Schedule Change

I'm officially on a hiatus from teaching. If you are interested in private classes or small groups please message me.

Schedule change in June

I'll be taking a hiatus from teaching beginning in June. So come out for yoga at Memorial Park (next to the city pool) this Thursday @ 5:30! Only a few classes left to attend. Last class will be May 26th.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Due to the weather, class will be at The Studio tonight @ 5:30pm! Come to yoga before you eat tacos and drink beer!

Yoga at Memorial Park Thursdays - 5:30pm! Meet at the grassy area west of the pool. Bring a mat or blanket. (Click on image below)

No class this coming Thursday April 14th at The Gym. Class will resume the following Thursday April 21st and hopefully the weather will be nice enough for us to practice outside!

New class time!

Starting March 17th my Thursday yoga class at The Gym will begin at 5:30pm!

Teaching yoga at The Gym Thursdays @ 6pm. Open to both members & non-members.

Ellensburg, WA

Anytime Fitness (members only) Wednesdays @ 6pm

The Gym (members & non-members) Thursdays @ 6:15pm

Ahimsa, Orcas, and Yoga Oh My!

You may be asking yourself what do orcas have to do with yoga? Well, at the very core of yoga is a code of conduct called Ahimsa which means to cause no injury or harm and it applies to all living beings including animals. With this in mind we can look at the unethical treatment of animals as a practice that does not align with the core beliefs of yoga.

There has been a gradual conscious shift over the years that has recently gained momentum over the ethics of keeping killer whales in captivity for profit & human entertainment. The release of the documentary "Blackfish" by Gabriela Cowperthwaite has launched this global debate into hyper-speed and has led to a social movement dubbed the #Blackfish Effect.

So by combining my GIS (mapping) skills and my love for yoga and animals. I decided to contribute to this social movement and create The #Blackfish Effect, a web application that is a time-stamped and geolocated map tour of the key events that have led to this unprecedented movement for the ethical treatment of orcas.

Namaste~
Chica

For more info on this topic go to Voice of the Orcas

Yogi Situps

If you're like me and do not like traditional situps then you must check out the video below. The 20 minute sequence strengthens your entire core without the monotonous work of traditional situps. I just did it last night and I will be incorporating these into my daily practice.

http://www.yogajournal.com/video/123

Happy core strengthening!
Namaste~
Chica

Impermanence

What is born will die,
What has been gathered will be dispersed,
What has been accumulated will be exhausted,
What has been built up will collapse,
And what has been high will be brought low.

Sogyal Rinpoche, 1993. The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying

I have been fighting this reality of impermanence since our cat Gracen died in October. Her unexpected death hit me hard. I realized I had let myself become complacent to death. Feeling as if I was immune to the affects of death. This was a wake up call for me to remember "that everything is impermanent and death is an inescapable fact of life." (Rinpoche)

This event has led me back to the amazing book that I read while in undergraduate school for a 'Death and Dying' class titled The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche. This was a very pivotal book and class for me in my early twenties. It made me come to terms with my impermanence at a very impressionable age. Twenty years later, I am now revisiting this book and I highly recommend it as a must read before you die (every pun intended!). This book not only prepares you for death, it more importantly prepares you for living a full life.

In remembrance of little Gracen

Namaste,
Chica~


  

Sundays with Gracen

Everyday is Sunday for my cat Gracen. Her day is constructed around her long hours of uninterrupted sleep, watching birds, and getting on-demand love from us. I envy her and hope that if I am reincarnated into another life on this earth that I come back as a happy cat in a loving home like hers. We can learn a lot from our furry friends who take life as it comes by being in the present moment as they do so effortlessly. 

Believe it or not meditating isn't only achieved by getting on the mat and sitting for hours crossed legged without movement. Being present is a state of mind not a yoga posture. Sitting with Gracen in our tree house on a Sunday afternoon watching the world go by our yard and listening to the rhythmic sound of her purr is as close to being in the here and now as one can get.

So the next time you find yourself fighting for a quiet mind, seek out the company of your pet. They will be happy to sit with you in solitude while giving you unconditional love.

Namaste~
Chica

For Back Pain, Try Yoga and Chiropractic First, Study Suggests

This study exemplifies why "alternative" health care should be referred to as "necessary" or "primary" health care.

http://yogauonline.com/yogatherapy/yoga-for-back-pain/1252062113-for-back-pain-try-yoga-and-chiropractic-first-study-sugges

Spring Cleaning

Happy Spring!

Winter is still trying to hold on with cool, crisp morning temperatures and even random snow flurries but don't worry because spring is in the air! The trees are beginning to show new buds, the birds are chirping, the daylight is lasting longer into the evenings, and people are slowly emerging from their warm homes after a long winter hibernation.

Spring is a time to clean out the winter stagnation and bring light back into our homes. But this can also be a great time to do the same for our bodies. If you've never done a cleanse before I highly recommend one. Don't worry, it doesn't need to be a full fasting cleanse that lasts a month. It can be as simple as a 3 day smoothie cleanse. It's amazing how we condition our bodies to think we need more food than we really do.

The results will be immediate. You will feel less lethargic, lighter, your skin will glow, and your mind will clear. The traditional foods in our western diets often make us feel heavy, bloated, tired, and unhappy. By giving your organs a break from their overworked schedule of digesting, your body will have a chance to detox and cleanse itself.

If you've never had a smoothie before you will be amazed at how quickly it fills you up and how much nutrients you can actually pack into one 12 oz cup. Here is a link of 25 detox smoothies to choose from: 25 Delectable Detox Smoothies

Be sure to drink plenty of water or herbal tea between the smoothies and as hard as it may sound try to eliminate coffee and alcohol so the body can fully detox. Do restorative yoga or a more gentle practice to calm the nervous system and relax the body. Reduce external stimulus such as television and internet use so the body can properly rest and use this extra time to catch up on sleep.

When you are done with your 3 days of cleansing gradually introduce solid foods into your diet. Maybe continue to drink shakes in the morning, for lunch and dinner eat foods that agree with your dosha or body type.

Dosha-what? Take this quiz: Ayurvedic Body Type: Find Your Dosha to find out your dosha and discover what foods are better for your body than others.

Click here for more info to maintain balance in your dominant dosha!

Happy cleansing,
Namaste~
Chica

P.S. Feel free to leave a comment and tell me how you felt after your spring cleanse!

Play more!

New Year Resolution #2- Balance work & play

Translation- Go outside and enjoy life!

Need more proof that you should too?
Read this article: Relax! You’ll Be More Productive

Working on it!

Good-bye Facebook!

New Year Resolution #1- Limit time spent on meaningless tasks

Translation- Delete Facebook Account - DONE!
  
A walk led me to my new real world friend!

Hello Fall!

Today I went outside into the sunny, crisp fall day to clean up the autumn colored leaves that were beginning to cover the ground. After a long hot and fiery summer the fall weather is a welcome sight for our region in Central Washington. The daylight hours are rapidly getting shorter at a rate of ~2 minutes per day. The night temperatures have dropped to below freezing and the first snow has blanketed the mountains. If you're a winter sports enthusiast, you are smiling.

I love being home, back in the Pacific NW, where we truly have four distinct seasons. The crock pot has been out for a few weeks already cooking up all kinds of healthy stew concoctions made with local, organic ingredients (veggies, grass-fed meat, and legumes) that will help warm and nourish our bodies preparing us for a long winter hibernation.

But before we hunker down for a long winter nap, fall is a wonderful time to plant seeds for personal growth. Once we have figured out where to spend our time growing mentally, physically, and spiritually we can then spend the winter months on that transformation.

Your yoga practice can also follow this transformational time with a nurturing and warming practice. If you are new to restorative yoga I encourage you to try a class either at your local studio or you can click on the following link and practice at home.
 http://www.yogatoday.com/videos/953125910

Restorative yoga is very different than your traditional yoga in that it allows the mind, body, and spirit to relax, renew, and rejuvenate. Although I love the movement of vinyasa yoga, restorative is my favorite type of yoga. It gives my body, mind, and spirit a chance to repair itself in a magnitude of ways that is so hard to convey in words. One simply must just try it to understand.

So if you are ready for the change of the seasons, including your new transformation, then click on the link above or better yet go to your local studio and begin your journey.

Happy Fall,
Namaste~
Chica

Hello Pacific NW!

There is no place like the Pacific NW during summer and what better place to practice yoga than the outdoors! Here are a couple of pictures to inspire you to take your mat outside and experience yoga under the trees and the blue sky.

At home on the deck:

and in the San Juan Islands:

Grab your mat and head outdoors to salute the sun!

Namaste,
Chica

Love & Light - Peace & Love

I have a couple of friends who use these phrases as signatures at the end of every email they send. I used to think it was such a cliche. Until I actually needed these words. I was having an unpleasant day that resulted in frustration and negative thoughts. I decided to go for a run to blow off steam. I normally run with music but for some reason that day I left the headphones at home. As I started my run I remembered the Buddhist practice called Metta or loving-kindness. The practice begins with cultivating loving-kindness towards oneself then spreading that compassion towards loved ones, friends, strangers, enemies, and then to all sentient beings. The key word for me that day was enemies or in other words the person that was bringing disharmony to my life and causing the frustration. Having the courage to spread the compassion towards someone you are in conflict with is difficult. But like the practice teaches, you first start with yourself then once you rid your mind of negative thoughts and feelings only then can you begin to have love and compassion for others. They say you are what you think. So instead of thinking the negative thoughts that were plaguing my mind, I did a complete 180 and ran this phrase through my head the entire run. Love & Light - Peace & Love....over, and over, and over again until I actually began to feel the love, light, peace, and love within me. It was hard when I got to the so called 'enemy' but I started with a little ray of light, then I sprinkled on a little peace until I was able to engulf that person with love. By the end of the run my whole being had changed from the irritated person that first walked out the door to a calm, peaceful state. The next time you are in need of changing the negative, hurtful dialogue in your mind simply state these words and see what happens.

Love & Light - Peace & Love
Namaste~
Chica

Just Breathe

I've been on sabbatical from teaching yoga due to chronic wrist problems. In the meantime I've been enjoying my downtime to study other forms of yoga. I just read an article in the recent Shambhala Sun magazine called A Meditation Instruction. Mindfulness meditation, also known as Vipassana in Buddhism, has consumed me recently. This form of meditation uses the breath as a tool to guide your mind back to the present moment. As I was in the shower this morning, reflecting on the article, the song Just Breathe by Telepopmusik popped into my head.

The video below captures the song perfectly. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuxNAKVtwD8&feature=related

Remember.....just breathe,
Namaste~
Chica