Support LauraNidra Yoga

Namaste,

I have the good fortune to see many of you on a regular basis. Others I am grateful to bump into from time to time. There are several of you, however, that I have not connected with in an embarrassingly long period of time. This email is two-fold in its intention: 1) to re-establish and nourish a sense of community 2) to update you on my professional doings. I believe in the power of community and acknowledge that I wouldn't be doing what I feel is my personal calling without the support and encouragement of those of you who keep showing up in a myriad of ways to affirm my life's path. Further, I believe that a balance of giving and receiving is integral to the health and success of the community at large. I invite you to consider sharing with me your doings as well as what I can do to support you in the resolution of your goals and aspirations.

Just over a year ago I stepped out of a very comfortable and rewarding role as a free-lance yoga instructor at several prominent yoga studios in Seattle in order to establish myself as an independent yoga professional and the owner of LauraNidra Yoga. Needless to say, the past year has had its fair share of personal and professional ups and downs. The experience has been quite humbling. I have had to dig deep into my reserves of strength, perseverance and trust in order to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I am reassured by the knowledge that my experience is not unique and that thousands of small business owner's are faced with similar issues on a daily basis. I am not one to look back with regret so, when I reflect on the unfolding of events that have brought me to this moment, I see a great deal of positives. I see how my teaching has grown. I also see how students have been affected by this evolution. I see a beautiful community of practitioners that express mutual agreement about the value of yoga through their presence alone and in the small gestures of kindness that range from a smile to a supportive email. I recognize the growing pains my teaching has undergone and sense the clarity of voice that is emerging like wings from the chrysalis.

LauraNidra Yoga offers an Ashtanga and Universal inspired practice that marries classic form with contemporary creativity. Of course, LauraNidra Yoga wouldn't be complete without the influence of Yoga Nidra which is woven into each class. LauraNidra Yoga's signature style MOVES you into STILLNESS. I currently offer 7 ongoing classes a week at Taj Yoga in Crown Hill/North Ballard. Yoga Nidra Meditation continues to be offered the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 7:00 p.m. My events schedule is full of exciting events that will provide opportunities to deepen your practice, play in mother nature and experience yoga in the context of a new and different culture. Please consider visiting my website for more information or subscribe to LauraNidra News for monthly email updates.

Yoga offers an array of wellness benefits. With regular practice Yoga can reduce stress, bolster the immune system, increase strength, endurance and flexibility, balance energy levels and promote clarity of thought and communication. Yoga can also enhance other areas of your life be it gardening, biking, academics or other creative endeavors and leave you feeling comfortable and confident in your body. No matter your exposure to yoga or your reason for practicing, it is my intention to encourage you to reach beyond perceived limitations to experience the innate ease of being that is your True Nature.

The business piece of being an independent yoga professional has also grown. I have learned that it requires a lot more than being a good yoga teacher to run a successful yoga business. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel that inspired me to aspire to such a vision. I feel momentum beneath my wings but teeter at the edge of the nest wondering if they are strong enough to carry me. If you are inclined, you can help keep me afloat by mentioning me and my business when interacting with your community and professional network. I appreciate your word of mouth referrals tremendously. To make your job a little easier I am now offering 2 weeks of UNLIMITED YOGA for $20. This is primarily a new member special, but as a thank you, I would like to extend this one time incentive to you as well. Lastly, if you have a website and are interested in a link exchange to increase search engine visibility, please let me know as I have recently added a Community Page to my website and would be happy to list your business or service and feature you in my newsletter.

In gratitude,

LauraNidra

Underwater Love

Stepping back into life after a nourishing and transformative retreat can parallel navigating a class four rapid; scouting the run prior to putting-in is recommended. When genuinely open to the retreat experience, the ‘to-do’ lists that clutter and fill my fast- paced urban lifestyle, fade away. Attention is now free to explore the moment-to-moment unfolding of my existence. In the beats between I am succinctly aware of the awesomeness of my perfectly unique experience while humbled to the omnipotence of Mother Nature. And so it was with the Rafting & Yoga Retreat I co-lead with Winding Waters Rafting of Joseph, Oregon.

A teachers once said that energy follows attention and that attention, at its core, is Love. So hard did I fall for the majesty of the Salmon River that upon my return to Seattle I felt a stranger to my self-identified city girl reality – naked and disoriented. On the massage table a few days later I realized that I had essentially left a piece of my Self on the river. The image of a piece of my heart quite literally flying out of my body to commune in the wilderness sent ripples down my spine. And what of the vacancy sign flashing in my chest? Lyrics from the Postal Service song titled “Such Great Heights” chime in:

I am thinking it’s a sign that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and when we kiss they perfectly align. And I have to speculate that God himself did make us into corresponding shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay.

Is that what love is? A Donnie Darko style worm flowing from my chest toward a reciprocal sized portal in another? Is that why after a break-up the clichéd, “I’ll always carry a piece of you in my heart” is universally understood, even by the cynic. One Valentine’s Day a lover sent me an anonymous story chronicling the valor of the heart’s trials and tribulations:

One day a young man was stood in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered to admired his heart, for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly.

Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine."

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces were missing.

The people stared. “How can he say that his heart is more beautiful?”

The young man looked at the state of the old man's heart and laughed. “You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."

"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges . . . giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting.

“So now do you see what true beauty is?"

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands. The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his scarred heart and placed it in the wound of the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side.

How sad it must be to go through life with a whole heart.

As a romantic, I have been know to wax poetically key lines from Baz Lurhman’s Romeo & Juliet and Moulin Rouge but my idea of love has evolved beyond Cameron Crowe’s “You complete me.” I prefer the image of two neighboring trees, strong and rooted in and of themselves, creating a intricate canopy of multi-colored leaves and curvaceous limbs overhead. And in between, where the sky breaks through, the eternal dance of offering and receiving, the microcosm and the macrocosm and all the shades of blue along the way.

The River, a consistent and generous lover, always gives back. I would argue the same is true of all relationships of any label if we are willing to see beyond the duality of positive and negative experience and welcome what is. It is a matter of trust. Faith that we are right where we need to be and life, like scars and wrinkles, give us character.

In Greek philosophy and science water is commonly associated with emotion and intuition. In Wiccan tradition water represents wisdom, the soul and femininity. And then there is the Moon. Its no small wonder the retreat so powerfully touched my soul, honed my intuition and resulted in these ruminations on love.

In the dream realm rivers can symbolize a journey; either physical, emotional or spiritual. On the last day of our distinct, but not separate, journey down the Salmon River we eddied out at the confluence of the Snake & Salmon Rivers. Twenty plus flotilla miles later the retreat would come to an end but for the time being we were together moved to offer and give back to the River. Honoring the interconnectedness of all things we harmonized our voices and let the wind and the current take its vibration out into the universe. Our bodies and our hearts close to follow we fell back into the river, cool and cleansing, and like the swan in Rilke’s poem, content to be carried.

The laboring through what is still undone, as though, legs bound, we hobbled along the way, is like the awkward walking of the swan.

And to die - which is the letting go of the ground we stand on and cling to every day, is like the swan, when he nervously lets himself down into the water, which receives him gaily and which flows joyfully under and after him,

wave after wave,

while the swan, unmoving and marvelously calm,

is pleased to carried, each moment more fully grown,

more like a king, further and further on.

I’ll keep floating on with a therapist of the both the physical and emotional leaning in tow to help me ground and integrate my experience and put it into these words.

Photos of this Retreat will be posted to LauraNidra Yoga shortly....