Love your fear

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This week's class theme was "Love your fear, forgive your fear".  That's the way to release it.  We all have fears.  The fear could be of trying something new or of disappointing someone or of making a wrong decision.  And then, we tend to hold our fears & worries close, creating this protective tightness around our heart.  The asana practice this week was to open around the shoulders and the hips, the four quadrants of the body.

As you begin to speak to yourself in a manner of forgiving your fears, even loving them away, that rhetoric begins to heal and transform.  Think about a specific worry or fear when you practice, and as you imagine loving that part of yourself, see how that may deepen and soften you into your poses.  

Society doesn't always accept our fears and hesitations.  So we turn around and judge ourselves for having them.  But often its not the fear itself that's the issue, but how we judge it.  Let the yoga practice help you let go of that outer protectiveness and tightness to see how the fear may bring you some clarity and help you say Yes or No to a situation.  

Rooted & Chill (and agni)

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A practice to honor the season of Autumn.  In class this week we focused on feeling grounded, rooted, steady in our bodies as we stoked the belly fire, or agni.  In the fall, the weather gets cold, dry, and windy.  We want to feel our strong legs and the denseness of the bones ground into the earth ... giving the wind energy vector, direction.  We also want to keep the digestive fire strong.   

Our asana practice included leg strengthening standing poses plus six "agni" poses that gave the digestive system a good squeeze as they toned the abdominal  muscles.  The essence of agni is strong metabolism, good hunger, change, evolution and transformation.  

We  started with an Autumn intention:  How would you like to root down in this season?  If there is a pace that is not serving you, how would you like to change it to feel more grounded, more able to listen to what your body is calling for... be it food, sleep, activity.  Set an intention that will serve you this season.  See you on the mat ~

Mikayla performs in the halftime show @ Superbowl

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Mikayla's cheer team @ Los Altos High School practiced for weeks to perform in the halftime Show @ the Superbowl, Levi Stadium.  The last week of practice they were out on the field with Beyonce, Bruno Mars and Coldplay.  Mikayla waved to Bruno Mars and she said  he waved back!  She gets to keep the green costume and we're ecstatic that her coach got this photo right in the center of all the celebration  (UCBerkeley marching band next to her & her teammate, Kelly).