Yoga and Meditation--A Spiritual Journey in Blog Form

Trying to Find Peace

Kathy — Thu, 12 May 2011 21:04:58 +0000

Sometimes I feel I am at war with myself. I am my own worse enemy. But I am, as we all are, surrounded by some crazy ass shit. Like all the wars and unrest; violence and hatred; liars and budget deficits–money issues—dealing with aging and death. It gets to be too much.

These are the main reasons I need to keep up my spiritual journey, which so far has led to yoga and meditation amongst other things. I need to stay on this path. Sometimes I get distracted by getting in my head and thinking I don’t have time for yoga and meditation–if I can’t give myself 30 minutes a day, there is only myself to blame.

I went to and Intro to Ayurveda class with Jessica Ewart. She does paddleboard yoga too, which I would really like to try.

There is a Vinyaso and Vino class through Northshore down at a Georgia winery next week. I am thinking about going to that. I like Sara Mingus’ classes.

Woman’s Book of Yoga and Community Yoga

Kathy — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:58:48 +0000

This book was recommended by Lori Bilbrey and I just ordered it and am reading it. It looks like a great book—it lists good poses for women for different parts of their menstrual cycle and different part of menopause. It also has poses to help you sleep and to aid digestion. I really need to read it from cover to cover because it looks like it is loaded with healthy information. I just found a community yoga meetup online and am very excited about that. It is great to find some yoga classes that are more affordable than usual. Not to put the big studios in town down—I am a HUGE fan of North Shore, but it is expensive. I don’t know how much I will be able to do late night classes, but we’ll see. I want to do more fitness related activities, especially since the stress at my job is about to ramp up about 100 notches. My boss is about to have surgery for prostrate cancer and I am very worried. Plus I will basically be covering his job for about 6-8 weeks, and that is a lot of extra work for me.

My yin yang workshop with Sarah Powers starts next Sunday at Kripalu and I am looking forward to that also. I will be visiting with friends in Boston while I am in Massachusetts.

Tantric Workshop

Kathy — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 14:59:26 +0000

I just went to Lori Bilbrey’s Tantric Workshop yesterday and really enjoyed it. There were almost 40 women there, which just reveals what a great need there is for this type of workshop in our community. It is actually exciting to know that these workshops are going to be regular events. I hope I am able to attend more. I need as much positive energy as I can get in my life right now. We did a short Kundalini routine yesterday and I realized that I probably need to get one of the Brett/Singh videos again. I didn’t really like the DVDs before, but I recognize that Kundalini yoga moves energy differently than other types of yoga and it is probably something I need to incorporate at least a couple of times a week. The workshop was at a local belly dancing studio–the Zanzibar studio–and it was really nice. Everyone there seemed really friendly. I have thought about going to belly dancing classes there before, but never followed through. I did take a few belly dancing classes at the studio on Highway 58, but I think this studio would be better for me. I think I may start taking some classes there when I get back from the yin yang workshop at the end of February. I need to make some female friends. Maybe I would meet some there. I know I am not going to meet any friends by sitting on my butt at home. I haven’t really made any friends at Northshore yoga, unfortunately. It is almost like the pace there is too busy to have time to bond with anyone. Not to take anything away from Northshore, because I love it there—looking forward to the workshop next weekend with Doug Swenson and I love the instructors at Northshore. I just don’t think I am going to make friends there.

Meditating Again

Kathy — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:01:28 +0000

I started meditating in the mornings again about 2 weeks ago. Since I am doing the yoga workshop with Sarah Powers at the end of February, I decided that I needed to start back my practice. And I am glad, because I needed to. One of the books on the required reading list is Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Guaratana. It is a good book with tips on what to do with your body and mind during meditation. I became a supporting member of Tricycle magazine a few days ago and get access to online retreats and started watching one with Reggie Ray, who is a really interesting Buddhist scholar. The retreat with Reggie is related to his book Touching Enlightenment and it about meditating with your body, not just your mind. I am only part of the way through the retreat, but it is very interesting. Any other meditation I have ever done focuses mainly on what is going on in your mind. If the body comes up at all, it is mostly to mention what to do if your feet go to sleep or something. The current meditation I am doing from Reggie involves focusing on the lower belly. I just feel like a whole meditation world has opened up to me from these teachings. It expands everything.

I am also doing a tantric yoga workshop with Lori Bilbrey on Saturday and am very excited about that. I just love her teaching style and her positive energy. I need more of that in my life right now with all of the crazy stuff that has been going on around me—friends with miscarriages and friends with cancer diagnoses. I can feel myself starting to get depressed. Last night I slept for 9 1/2 hours and it feels like I didn’t sleep at all. Normally I get about 7 hours and that is plenty. I need to keep up the meditation and yoga to counterbalance all of this negative energy.

Sarah Powers Yin Yoga Intensive

Kathy — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:33:06 +0000

I just enrolled in Sarah Powers Yin Yoga Intensive Level I at Kripalu, which is from February 27-March 4th. Many props to my fellow yogini, Justine, who was the first person to tell me about Kripalu about a year and a half ago. We were actually looking at going to a yoga workshop together in March, but when I saw this workshop on yin yoga, I knew I had to go. During 2010, I have consciously trying to incorporate more yoga into my life. I just know if I make no other changes to my life, more yoga has to be part of my equation. And yin is my yoga, no doubt about it. I am not the most flexible person to begin with, but I am determined to be more so. I also like the meditative aspects of yin. There is no place to run in these poses; no place to hide. And parts of your body hide lots of stuff, as it turns out.

I just ordered 2 of the books required for Sarah’s class and will blog about those as I start reading them. I am honestly a little nervous about taking this workshop–I don’t really know if I am ready and I know it will be a lot of hard work. I think some people think yin is not hard because it is so different from power yoga, but yin is very hard.

My husband and I took a yin workshop with Shala Worsley in November and we both loved it. I think that is really what has pushed me down this yin path. The knowledge that this is, in fact, the yoga for me.

Yin Yin Yin

Kathy — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:44:16 +0000

I have done 2 yin classes this week. A yin/yang class on Tuesday and a yin class on Wednesday with Matt. Both classes were taught by Lori and both were excellent. I like her plain yin classes the best of all. She does a good job at creating a perfect yin experience-=where you can meditate and totally relax.

I am going to do a power yoga class with Sara tomorrow and am a little worried about that because I haven’t done a power class in a long time. I have only taken one other power class. It was with Sara and I thought it was a great class. She uses really good music that helps keep you going.

Before I head to Europe, I am going to sign up for the New Year’s Chakra Retreat with Shala. I can’t wait. I invited 3 friends to go and they all turned me down. Matt can’t go because he is working. Oh well–I am going! For the next year, my goal is to keep doing yoga a minimum of 3 times a week and one class will hopefully be a more active class. I also want to start meditating everyday again.

the Blog is Back!

Kathy — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 03:35:50 +0000

Matt and I just completed a yin yoga workshop last weekend and it was great–there will be more blogs on this to come with reflections about the entire weekend and how it has affected both of us. I am going to do another workshop with the same instructor over New Years in the Asheville area.

Meditating in the South Carolina Wilderness

Kathy — Sun, 30 May 2010 01:32:01 +0000

Today I went on one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on==it was at the Caesar’s Head Wilderness in South Carolina. It is on the best maintained trails I have ever been on–great blazes and maps along the way and gorgeous trails. We went to Ravens Cliff Falls–we walked a trail that took us to the top of the waterfall and then we walked on a rogue path dawn the side and were able to sit on some rocks on top of the falls==it was so pretty. Right at the moment we walked onto the rocks near the falls, the sun came out and I looked out on the overlook beyond. I sat on the rocks and meditated for a few minutes while my husband was frantically trying to take the best shots of his life. It was just so peaceful there with the sound of the falls and the sun and the cool air blowing off of the waterfall–I wish I could get to that spot on a regular basis just to clear my mind.

We are staying at a house in Sapphire, NC and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited. We are near Transylvania county, which is known as the land of the waterfalls and there are falls everywhere. One of my favorites so far is the Silver Fun Falls, which is right off N.C. 107. You walk a short distance from the road and there is this clearing with the falls and a pond, with plenty of places to sit and have a picnic. It is hard to believe that this place could be right off the highway. When you walk into it, it is surreal==like being in another world.

Slowing Down, Breathing Deeply

Kathy — Sat, 22 May 2010 17:20:06 +0000

As I drove home from Earth Fare today, I had a realization. I have been frustrated with how much driving I have to do in Chattanooga. It is a typical urban sprawl city, and there is no efficient route anywhere. My husband and I are not thrilled with living here and have been fighting it for the past 5 years. We have talked about moving over and over again–moving to a different house, a different city, a different country–you name it==I guess we just figure that the grass would be greener somewhere else.

But as I was driving up Fairview Drive (a really long curvy, hilly drive up the ridge to my house–the drive my husband and I resent the most) listening to Hejira by Joni Mitchell (a life-changing album, by the way), I thought to myself–”what exactly is my rush?” It is a good question for our society in general–why are we always in such a rush to do everything.

I have decided that I am going to stop trying to rush and get frustrated by the time it takes to get places and just slow down, pay more attention to my surroundings, drive close to the speed limit and load up on some good tunes to listen to on the journey.

I think this will make me a much more serene person, which is really all I want to be for the rest of my days on this planet anyway. Life is difficult and it doesn’t matter where I live–there are going to be struggles and frustrations. I just need to accept that fact and concentrate on the things in my environment that I can change—like my new deck and screened porch that I am having built right now. That is really going to improve my living environment. Once I finish that 10 minute drive up Fairview, I can pull in my nice garage and go out and sit in my beautiful screened porch and commune with my bird friends.

Yin yoga tomorrow!

Kathy — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:13:06 +0000

I will be attending my first yin yoga class in about 3 weeks tomorrow and I am really looking forward to it. The instructor is excellent and the class is so relaxing and invigorating at the same time. As I have posted earlier, I have not been very diligent about going to classes at the yoga studio this month and I am excited about this class. I will have to leave my house by 8AM to make it, but I can do that tomorrow. I plan on going to the beginning yoga class on Sunday afternoon as well. Then, it is time for my vacation in WNC.