Traffic Signs

Yield, Stop, Merge, No Left Turn. Green, yellow, red lights. You
have to pay attention. Shakti, the Creative Power of the universe,
is always leading us. Are we paying attention? Are we blasting
through stop signs?

Are we pausing to wait for the light to turn green? We are free to
choose, but there are consequences if we don't follow the signs
a traffic ticket, or worse getting hurt or someone else getting hurt.
If we do follow the signs and welcome the pauses, we can flow with
Shakti effortlessly and masterfully.

April 2009 Newsletter

Embody Your Spirit This April.

What does "Ultimate Freedom" mean? In the yoga world you will get many different answers to this question. It is a spiritual question that all seekers may ask themselves. From the most modern yoga perspective, we are born free. Yet, we don't always experience ourselves as innately free. So, we practice and study ourselves to gain liberation. We also practice yoga to remember our innate freedom, svatantrya. When we recall our free nature, then we practice in light of our freedom, and we celebrate the spirit in the body-mind-heart each of us finds ourselves in. We celebrate the embodiment of the spirit in our poses together. When we come together, honoring the spirit embodied, gratitude abounds in our hearts. In gratitude for this opportunity to experience the divine in ourselves and others, we shine our deepest nature outwards, into the world in our own unique ways.

*John Friend* will be in North Carolina this month. Our community will have such a wonderful time together joining a greater community of the Carolinas. Though the deadlines have passed for the trainings, you can still fill out an application on www.anusara.com to see if there is any more room for the various events. We always have a wonderful time together whenever we get together for such a grand celebration of the spirit and embodiment through yoga, with each other. John Friend names his tour each year. This year, he calls his tour of the country andthe world, "Ultimate Freedom."

We have the first of a series of *massage-yoga workshops*, "Body is a Wonderland." It is for you and a friend or come by yourself and we will pair you up. Space is limited to only 16 students so sign up soon! Footloose is our first one:yoga and massage for the feet, April 25th.

Mark your calendars! In May, we will offer our first *Free week* ever! Here's how it works: Come to 3 free classes for the week of **May 1-7** if you *bring a NEW friend to yoga.* What better time to share something you love with a friend you care about. How can you help to make our world and Charlotte and your smaller circle of friends and family a brighter community? One of the best things we can do is practice yoga, being loving, appreciating what and who we have in our lives, getting stronger and more flexible in body and mind. Share our special community with the ones you love and new friends alike. New students can come with you or on their own. They (and you if you bring a new friend each time) can come up to 3 times during the week for FREE! Check our May calendar for new classes in May.

March rains....Spring *Gratitude*. What a wonderful March we had with such rich offerings from our Sangati teachers! Thanks to Kellie, Elizabeth, Brooks and Sarah for their heart-opening teachings at the Yoga Jam! Thanks to Kellie and Gary from Asana Activewear for putting on such a heart-filled and seamless event that they hosted. Check out their store for the best yoga clothes selection in the southeast, www.asanaactivewear.com. Allison and Kellie lit up new students in their Intro to Yoga workshop. Brooks set students' practices aflame in her workshop last Saturday. Congratulations to all who attended! Speaking of Spring, have you noticed our edible garden blooming at the side of the yoga studio? Check it out!

Spring Love, Sangati

March 2009 Newsletter

Happy March!

Welcome back to the swing of life after the holidays and January resolutions. Do you remember what your resolutions are? Each month, we can reassess our intentions and goals, spiritual and otherwise. Yoga takes us even deeper, as it offers us in every moment an opportunity to reflect, recognize and create anew.

When we engage our spiritual intentions, we live meaningful lives. If we find ourselves in a life-threatening situation, our will-to-be blazes, and all our energy is dedicated to the objective at hand: survival. For most of us, most of the time, our lives do not often require this sense of urgency, yet we may act as if it does. When someone asks how you are, is your response “surviving”, “making it through the day”, or “getting by”? If so, how do you make the leap from “getting by” to living? A better question is: How do you make the leap to living well? I mean “well” not as a cushy, catered existence but rather a continually cultivated skill set for living a full, rich life.

There is a sequence of steps to living a fulfilling life. The sequence is essentially:

1. Set your intention.
2. Align to your intention.
3. Create actions, words and thoughts in support of your intention.

This sequence comes from what we call the three A’s in Anusara Yoga. The 3 A’s are Attitude, Alignment and Action. Because the 3 A’s are universal, we can apply them to any venture, any intention in our lives. If you are going to set an intention and devote energy towards it, you will want to make it a good one. Won’t you? Being conscious, aware, and present allows us to live rather than to merely survive. Regularly practicing our awareness allows us to live well, as opposed to merely living.