Sometimes when I’m not writing a lot, it’s because there’s so much going on that I either am pressed for time or my brain needs time to process what’s happening in a way that it can be written about. Right now, it’s both of those things.
For now, I want to let you know that weekly classes will start up again the week of January 23rd. Please go here to read about what I’m offering and to register!
And I’ll be writing about what’s happening soon!
The last session of the year for classes is a November/December, six week session with weeks off at the end of December.
I’ve replaced the usual Tuesday/Thursday Quickie with Quickie BalletOm, which some of you may remember taking with me at various places. It’s a 30 minute version.
There’s a Tuesday and/or Thursday Peony Method.
Go here for registration and more information.
But there’s something new that I’ve not done in FOREVER:
I don't usually do drop ins, but after last session when I let a new student into the Thursday version of the Peony Method, it struck me that a) the Thursday session is NOT for newbies. (You can take ANY class with me and then you'd be fine in Thursday.)
And b) I COULD let people do drop ins during the Tuesday class because that tends to be more of a fundamental/foundational approach to the Peony Method (which is appropriate no matter what level you're at).
SO...
For the end of the year session, which is six weeks during November and December, with time off at the end of the year, I'm opening Tuesdays up to drop ins.
HOW IT WORKS
You need to contact me directly either on Facebook or via email or in response to this newsletter and let me know what Tuesday you’d be interested in.
A drop in is $20 so I'll give you my email to either PayPal or Venmo that.
Once I get that, I'll give you the instructions about how to be in and do the class.
It’s that time again!
Reminders:
you can participate live or you can just use the videos which are available the following day
you can participate live AND use the videos all you want because they stay up for all four weeks
there is a music list that you can use or not
it’s easier to have music on one device and your video on another
you’ll all be muted and my music will be on earbuds
times are Eastern United States
we meet on zoom
If you’ve never experienced Kundalini Plus as taught by me, go read over here for more information.
I’m calling it Kundalini Plus, because one, as I’ve written about over here, I don’t want to say I’m teaching yoga any more. And two, if you know me, you know I never teach straight up any system. I mix stuff together and see what happens.
So this class will be lots of circular movements and natural movements and tons of breath work and just that deep sense of shared ritual that we’ve all come to love.
You’ll be guided the entire hour, so if you’re not into free movement, there isn’t any.
DAY and TIME: Sundays, 5:30 to 6:40 PM (class “opens” at 5:25)
DATES: October 2, 9, 23, and 30 (no class on the 16th because I’m traveling)
COST: $75 (if this is an issue, please never hesitate to say so and we’ll work something out)
(Before we start talking about types of rest, the August session of Quickie Mindful Mobility and The Peony Method starts up the week of August 9th, so go here to register.)
Let's talk about types of rest. (And these come from a physician-writer and her book. I’ve not read that but listened to her speak about it.)
I work with enough people who have had issues with depression, that I've had to talk a lot about how too much rest can be a thing... too much napping can be a sign of something else happening.
That said, if we look at the different kinds of rest and think about in what ways we are actually exhausted... well, this would have helped years ago when I was first teaching this stuff.
A quick list with tiny notes.
Where are you needing rest and not getting it?
1. PHYSICAL REST: two types -- passive (naps, sleeping) and active (stretching, yoga, massage, etc.)
2. MENTAL REST: needed when we find ourselves trying to fall asleep and then we can't stop thinking, when we're working on too many things at once. The rest part of this is drilling down. Getting specific, for example, only thinking about one thing. Focusing on a word of the day. As for night time thinking, I found I could repeat a healthy phrase or sentence over and over and then it would stop and I would sleep.
Mental rest CAN ALSO come during physical activity. Runners feel like they're meditating, for example. AND the Peony Method has a ton of mental rest and we rest brain by moving body in specific but creative ways.
3. SOCIAL REST: being around people who NEED NOTHING FROM YOU. This is a HUGE part of the Peony Method, for sure.
4. SPIRITUAL REST: when you feel disconnected and despairing, you need this. It doesn't have to include any kind of religion. It's about a feeling of BELONGING but also just a feeling that your life matters and that you're connected to something larger. There are so many ways to get this, and again, The Peony Method does this.
5. SENSORY REST: I think we understand this the second we read it if we are at all extra sensitive. It can be as simple as turning your phone off at 8 PM every night. It can be going for a walk in the woods and just focusing on your breathing. The lake gave me this and number 4 in particular.
6. EMOTIONAL REST: for many reasons, we don't process emotion in the moment. The reasons for this are not always negative but they can be. So we need ways to process and allow ourselves to feel. This is also a HUGE part of the Peony Method -- maybe the CORE. (It's different, I'm sure, which is the highest priority for each student.)
7. CREATIVE REST: as creatives, we're often demanding of our creativity. We're often WORKING at it, one way or another. Creative rest for me is about going to a museum, listening to live music... anything where I am the RECEIVER.
As you can see, you can have very specific deficits in one or more of these areas, but the remedies tend to overlap, covering a few areas at once.
If you’re interested in the sorts of rest that the Peony Method can provide, a new session is starting for August on the 9th and 11th (or whenever you want to use the videos.) Go here for registration.
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.)
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.
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.
(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.