Cat Stretch Fever

Stories are great. I depend on stories for my classes, my clients, and for my own peace of mind. A good story can get my mind and heart whirling for hours and can be a source of inspiration for a weeks worth of yoga classes.  This week my favorite story came from a student. She came in for her weekly fundamentals class and sat down on her mat and said, "Ashley, I've just GOT to tell you about this cat." In my book, this is a really good opening line, and the story hooked me instantly not because I like cats, but because of the urgency in her voice.


This woman says that she is not a saint.  She simply thinks that being a foster parent for animals in local shelters is "the right thing to do".  She also said that "I figure if I have to get my wings, this isn't a bad way to do it."  I agree.  If we get wings at the end of our lifetime, I think this is a pretty noble way to get them.
She continued to tell me about this cat she would see in the local DC shelter. "Every time I see this cat it looks worse and worse. It is all bunched up in its cage, it is losing hair, and the shelter says that with all of her health problems, she'll never get adopted."  So this kind woman decided to foster this stressed out cat.  The shelter had named her "Precocious."  Now here is where the story gets good.  She brings the cat home, and after one hour, it has softened into a more normal shape of a cat.  And after two hours, the cat had completely relaxed and was stretching out in a super incredible back bend.
"It was like she was doing yoga!" the woman exclaimed. "As soon as she started to feel comfortable, I could see her relax, and once she relaxed her instinct was to stretch!  I have noticed that since I have started doing yoga, I am more relaxed and want to stretch more too!".  I could see the light bulbs going off in her head, and I could feel them going off in mine too.  I guess when we feel comfortable and safe, we relax, and when we relax, we want to open and stretch.
"It was like she was doing yoga!" the woman exclaimed. "As soon as she started to feel comfortable, I could see her relax, and once she relaxed her instinct was to stretch!  I have noticed that since I have started doing yoga, I am more relaxed and want to stretch more too!".  I could see the light bulbs going off in her head, and I could feel them going off in mine too.  I guess when we feel comfortable and safe, we relax, and when we relax, we want to open and stretch.
In the yoga classroom we are essentially doing the same thing. We are creating a safe and comfortable place where we can relax, stretch out and show our vulnerable parts. The modern yoga studio is like a safe haven where we can quiet our minds, deepen our breath, and roll around on the floor like fuzzy animals.  Now the cat formerly known as "Precocious" has been renamed "Patsy" and is enjoying a yogic life of leisure, love, and lots of sweet back bends with belly rubs.
I love stories because they are more than just stories. Stories are truths in different forms. It doesn't matter if it is a cat or a cheesy metaphor about humans rolling around on the ground like animals.  The truth is one in the same.

Yoga, Earthquakes, and Autumn

On a recent trip to Costa Rica we had the great good fortune of being at the epicenter of a 7.6 earthquake.  I say 'great good fortune' because this event provided us with deep insights and many rich lessons that have transformed the way we see the Earth and workings of life on this planet. We saw that the power of an earthquake not only lies in what we can see on the surface, shaking trees, swaying buildings, and moving earth, but affects a place deep within our psyche. For days, the earth shook.  Each aftershock sent a similar ripple of fear and excitement through our bodies and each time I had the same thought, "wake up, and look for the opening".

 

  

 There is really no safe place to be in an earthquake.  Often you will hear people telling you to get under tables, desks, and to stand in doorways.  In our case, each of these options would have resulted in severe injuries as bottles, glasses, and picture frames were being hurled at the table and doors.  Our best option was to get outside which we thankfully did.  As we stood there watching and hearing the sounds of the earth scream, shake, and moan, we were suddenly a part of a larger system.  All life seemed to be awake, attentive, and ready to move with the shifting of the Earth's surface. 

There is nothing in life that can prepare you for an earthquake. Perhaps doing yoga atop a jet ski or attempting to meditate on a roller coaster, but my experience led me to believe that the rattling power of an earthquake is a true wake-up-call.  Call it earth-surfing, or plate-cruising, and the same truth comes shining through, life is unpredictable so a be-here-now attitude can save your life. I will say that I think my yoga practice helped me through the experience and saved me from the possible burn-out of my nerves as each aftershock super-charged my adrenals. During the aftershocks, which ranged from 2.3 - 5.6, I watched my heart rate rise, my eyes bulge, my muscles tense, and I consciously employed my breath to bring my heart rate back down, and to relax my muscles.  For this, I can thank my yoga.
As a yoga teacher, I have been weaving my experiences of this quake into my classes.  The themes of "attentive surrender', "looking for the opening" and "life is not still", have been great ways to explore these Earth-lessons. My relationship with the Earth will never be the same. I can see and feel that she is a great yogini herself, taking on the faces of Lakshmi, the goddess of fertility and abundance in one moment, and in the next moment taking on the face of Kali, the firey goddess of destruction. It is this dual nature of the Earth that makes her dynamic. Never before have I been so grateful for the powerful forces beneath the earth and as an inhabitant of this planet, it is an honor to attentively surrender to these deep shifts.

As a yoga teacher, I have been weaving my experiences of this quake into my classes.  The themes of "attentive surrender', "looking for the opening" and "life is not still", have been great ways to explore these Earth-lessons. My relationship with the Earth will never be the same. I can see and feel that she is a great yogini herself, taking on the faces of Lakshmi, the goddess of fertility and abundance in one moment, and in the next moment taking on the face of Kali, the firey goddess of destruction. It is this dual nature of the Earth that makes her dynamic. Never before have I been so grateful for the powerful forces beneath the earth and as an inhabitant of this planet, it is an honor to attentively surrender to 

these deep shifts.

  

It is through big shifts like these that our perceptions broaden.  We start to look at the world around us as transient, changeable, and impermanent.  We see that there are no 'safe' places and that we are all vulnerable to shifts that are greater than us.  The coolest thing is somehow we are able to not just survive these changes, but we are able to thrive! Perhaps it is good time to stand barefoot on the earth, look up at the vast sky above and say "wow" and "thank you" the unseen forces that reside above us and underneath us.

As the seasons shift, I have been steadily working at our studio, Sky House Yoga, to gear up for the fall season. I've watched the studio activities wax and wane and I've been working with these new teachings to create our new Yoga Class schedule that starts Monday, September 24th and we will be bringing back our Full Moon Ceremonies starting Thursday the 27th.

During my time in Costa Rica I also pulled out some of my old yoga teaching texts and refreshed my knowledge of the asanas, sequencing, and philosophy. It is great to be home and I feel refreshed and re-inspired to share this powerful and potentially life-saving (this is me being dramatic) or life-prolonging (less dramatic) practice with my students. It is my hope as a yoga teacher that the tools you acquire through your practice will help you to find that flowing adaptability that will support you no matter how tumultuous things get. 

With two big eclipses, an election, and weather changes already in the mix, whatever we can do to steady ourselves internally, will prep us for whatever changes may come.

Wishing you a dynamic fall,
Ashley