Yoga Through the Summer

A few reminders to share, after our Yoga and Nature Retreat 2026:

BREATHE - Notice your breath throughout your day. Lengthen exhalations when you feel stressed. In yoga, move to the pace of your breath, not the other way around. Your back is vitally important to opening your breath. We must soften unnecessary tension in order to breathe fully and refresh our bodies and minds.

CENTRE YOURSELF - Breathe into your center; lengthen, widen and deepen. Align your core first and foremost (spine, sacrum and occiput). Align your limbs from your core without sacrificing your core alignment. Ease into postures over time. Practice regularly.

ALIGN BONES & DOMES - Place the "hard bone" of your legs over the weight bearing points of your feet, and balance the weight equally. Align the "domes" of your center, and through your limbs. Releasing your weight into gravity properly through your bones creates levity through your joints, and healthy oppositional forces for dynamic movement in asana., and in everyday life.

FEEL FOR PRANA - Prana is vital energy. Feel for it in your body tissue. Help it move through your body with breath, asana, and all aspects of yoga, including Yamas and Niyamas. As your prana increases, it burns through your tension (physical, emotional and mental). Learn to stay in states of heightened prana in order to release this deep stress. Be compassionate with your emotions. Soften your body and breathe into it. Develop the witness.

BE COMPASSIONATE WITH YOUR EMOTIONS - Energy in motion. Emotions are powerful, honest, and wise. Allow your emotions to flow. Practice processing them within (and also outwardly as needed) through compassionate inner witnessing (meditation), rather than by unconsciously projecting them onto others, or burying them in your body tissue. Let go of the "blame/shame game". When we decide not to be victims anymore, we step into our power. Our consistent inner presence and self-compassion lead us to healing (wholeness).

LEFT/RIGHT BALANCE - We contain both the light and the shadow, positive and negative, masculine and feminine, joy and sorrow. Our inner work with physical, emotional, and mental balance, meditation, and samadhi allows us to bring all that we are together in a balanced way, deepening wisdom and strength within us.

STAND IN YOUR POWER - Physically aligning our bodies, and freeing our breath helps us find our center, where our authentic self arises. Connecting regularly with this center places us in our true power and purpose.

NATURE WITHOUT AND NATURE WITHIN - We are Nature. Remember to slow down and experience the essential elements within your body: the Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Sound, and Light, and to allow them to interact and balance each other.

Sending love, joy, and peace to all.