AN UNSTRUCK HEART

An artist friend, Bonnie Taylor-Talbot had a bunch of us over to her art studio to make Valentines. She’s an amazing artist, check out more of her art out here & here. The whole experience was so light, pink (yes, pink!), & dreamy I did filter all of these photos to represent that. Note that her paintings in reality are darker and more colorful, check out her site above. She said that she made valentines for different people in the past, that they didn’t have to be just given to a significant other. I really loved this idea, I decided to make some for all of my yoga students. The studio will soon have glitter all over the floor…

MY FRIEND’S ART, IT IS WAY MORE AMAZING IN PERSON!

I’ve been getting up even earlier than normal over the past week, my mom had eye surgery and I had to take my car into the shop. Those wake ups plus my 6:30am classes made me feel like I did when I had a normal 9 to 5 again. H still is up before seven most days, but at least I don’t have to get ready to be seen by the outside world.

Besides my yoga gig I got two new yoga private clients. It felt really good to be able to go over and meet to talk with them about what their past lives were all about and what goals they’d like to set for their yoga practice. I still get that thought that startles me, wow I’m a legit actual yoga teacher. I’m still not used to it yet.

More hip pain in the left hip this time. I feel dejected about the limitation. Every body is different and I definitely have my limitations when it comes to yoga. I’m always trying to remind students (especially when they’re new) to go easy on themselves and respect what their bodies are trying to tell them. It’s hard for me at this point having done yoga this past year and have gotten to a good place and now I have to back on out of that place. It’s forced me to get off of my mat WAY MORE which is great, but I want the pain to G O. It messes with my sense of security. I’m teaching yoga, it’s my job. What happens if I can’t teach?

The truth is that I can still teach, even if I can’t do. But man I love yoga, that’s why I teach it because I love to DO IT.

So we’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been teaching an open heart series, it continues next week focusing on the clavicle & shoulders. Anti-text neck with some chakra theory thrown in. And a whole lot of vinyasa, possibly minus me doing the vinyasa. The sanskrit anahata (the heart chakra) supposedly translates as, “unstruck.”

Unstruck, not an easy word to get. For me it’s come to mean the opposite of being struck or hurt. It means you are WHOLE. Many parts of yoga are foggy and interpreted in all different ways. It’s good for me to focus more on alignment and movement, but I do love all of the extra stuff, which there is a vast amount of. Asana is just one chunk of yoga.

H & I have been spending our days (after the early mornings) eating, he eats every half hour I swear, walking, and negotiating time out. Not sure if he gets it just yet, he’s still a little young. Another phase, another thing to grow and learn from. He’s been regularly getting sleepy at noon. It only took 2 years for him to get predictable sleep-wise, no biggie.

Wishing you all an overall wholeness to your lives. & happy almost Valentines Day!

~Namaste

Published by Liz Brower

I've practiced yoga since 2006, I stumbled into a class at my local gym. I didn't really "get" yoga, I wanted to do all of the poses to the max, I didn't focus on breathing, and I was very competitive. A year later I quit smoking and my mom purchased a three month unlimited to a local studio. I fell in love with yoga! Plus the metaphor was strong, my lungs began to repair, I could take really deep inhales without coughing! I later began to go to a free outdoor yoga classes in downtown Long Beach, CA that was also affiliated with a donation based studio. Yoga was fun, affordable, accessible, and outside! I loved it. I started practicing at home by myself. I started meditating. Right after I found the classes at the gym stopped drinking alchohol. My sobriety and yoga have intertwined ever since. They compliment each other amazingly and I am so grateful for them both. I stopped practicing yoga after getting pregnant and being caught up with the taking care of a newborn in 2013/2014. When he was 9 months old I realized that I really wanted to redirect myself back to yoga. I also had the seed planted in my mind while driving home from Christmas break, why don't you go do a yoga teacher training?! I started practicing yoga at a local studio and began scouring the internet for a teacher training program. I found Three Sisters Yoga, a lovely program, based out of NY & PDX. I was more than motivated to teach, I started teaching some free yoga in the summer of 2015 at a local park. I continued after that with an internship at the same studio I had signed back up with at the beginning of the year. I quit my day job. I hit the pavement, scouring for yoga gigs that would hire a newbie. I found a job and began to teach! Now I am navigating the great balance of being a single mom, a yoga teacher, and doing my best to trust my higher power with my future. I love to teach and practice vinyasa, but also know what it's like to be drawn to slower types of yoga due to injury or body type. I feel a special affinity for yoga new comers and like to teach practice at all different levels. Thank you for taking time to read a little more about me and I wish all of you the best in your own individual yoga practice. ~Namaste! View more posts

4 thoughts on “AN UNSTRUCK HEART”

Thanks for the wholeness wishes. An unstruck heart – that’s lovely and makes sense when you think about it. I do like your friend’s art, thanks for the links, and those pink cakes…now they are DREAMY looking. x

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