​"If we think that something has beauty,
We might also think something has none.
If we think that someone is good,
We might also think someone is bad.

The idea of being requires non-being.
The idea of difficult suggests easy,
Long gives meaning to short, 
While high requires a low.

When is the end a beginning?

True Seekers are wary
Of all these labels,
Preferring a Way
Of unforced action and stillness.
Then, without strain, all is accomplished.

The True Seeker is productive,
But not possessive;
Aware, but not attached;
Fulfilled, but not complacent."
Verse 2 of the Tao Te Ching: A New Version for All Seekers translated by Guy Leekley

We'll practice this week without force, without strain, tuned in to the sensations in our body. With awareness we'll go deeper when needed and change positions when it's time. We'll practice without attachment. 

Join us!

"The nature of the Tao
Is seen in the bending of a bow:
The top of the bow is pulled downward
As the bottom is drawn upward.
These opposing actions respond
To changing tension on the string.
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Thus the Tao constantly adjusts,
contracting and expanding
According to need."
from Tao Te Ching: A New Version for All Seekers by Guy Leekley with Foreward by John Friend

In our Bowspring practice we pulse, contracting and expanding, over and over. We root and rise from the Hara in the low belly.

​With every exhale we root the hips back and down, fueling a rising expansion through the top of the head as we inhale. The body constantly pulses and bounces up and down in the Bowspring. We can continually adjust depending on need.
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Join us this week in our Bowspring classes!

​Photo by Andrew Yardley on Unsplash

Bill Mahony, Davidson College Religious Studies Professor, translates these lines from the Atharva Veda from ancient India in praise of Love:

"You have many excellent and favorable bodies
through which, O Love, you choose to become manifest.
With them, enter fully into our hearts 
and banish all harmful thoughts!...
Through Love, love has come to me;
from Heart, to heart."

In celebration of Valentine's Day we'll focus on a Radiant Heart. From the heart we'll expand out in all directions and lift up.

With Radiant Heart we can stay full and buoyant in each pose, each position. Join us!
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Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash

​In our Bowspring practice we try to keep a bow, or curve, in the lower back. We first fill up the ribcage, including the upper back, then we move our hips back creating more of lumbar curve, a "happy tail." Finally we take our head back, creating a neck curve.

We use the muscles in the back of our legs and hips to help create this happy tail. We move the hips back as we take the knees forward, widen the sitz bones as we press the knees toward each other, and finally we mound the glutes up and in as we press the knees apart.

🐕 We'll practice keeping our happy tails this week. Join us! 🐩
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Thanks to Jill for the photo of her van.