors and outdoors is barely distinguishable.  Everything seems easier, like all the overlapping activity of working and meeting with friends unfolds without effort.  I’m looking forward to a full weekend of planting, meeting friends at the studio and enjoying a little free time to see what happens.

+ Show Up Everyday +


www.yogagardenmpls.com


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^ Moon Over Garden ^

People always comment on the gorgeous natural light we get in Yoga Garden, which we do and I love.  In the evenings during summer we get a really beautiful warm reflection off the pretty brick building in back.  And it’s surrounded by trees.  I love this pic, you can feel the little sanctuary we have once we get to the studio and settled in.  And sometimes the moon watches over us.


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+ the goal of living is to grow +

in time of daffodils(who know 

the goal of living is to grow) 
forgetting why,remember how 
in time of lilacs who proclaim 
the aim of waking is to dream, 
remember so(forgetting seem) 
in time of roses(who amaze 
our now and here with paradise) 
forgetting if,remember yes 
in time of all sweet things beyond 
whatever mind may comprehend, 
remember seek(forgetting find) 
and in a mystery to be 
(when time from time shall set us free) 
forgetting me,remember me

e e cummings


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Summer Might Be On It’s Way ..

Thunderstorms, humidity, summer dresses, Dr. Scholl’s.  The insanely edible smells of Jasmine and Yucca blooms.  The incredible warm, bright, natural light in the studio…

Yep, Summer might be on it’s way….

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