by Brianna | Jan 31, 2012 | Change, Chanting, Fear, Healing, Healing Yoga Practice
In Transition (a workshop I taught last weekend and offer biannually) has become a touchstone in my teaching. It reminds me to tune into myself. To see where I am at in both my practice and in my life Many of you know that I am active in my studies better known as trying to: reduce my own stress, figure out patience, release my fears, accept and love myself and be an active present participant in my own life. Everything I ask my students to do I have explored myself. When I find something that is healing for me I play with it for a while. I explore my edge. Making sure I am ready to hold open a wound before I use it as a parable in my teaching. As I am a type-A personality and a recovering stress addict there really is loads of material to draw from. In Transition Tea made my Zensations This weekend right before I ran my workshop I totally got bugged. Workshops are different then typical classes because there is a theme that people are expecting to be adhered to. Because of that I go early, I prepare the room, I light candles, make tea and sing to the space. On Saturday I left my house early to do just that – according to the schedule I had the luxury of time. But the schedule was wrong. Bath Salt envelopes for In Transition Another teacher had scheduled a private lesson in the workshop space and while the student was there she was late. According to a work-study the lesson went till the...
by Brianna | Jan 15, 2012 | gratitude, Healing
This morning I shopped at the new grocery store (if you live in Baltimore you know exactly which one I mean) and because of that coupled by its oddly suburban feel, I wandered every aisle. Typically I shop the perimeter of the store. I find, for the most part, that is where the real unprocessed food is located. Although I forget for long periods of time that they exist I happen to love Gingersnaps. In fact I have a visceral reaction when I see them. My response to Gingersnaps is not based in my childhood. Instead that feeling evolved from an experience I had living in D.C. This pictures was taken right before I left New Mexico to move to D.C. at 21 For the record my Mother hated my apartment. At 21 I thought she was being ridiculous but in reflection I understand why she hated it so. The main reason for the loathing was based on the fact that the one exit I had was through a security gate that you had to key in and out of. For security sake all of the windows were also barred. Basically if there had been a fire I very easily could have perished. But boy did I ever have fun times in that place. There were no flames but one day in a very real way I did get trapped. I was rushing and raced out my door into the building hallway. I pulled it closed and it locked in place. It was two beats later when I went to key out of the security gate that I realized...
by Brianna | Jan 2, 2012 | Uncategorized
Yesterday I was washing dishes while starring out my window when the most beautiful rainbow appeared. At first I stared in awe and then I ran from window to window trying to see the full arc. Its beauty compelled me outside and while I expected it to be fleeting it was present long enough for me to drag my dog around pointing it out to strangers. I am sure they thought I was utterly crazy but it was important. A rainbow is always special but a rainbow mid-day on New Year’s seemed particularly magic. If I had been outdoors alone I would have danced around and sang a song. If I had been in charge of a group of students we definitely would have had a full blown kumbayah moment. But since I was on a street with strangers I resigned myself to being polite and asking them to please “look up.” Years ago when I was studying art history I became fascinated with Native American pottery. Many of my professors were also curators at the MFA in Boston and I was lucky enough to hold many objects during my program. Truth be told when I handled the ancient pieces I felt like they were singing to me. When I graduated I moved to New Mexico and fell madly in love with the desert and its peoples. Yesterday, when I stood at the window staring at the colored bow crossing the heavens I whispered the prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors and sent a kiss to the sky. “….there shall arise a new tribe of all colors and all creeds. ...
