Sovereign Hands: Gentle Yoga Series Vol. 1 NOW AVAILABLE!!

Greetings!

I'm so excited to announce that I now have a yoga DVD for purchase!  This is just the first in what is soon to be a series of classes.  I have to thank my Monday morning yoga class that I taught at St. John's Rec in Brooklyn earlier this year and also the folks at The Mat Project  for making this possible. The whole thing felt really serendipitous. You know how I like to tell a good story so here it is.

Monday, May 12th I went in to teach my usual morning yoga class. I have to tell you it was my favorite class to teach. Most of the folks in my class were seniors and can you say dedicated?  These folks were not playing.   I really loved it.  Anyway, one morning after class one of my students asked me if I had a yoga DVD. When I told her no, she asked me why not and said, "Don't all professional yoga teachers have DVDs?"  I chuckled and told her, "No," but that didn't stop her from telling me that I should have one.  I thought about it, kind of chuckled to myself at that she thought every professional yoga teacher had a DVD and started on my way home after class.

Almost as soon as I walked out of the building I got a call from my friend Bess. She called to ask me if I wanted to shoot a yoga video to put on her new fitness website, The Mat Project.  What??!!! Now you know I almost dropped the phone.  Was I not just told I should have a yoga DVD and now I'm getting a call not even 10-15min later about shooting a video.  OK Universe, I hear you.

I told Bess yes, but then I started thinking about how I would get it done. Who would shoot, edit, etc. Well before I could even go down that rabbit hole she tells me that she has a spot where we can do it and her husband will shoot and edit the video. Say what??!!  Well alrighty then! So before I knew it we were shooting the video!

We made a push to get the edit together before I left to go to play at Michigan Womyn's Music Festival because I was also teaching a yoga class there.  The class at festival was amazing! I will be sharing more about that soon, but now I'm so happy to share this DVD with you.

It's a 30 minute gentle yoga series. So for my beginners, folks returning to yoga after a while or if you are just looking for something a little more slow flow, then this is for you.

 I hope you enjoy the DVD. Just look to the right and you can purchase. Thank you all so much for your support!

Jai!

The Return of the Yog-i!

Hey Everyone!

After a long and unexpected yoga hiatus I am back! I hadn’t stopped exercising all together, but I moved back to my Sporty Spice cardio side. I was biking and walking, but honestly even the time I was putting into that was a little slim. Sometimes it takes big change to get you back on track and that is surely what has been happening over the last few months.

As you know, I’m a vocalist/musican as well as a yogi. I did a huge show in August at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival and it was amazing! It was one of the best experiences of my life [Click Here for Michfest Recap: "This is Called the Show"], but afterward I didn’t have a voice for a week. That really scared me. I will admit that I knew there was something wonky going on with my voice before that show, but I never had anything happen to me like that before. Maybe after doing a show I wouldn’t have voice for one day, but even that was one day too many.

So when I got back to New York I went to the doctor who told me my vocal chords were very swollen and my left one was swollen to the point of almost developing a polyp. I didn’t freak out about that, but what I did freak out about was when the doctor told me I had to take medication to bring the swelling down. Seems simple, but I’m just not a pill person at all and what she prescribed me I was honestly very leery of. I know what it has done to other people in large doses. She assured me that because I was only taking 1 pill for 5 days I wouldn’t have those problems. So I took the meds, but at that moment I knew I had to get back to yoga. Yoga saved my life once so I know it will do it again.

So all that to say that I’m on vocal rest until at least the end of the month and then I’ll know more after some other tests with the speech pathologist. I will also tell you that I feel great. I’m not worried about what is on the other side. I know I’m going to be better if I just shut up for a while. When you are not well, it’s better to know what is going on so that you can do everything in your power to remedy the situation. Even if you have a life threatening challenge it’s better to know! There are healers and healing modalities all around you. Just reach out to your community and there is someone that has some information for you. If you don’t think you have community, well now you have this blog and I can point you in some direction. Okay enough of the health PSA for today. lol

Let’s get back to my return to yoga. When I was at Michfest I reconnected with a wonderful sista, dancer and yogi, Sokhna. We vowed to reconnect when we got back to Brooklyn. It was a hectic August so we just got together last Friday when she invited me to a yoga class that she was subbing for at Shambala Yoga & Dance Center. It just so happens that that’s also the new location of where I practice Reiki. She also teaches there regularly on Sunday afternoon.



Friday September 9th

Shambala Yoga & Dance Center, 367 St. Marks Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11238

On that morning of the 9th I jumped back into the fray. Class was at 8:15am and that was the best way to start my day. Since I had told Sokhna about 3 or 4 days ago that I would be at class, I peeled myself up, got myself together, jumped on my bike and headed over.

I saw Sokhna near the reception area when I arrived. We said out hellos and I checked in. I really like Shambala. They moved into a new space just down the street from where they were before. They have one studio for yoga and dance and two treatment rooms. It also feels really wonderful in there and to me it’s really all about the vibe of a space.

The class that morning was small. I think there were only four of us, but I really like classes like that. The teacher can give some extra attention if they are that kind of teacher. Sokhna told me about the class she taught on the Wednesday before and the class was in that vain. She taught a Hatha class with a little bit of Kundalini, which she says is really Hatha as well. I always know when there is a little Kunkalini mixed in when we start doing the breath of fire. Sokhna told me we were going to be holding the poses a little longer than usual, which was a little challenging because I hadn’t taken class in a while, but it was just what I needed. I can always tell my fitness level by my Om. In fact Om is the only vocalizing that I have been doing since put on vocal rest. I know it heals so I’m going with it.

Sokhna’s class was kind of interesting because some might say she did the class backwards because we ended with Sun Salutations, which was actually really nice. The class was an hour long and I can’t remember all the postures we did during the class, but what I can say is that it was really wonderful way to jump off my trip back down yoga lane.

If you live in Prospect Heights of just like to try different yoga studios in Brooklyn I recommend Shambala. Sokhna teaches Kundalini yoga every Sunday at 1pm. She is also in private practice where she does pre-natal as her primary thing. So if you or someone you know might be interested in her services I can point you in her direction.

Namaste.

Me & Sokhna