Bakasana (Crow Pose), Immigrant Point Overlook, San Francisco | © Lottie Kendall 2015
Hello again, dear yogis,
So much has beautifully unfurled since I last reached out to all of you... Summer's solstice sun peaked, and the slow, steady pendulum of light has already begun its journey back toward winter's long nights. The Independence Day full moon found me nestled in the beautiful, secluded valley of Tassajara, assisting my teacher, mentor, and friend, Britt Fohrman, at her annual Restorative Yoga & Zen retreat. I celebrated a rich and delight-full 41st birthday with loved ones, near and far. I cherished teaching 25 yoga classes across this stunning city.
And, I'm excited to share that I've just completed my Relax & Renew® Restorative training with Judith Hanson Lasater (who only happens to be THE Godmother of Restorative yoga!). Having already been training in her lineage, the course felt like a homecoming: right at home with her and among my warmhearted fellow trainees. Such boundless gratitude to have had this opportunity to deepen my knowledge, understanding, and skill in offering deep rest to all of you. Namasté.
Throughout this past month, and all that it has contained, I’ve been thinking a lot about balance. Indeed, it has been a recurring theme of my mindfulness practice over the past three years. Effort/Rest. Ebb/Flow. Yin/Yang. Fertile/Fallow. Pleasure/Pain. Darkness/Light. Flying/Falling (as in the pose above). Balance is not a place of stillness, but an open, healthy vibration of equilibrium. It is a harmony within the multiple, constant, and changing melodies of life. Every day and every breath is another chance to find balance. So today, I leave you with this:
"Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes.
If it were always a fist or always stretched open, you would be paralysed.
Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,
the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated as birds' wings."
~ Rumi
May summer's blessings surround you,
Nicole