Hi everyone,
Here we are at the solstice. This was a hard year! I know everyone is saying that, but it’s true. On a personal level and a collective level, this has been a tense year.
I have been so grateful for the opportunity to teach and take online yoga classes during this time. But I’ve noticed that it’s hard to drop in to a contemplative mental space when I have a laptop open next to me, the connection is skipping, and I can’t hear the teacher’s voice when I turn to the back of the mat.
Finding inner spaciousness through yoga is a little harder next to a screen, burdened by the logistical elements of watching virtually.
It’s lonely and sometimes frustrating to practice yoga with teachers who cannot see you. As a teacher, it’s frustrating to be on the other side of the situation, too. Not being able to see students or assess the energy of a room puts us at a disadvantage.
Full disclosure: I’ve been tuning in to streamed classes much less frequently.
I’ve been cultivating my own self-directed home practice.
It has been infinitely more rejuvenating, nourishing, and satisfying for me.
I started to wonder why people who like to do yoga with me would want to take streamed classes if I myself was finding them lacking.
Full disclosure (again): they didn’t want to! After the first month or so of quarantine, streamed classes were mostly me streaming to no one. It was clear to me that offering streamed classes was not meeting the needs of my community anymore. And I understand exactly why, because taking streamed classes was no longer meeting my needs, either.
I have been cultivating my own home practice and it has been such a good experience for me that I would love to share it with you.
On January 10th, I’m hosting a 90-minute workshop on Zoom that will teach you how to begin a self-directed practice at home, on your own, without a teacher. (Yes, it’s on Zoom out of necessity, but hopefully it’s the last Zoom you feel like you have to do to facilitate your movement or other rituals!)
You do not need any experience with yoga to take this workshop or to begin your own self-directed practice. Truly: you need no experience.
If exercising or moving is not resonating with you these days, fear not: part of the self-directed practice I’ve been working on for myself is focused on breathing, studying texts that are meaningful to me, and resting. The workshop will cover all of these elements.
Whether I move on my mat during my practice or I read and meditate, there exists a common motivation: to turn inward, connect with intuition, and take care of myself in the ways I know I need most.
There is something in this workshop for everyone. It’s called Taking Care: creating a self-directed movement ritual to nourish body and mind. You can check out the event page here for a breakdown of what the workshop will cover and pricing.
One of my values as a teacher has always been to help the people who practice with me connect to their own inner teacher, which I think of as the steady internal voice of intuition, or gut feeling, that guides us. While there are interesting things I can show you about alignment or different meditation techniques I can share with you, only you know what you need on any given day. You know better than I do.
Respecting the inner wisdom of each person I work with is extremely important to me, and teaching this workshop aligns with that value. I have some ideas to share with you about the structure of a home practice, but ultimately, I want to empower you to take it into your own hands.
Because I know from my experience that a self-directed practice sometimes benefits from a professional eye or a moment of connection, I am giving a lifetime discount of 25% off the cost of private sessions to everyone who attends this workshop. If you’re ever injured, or in a rut, or looking for inspiration and want to connect with a teacher, I hope the discount makes a 1:1 meeting more accessible.
As a thank you for being with me all year long, please use the discount code 2021 for 15% off the price of the workshop.
Wishing you a peaceful close to 2020,
Lauren