Minke De Vos Workshop May 1-3

Friday night: 6:30-8:30-Bone Breathing, Saturday 1-6-Five Element Qi Gong and Yoga, Sunday women only 10-4-Feminine Treasures At the Ballard Health Center May 1-3 silentground.com, templeparlor.com, ballardhealthcenter.com

This is my first event at the Ballard Health Center a beautiful room for practicing; natural lighting from the high pyramid ceiling with sky lights, a window that opens, mirrors, and yoga props.  

Minke is a Gem!  We are so lucky to have here here!  Come to this workshop cultivate your radiance, transform the negative emotions, and enliven your bones!

Tapas - Cultivating the Joyous Heart

In Yoga terms it is really a devoted heart that all this opening moving and turning prepares us for: a surrendering internally to the radiance from above, a river of light flowing continuously replenishing.  This is what the Yoga alphabet is propelling us towards - embodiment of light and bodies of light or a state of grace.  Aurobindo writes of wideness in the consciousness.  Dona Holleman writes of wide eyes, heart and wide mind.  We widen where we feel resistance and allow grace to enter there.  On Saturday, May 17 this is my subject, and my task is to create the context for devotion to well up, and then each person finds their own experience of connection and radiance.   We work on quieting the mind to make room for the descent of this grace of light: sparkling prana, chi, life force energy, divine.  This is why people love vinyasa.  As B.K.S. Iyengar said to me once in Ann Arbor, MI,  " In vinyasa you become like an electrical antennae ...".  Aadil said, " you can't store prana...". I say,  It is the linking of consciousness and presence and breath the fugue of stillness and movement in balance creates the opportunity for the divine descent.  I'm reading Aurobindo now, it's as if the words on the page have the force of the divine infused, i feel my direction and an alignment with my purpose lining up.  Feelings of peace and joy over simple things, and with the same problems i've had stress over for years.  I'm working on them little by little. Just putting it out into the universe: I wish President Obama to succeed, so we all will succeed.  Amen, Om!!

Fusion of the Five Element

Fusion of the five elements is a Chi Gong practice that uses breath, sound and visualization to transform the emotions, and connect with nature and the animals in a shamanistic - modern and ancient dance.   I taught myself this practice out of a book by Mantak Chia.  Minke de Vos  came to town last weekend and taught a group here in Seattle at Home Yoga Seattle, and filled in the gaps, she offers a wonderful presentation of the material,and her deep thinking into all the subtleties  of Tao and life and practicing these ancient forms as a movement artist.  I taught part of the workshop inviting the concepts of bone breathing and he five healing sounds, into the asana practice.  I find it gives a place for the emotions, so much is released in yoga asana the sounds can be incorporated into the breath and be reflected inwards as a vibration.   The breath and the intention and the image of light does rejuvenate, and make me new.  I will be working on this practice more.              

BodyPrayer Workshop

Yoga means Union.

Through our practice we harmonize our body with our mind, our intentions with our actions, and our individual self with the universal energy moving through and around us.  This desire for union connects us to what is most meaningful, lighting a fire to warm ourselves by.

Physical movement can connect us to body mind spirit wholeness.  In Yoga practice, reaching out through our arms and down through our legs connects us with the earth and strengthens us for our life work.  Reaching up, into the flow of the sun salutation symbolically connects us to the universal life force, awakening internal warmth which moves as energy, opening and clearing the body and mind.  Turning inward with renewed clarity through forward bends, this energy turns inward toward personal transformation of our perceptions and attitudes.  Inverted postures center us on releasing fear and attachments.   Now ready to surrender into reclining postures, and the present moment we discover our true nature is joy.  By consciously  connecting, through our yoga practice to our own creativity, we can re-establish our connection to spirit and the world around us, to welcome a complete range of self expression into our lives.