Wracking my brain, trying to compose my first “blog,” my mind is not really blank, just filled with disparate thoughts, ideas, sentences so muddled that you could call it blank. Sue Anne invited me to write something for the Let It Go Blog….

And there you go, being “invited.” I credit Sue Anne and Jim and the Let It Go program for “inviting” me to resume my practice of yoga. I have always been a mover, a dancer, a choreographer, and a hiker. I started yoga in my late teens. I was “invited” back then by my Mom who just started taking this class with a friend whose daughter taught the class. My mind was filled with disparate thoughts then, but after that first Integral Yoga experience, my mind just settled. I felt connected and calm and a little bit softer around the edges. I practiced a lot for the next 5 years or so then just dabbled and dwindled. Many years later I met Sue Anne. Our work environment crossed paths and we struck up a lovely friendship. I worked with her wonderful daughters on a theater project, another invitation, and we have been in each other’s lives ever since.

I knew Sue Anne and Jim had a yoga school: I just didn’t know all the details. I had taken a few classes, noticed that my mind started feeling less muddled and I began practicing a bit more regularly. Then a big push came at SBCC where I was, and still am, teaching Pilates. The current yoga teacher was going to be leaving, could I fill in?….an invitation that brought my teaching and my yoga together.

 

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!

 

I then fully committed to participate in the Let It Go program, developing and enhancing not just my skills, but my understanding of what the practice offers to me and what I can subsequently share, and love to share, with my students.

The physical component of yoga, hatha yoga, is, to me, an invitation, a doorway into who I am. And, as I have gained confidence and skill in my teaching and understanding, the invitation has brought forth aspects of who and how I want to navigate and be in my world. I love to laugh and play. It actually balances and helps me be with my very serious thoughtful side. And that laughter and play erupts when I’m in class, either as a student or a teacher. (I don’t laugh out loud when I’m taking class, but my heart does!) I do laugh a lot when I teach.

We need laughter right now. We need lightness of heart and spirit in order to tackle, work with, and be with all the challenges that our lives give us. We need a bit of discipline, a focusing inward so you can eventually focus outward, as we say in Let It Go. You really do have to be aware of your alignment, of how your body opens and closes, lengthens and releases, where you hold for support, where you surrender for ease. And we need to be in a place to receive, accept and acknowledge all that our physical experience is offering so we can more deeply gain ideas as to who we are in this world and the gifts we offer.

 

Want to know more about Let It Go Yoga? Click here to view your free Diaphragmatic Breathing Video!

 

What if we considered our practice, our life, as an invitation? All that happens is an invitation to explore, uncover, discover and ultimately celebrate…even for events that weigh heavy on our hearts, the celebration is being together, being in community, celebrating what we are learning about ourselves, understanding ourselves a bit more deeply and that knowledge, I believe, moves us forward, unites us with…us!

So with the spirit of invitation in mind, I invite you, or someone you know, to join me for 3 Saturdays in May to discover, or rediscover your yoga basics. Where are your feet? Hips? Shoulders? Head? Your mind is going where? Your breath helps how? What’s that pose? Let yourself breath, giggle and laugh out loud. The invitation is open to joyously connect with your practice. Come let’s laugh out loud together!

Where: The Dance Hub
22 East Victoria Street
When: May 5, 12, 19
Time: 9:30 – 11:30
Cost: Early Bird Special Extended to May 2: $105.00
After: $120.00

Sign up online:
adam-bsb.org/dance-hub/

 

Story contributed by Bonnie Lewis, MA, Let It Go Yoga Instructor since 2006