INTRODUCING EASY TO FIND YOGA CIRCLE BLOG TOPICS!

Oooo...I'm so excited to announce that Circling the Mat now has an Index of all the blog posts I've written for Yoga Circle Studio!  There has always been an "archive" to wade through -- but those were just organized by date and title; who knew what was actually in there?

This is a project I've wanted to do for some time, but it's tedious (for this relative novice) to figure out the formatting, create a link for every Blog Post, and then try to categorize them.  But after a couple of productive nights of insomnia -- Boom!  Done!

Actually this blog was relatively easy -- only 58 posts to organize.  My other personal essay blog (My View From Here) had 185!  I actually got repetitive stress achey-ness in my two laptop touchpad fingers!

Often I meet Beginners/First Timers in class and wonder if they would be interested in reading about my beginning experiences, which are likely universal.  Or whether anyone wonders about doing yoga with an injury or an illness, or farting in class.  I wonder if anyone else might struggle with using props or practicing meditation.  If so, and you are looking for a kindred spirit, you can now go to the Circling the Mat Subject Index by clicking the box in the upper left hand corner of the blog (any page) and it will take you to the Index!  Click on the link you want and read my post about that topic.

Not everything fit totally neatly into topics -- some posts cover more than one -- but click around and you will likely find something you are looking for.

Remember, these are written from MY perspective as a fellow (sister?) Yogi who has been at it for awhile, but by no means expert.  We all start from scratch and we all practice in a way that is just right for us.  No competition with self or others.  But I hope I write from an experience you can relate to.  And I hope you have a laugh or an "a-ha" along the way.

Thanks for reading...I love writing in service to our Studio and our practice together.

CLICK ON SUBJECT INDEX IN THE UPPER LEFT HAND CORNER OF ANY PAGE.

Namaste,
   donnajurene

SUPREME YOGA

I was in Washington D.C. a few weeks ago, doing all the touristy things.  One of them was a visit to the U.S. Supreme Court building.  (My other blog, My View From Here, has a few posts with more details about my trip, if you are interested http://www.myviewfromhere-donna.blogspot.com.)

I saw this Yoga for Lawyers book in the basement Gift Shop and snapped a photo.  It was along the side wall, prominently placed with all the Justice's biographies, historical texts, and pocket Constitutions.  It made me smile to see this.  Even in the hushed and hallowed halls of the Supreme Court, we find Yoga!

I don't really know what makes Yoga for Lawyers different from Yoga for anyone else, but in reading the Amazon reviews I understand that the combination of scientific "proof" that yoga works to calm the mind and body, along with detailed descriptions and illustrations of practices has some appeal to the super rational left brains of those who practice law.

I just think any book that encourages Justice Scalia to assume a Gyan Mudra is one to put on your "must have" list.©

Namaste,  donnajurene

DEEPER REALMS

So, let me say this.  Karma is a bitch.

I used to be in a meditation group where one or two members regularly fell asleep.  In my judgy way I thought this was a fairly lazy way to "meditate".

Oh, Ego!  You've gone and done it again!

But in my defense, when Karen came and gently rubbed my shoulder during a restorative pose today, I don't think I was totally asleep.  (Unless I had been snoring, which she was too kind to mention.)  I just felt like I was floating on a most relaxing sea of deep meditation -- a lucid dream of pure bliss.

Yes, it's true that all of the other students had rearranged themselves into a new posture, which I had not seemed to hear the instructions for doing, but that's because of my advanced ability to go deep!    I don't need to always be cognizant of the material world.  I travel.  I move into new and higher realms of consciousness.  I'm advanced, I tell ya!

Or I might have just been asleep.  Sorry.

Namaste,  donnajurene

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

FARRAGUT PARK YOGA

Yoga in Farragut Park, Washington DC.  We just got back from a week-long visit to the nation's capital where we did the "tourist thing".  On the day we walked past a class like this taking place in a park a block from our hotel I was on the homestretch of a long, hot day of seeing all the monuments and memorials along the Mall.  My Fitbit recorded 8.3 miles.  The temperature on the bank marquee read 93-degrees.  My feet had blisters, my sundress was sticking to me, my face ruddy -- flushed with heat and perspiration.  But to see this colorful group of people in the grass, stretching and bending into familiar Asanas, was like a gift from home.  A reminder.  An "ahhh...."

I had neglected my practice for the six days prior, during a pre-DC visit with family in Florida and Georgia.  Now in DC, I was focused on seeing all I could see in the next six days, and again, Yoga didn't factor into my schedule.   The class was more than half-over when I happened upon it and my sundress didn't seem like appropriate attire to for me to join in.  Plus, no mat.

But if there is such thing as "Yoga benefit my osmosis" I got a bit of it anyway.  It was calming to watch; to listen to the instructor as she wandered between the rows of practitioners, guiding them through a gentle flow sequence.  Some seemed expert, others novice.  Most were young, but body shapes and sizes were varied.  I loved the freedom they felt to move as was best for them in a small triangle-shaped park in the heart of the DC business district, observers sitting on park benches and hordes of commuters crowding the sidewalks only 10 feet away, wending their way from the nearby Metro stop.

I love taking Yoga out of the studio, putting it on display, hopefully encouraging others to join in as they can.  The clothing, the mats, were a riot of color against the backdrop of a marble and cement city, bringing a moment of peace, joy, and intentional movement to a scene which can under normal circumstances we one of mindless goal attainment....gotta get from here to there quickly and without pause.  

For me, hot, tired, sore, and eager for the cool confines of my hotel room, Yoga in the Park was a pause most welcome. ©

Namaste,  donnajurene