FREE 20 Minute Zoom Class to Help with Anxiety and Anger

This Friday, July 1st, I'll be doing a FREE QUICKIE (20 minutes) on Zoom specifically to deal with ANGER and FEAR and all the things we're feeling right now.

This is simple breath and movement work that can be done seated on the floor or in a chair. I always offer tons of modification.

This is also community ritual, which we definitely need more of right now (and forever).

We'll be doing a combo of a bunch of things I regularly use in the Peony Method (whether quickie or longer classes) that focus on the nervous system and creating happy brain chemical cocktails.

You can join without your camera on but I would love to see you!

We'll meet at 11:10 AM (United States, Eastern Time).

Once I see the interest, I'll get everyone the link.

Please let me know if you want to be included. You can give me a shout here or on Facebook messenger or anywhere where you and I interact.

I’ll also share a recording of this in the Sanctuary so if you can’t make it live, you can still access the work. (If you’re not in the Sanctuary, ask me to add you.)

Being seen for exactly who you are

I just came across a very old blog post from when I first started teaching… or maybe about two years in… and the main thing people seemed to be telling me about my classes was this very thing: that they felt utterly safe to be themselves and they felt completely seen as they actually are.

I like to think I am even better at doing that today after so many years.

I like to think this is one of the main gifts of this work.

AND I like to think that it still happens even via Zoom.

Though I don’t have to “like to think it” since students have confirmed that, for them, much of the same magic happens regardless of the form through which we have these experiences.

So if you’ve been on the fence about (re)joining us via the Zoom classes, April’s session might be the ideal time to try: it’s only 3 weeks, starting the week of April 11th, so it’s less time and resource commitment.

(Please remember that if for ANY REASON the cost is too much to simply let me know. You don’t have to tell me why. I will make adjustments for you.)

For now, registration is open for two versions of the hour long Peony Method and the twice a week, 20 minute quickies.

Another reminder: You can take them live, by video, or both.

Information and registration is here.

Practices Matter More than Ever

Christine’s movement guidance, for me, is a sacred form of mindfulness where I am gently forced into listening to the fiberoptic highway of my body.

It is a practice as beautifully healing and helpful as prayer and meditation with the chemical and musculoskeletal benefits movement brings.

It is body language, but not in the sense of sitting across from someone else trying to figure out what they're thinking. And it is also allowing the body to talk, but not in the Olivia Newton John's, Let's Get Physical sense. (Linda)

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So often it’s my students who describe this work so much better than I ever can. I’m always grateful when they have the bandwidth to write a few words…

Because right now, we’re all really limited on bandwidth. More so, it seems, every week, as one thing after another just follows one thing after another and it seems there is no end.

Because there is no end.

Life is suffering, said the Buddha, and though that used to just piss me off, lately I find comfort in those words. I am not alone. We all suffer. Life is what it is but we can, as the Buddha goes on to say, work with that suffering to come to a place of peace.

I like to think that the work I offer this world, most especially The Peony Method, is one part of a path to that inner peace that we’re all, ultimately, seeking.

We just want to feel … okay and… steady… and like we have some say in what our own lives look like.

I think it’s crucial, now more than ever, that we take the time for practices that align us with those better, more sane, more loving parts of ourselves.

If you need that, March classes start next week. If classes feel too vulnerable, remember that I work one on one also.

February Classes are Open for Registration

(If you’ve not read Katy Bowman’s Move Your DNA, I HIGHLY recommend it. I’m reading it for the third time right now.)

REMEMBER that you can attend my streaming classes live or use the videos whenever you want. AND the links for the videos stay available for the entire month. They don’t expire after 48 hours (which is how a lot of streaming classes do this).

FEBRUARY classes start, of course, on Tuesday February 1st, including:

Quickie Yoga: Two 20 minute classes a week that cover all your body’s basic needs in terms of movement nutrients. These are great also for breaking into smaller snack bites for use every day.

Peony Method, two versions: Slow Anatomy — a concrete approach — and Energy Body — a more woo approach. HA. Each are an hour once a week and you can save a bit of cash by taking both.

All the information and registration is here.

If you can't cry...

We had a good discussion around crying in the Sanctuary this past week.

The ability to cry and to release is absolutely crucial to our overall health.

It took me a long time to learn this so I understand when people say they have a hard time crying or they tend to stop themselves from crying or they fear that once they start they won’t be able to stop.

I’ve said all those same things.

And when I did cry, I was one of those people who would apologize for it.

Then my entire life changed about 8 years ago. More than anything, I was overcome with fear. I knew that I had been not living my right life. I had known that for a long time but the fear of change and the fear of the unknown kept me from stepping out of it.

Once I did… oh my GOD did the crying start.

Soon I realized that I was crying every day whether I wanted to or not, and at first, this was hard AF.

But over time, I stopped fearing the crying itself. And I started to notice how after a bit of crying, I could get into my breath and feel better.

Once I learned that, I started to bring intentionality to my crying.

Every night I would get into bed and sit in meditation and ask my body if it needed to cry some more. It usually did so I allowed that. It started lasting shorter and shorter amounts of time and I started to see the connection between all of that release and really good sleep.

I don’t remember when the daily crying stopped. It lasted about a full year.

At the same time that this crying was happening, my heart was opening to more and more joy in my life.

Eventually that led to meeting Craig and just feeling like I was finally living my truth in every area — relationships, work, spirituality.

Crying watered the seeds of all of that joy.

Locking ourselves down doesn’t just stop the crying. It stops all the other big emotions — including the good ones that we say we want more of.

Creating internal space for this emotional work starts with allowing the body to express. The Peony Method is for that work.

We are gently and with playfulness exploring being completely present to our physical forms SO THAT we can affect the chemistry of our brains SO THAT we can expand/evolve our spirits.

It just so happens that TUESDAYS during the January session are great for newbies.

If your brain needs a more concrete approach to this work, this is for you. We’ll be spending a lot of time exploring joints, body parts, and muscle and tendon connections via focused, breath based, slow movement. I want this class to leave you feeling relaxed and stretched but also like you’ve found new and fascinating things about how your body works.

REMINDER: You do not have to attend these live. You can use the videos on your own time. You can also TURN OFF YOUR CAMERA during the live sessions if you're feeling too shy or too vulnerable.

But THURSDAYS are also great if you want a more WOO approach ((giggling)).

On Thursdays, we’ll be using the physical body to move into and with the energetic body with special focus on the chakras, meridians, and the energy of shared space.

Hit that link for “January Session” to get more information and to register.

December, 3 One Hour "Kundalini" Yoga for Restoration Classes that you can use into January

Peony…

Though we will have live one hour Kundalini yoga for 3 Sundays (and you don’t have to be live; you can just use video), starting this Sunday, December 5th, the videos will remain available to you for the remaining 2 weeks of December and into January to use as much as you want/need.

Please note: The next session of one hour yoga will not start until mid to late January.

This session will be focused on my mix of ALL THE THINGS yoga to restore you after this hellish year. (Or was this year actually 20 years? I can’t tell…)

You’ll still recognize the basics of a good kundalini yoga class but we’ll be doing other things to help reset your nervous system. For example, we’ll practice a special sensory-deprivation breath with savasana.

There will be lots of goodies to help you feel more grounded and stable and READY for a new and DIFFERENT year (oh, please, make it a different sort of year!!!).

DETAILS:

DATES: Sundays, December 5, 12, 19
TIME for LIVE: 5:30 PM (Eastern United States) to 6:30 PM (and I get online at about 5:20 if you wanna chat)
COST: $50 (for 3 classes that you can use over and over into January)
*As always, if the cost is a stretch, just message me and we’ll figure it out. Please don’t miss out for that reason.

Landing in Your Body and Not Separating Your Self into Parts

I love this quote not because of its accuracy but because it makes us think about how much we separate all of our parts -- physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological, and intellectual.

And when we separate, we create instant cultural based hierarchies of those parts with bodies and emotions usually thought of as less than and intellect and spirit/soul as "higher."

Nope.

NOPE.

It's all one. We're all one. There's no transcending any of our parts or any of our experiences. There's just being brave enough to be IN. IT. ALL.

When we dance or practice physical methods, we might for an instant think we've gone "above" or "out of," but what's really happened is we've finally landed.

If you want to explore all of this more directly, registration is open for December Quickie Yoga and Peony Method classes.

I’m extra excited about the Tuesday class (or whenever you want to use the recording):

Fundamentals of Narrative Based Movement Art to Rewire the Brain for Joy

We’ll be exploring how to strengthen the positive connections in your brain via happy memories. We’ll use guided meditations, sensory awareness, and focused breath to bring the memory fully into the body and then practice different movement prompts to solidify the positive sensory information and corresponding memory stories.

If you’ve never taken a class with me before, THIS will be a great place to start.

To register for this or yoga or the Thursday FASCIA FOCUSED class, go here.

Calming your nervous system, diving into basics, and exploring connection

NOVEMBER CLASSES start next week of course:

For November QUICKIE Yoga, we'll be focusing on the parasympathetic nervous system so lots of breath work, including new practices, and lots of work with the vagus nerve.

For November PEONY METHOD, Tuesdays (and I'm excited about this) we'll be deep diving into all the basics. Whether you've been with me a long time or are new, beginner mind is such a fruitful space to inhabit!

Thursday PEONY METHOD will remain focused on the fascia. There's just so much to do with that material... we've barely begun!

REGISTRATION and more details here.