by Brianna | Jun 10, 2017 | Breathing, chakra yoga, Kundalini Yoga, practice, Yoga, Yoga Davidson, Yoga Retreat
Going on a retreat can do wonders for your spirit. There is something powerful about all that space and time dedicated to one’s practice that creates a depth to the work. When I think of retreating, I think of turning inwards, time for silence, simple food, flowing through postures, my breath moving in and out, sunlight, salt water, and lavender scented sheets. Retreat isn’t just one thing – it is a layering of many small things to create an environment infused with healing. Sadly, retreats are not cheap and while I understand the reason for it, it makes it awfully cost prohibitive for the typical yogi to experience. Although I have been lucky enough to go on several extended retreats – they are far and few between. About ten years ago I started creating retreat days for myself and now I do them monthly, usually over a weekend. On those days, I retreat from my typical activities of hustle and bustle and choose to immerse myself in my practice. I eat simply, I rest and I create an environment of healing in my own home. These days have become a touchstone and an important anchor to my practice. To prepare: Clear your calendar for the day/weekend/week that you choose to retreat. Clean Your House. Clean sheets. Clean Tub. Dishes done. Groceries (stock-up on simple and nutritious food) Create a schedule of several classes or workshops – building yourself a full day immersion (sometimes all at one studio, sometimes at several studios) Arrange flowers and create a space of healing for your beautiful self – even if it is just...
by Brianna | Feb 10, 2016 | Chanting, Yoga Davidson
When love first tasted the lips of being human it started singing. ~ Rumi If you have come in contact with me in the last three months chances are I have talked to you about my Harmonium. I have a knack for working it into most conversations. It is entirely plausible that I have even bored you with a picture or two. Last fall, I was feeling very uninspired by my practice. For several months it was as though my practice was completely void of joy. I was literally slogging through it. Forcing myself daily to make it to my mat. In November, when I taught my annual retreat I decided to shift its normal curriculum to include a workshop at a local studio. I really enjoy Rachel Nixon’s classes and I knew her focus on Bhakti (the yoga of devotion) would be right up my students alley – especially as they all love to chant. At the workshop, Rachel played a harmonium that she had recently purchased. She was a novice but she accompanied us during multiple chanting practices and she did it well. I left that workshop so inspired. I left WANTING A HARMONIUM. I can now play the scales. Chords are coming. Songs will soon follow. Adding the harmonium into my practice – and broadening my practice to accommodate it – has been so rewarding. I now undertake to do my practice joyfully! How are you feeling about your practice? Are you inspired? Or are you in a rut?...
by Brianna | Jan 5, 2016 | Cooking with Intention, Healing, Yoga Davidson
I love tea. All kinds – even the medicinal ones that taste like dirt. There is something so comforting to me about holding a warm cuppa. Although I drink hot tea in the summer it becomes my default beverage in the winter months. Over the past few years I have become more and more interested in making and blending medicinal teas syrups and tinctures. One of my dear friends, Jenny Erhardt of Zensations by Jen, demystified making herbal blends for me several years back. That brief – 2 minute conversation (she did cuss a few times) – freed me to practice through play. Now, when I start to feel blue or rundown I do a little research of what herb, root, or berry would be helpful and then concoct something in my kitchen to make myself feel better. Fill your cup with something kind. ~Carrie Newcomer from Betty’s Diner Recently I hung out with two children under the age of six – three days later my belly decided to revolt. Instead of reaching for ginger ale I started making myself the most delicious ginger tea. Simple Ginger Tea: 1 inch ginger sliced (this can be imperfect – you don’t even have to peel it – your choice) 12 ounces of filtered water Black pepper Local Honey Lime Bring the ginger and water to a boil, reduce heat and allow it to gently simmer for 10 minutes. In a mug: add a teaspoon of honey (more to taste) the juice of half a lime a crack or two of black pepper Pour the hot ginger tea over this mixture....
by Brianna | Dec 31, 2015 | Affirmations, Healing, Transformation, Willingness, Yoga, Yoga Davidson
Miracles do happen. Grace does occur. But more often than not, change, transformation and growth require baby steps – many, many, baby steps. I love the turning of the New Year. It always seems that there has been a reset on a grand scale. The coming months somehow spread out and seem fresh. Time seems abundant and hope is high. New Years resolutions stream through the world, and the people run forth to the new dawn resolved to: read more books, exercise, eat better, loose weight, volunteer more, etc. For a while gyms become packed, yoga classes cram mat to mat, volunteer organizations field numerous requests, 52 new books are bought and then mid-February hits. The newness begins to wane, and for the majority, there is complete fallout. Over the years I have had a lot of resolutions blow-up, how about you? Rather than setting resolutions, I now think more about setting an intention. These words are often used interchangeably, they seem so similar, but there meanings are meaningfully different. After so many years of failed resolutions I now choose to start my New Year not by what I am resolved to do but what I intend to do. To feel the energetic difference between resolution versus intention, say the following two statements out loud with your eyes closed: I resolve to practice yoga regularly. I intend to practice yoga regularly. They create a different feeling, right? Just like wanting change and choosing change: I want to change. I choose to change. Here are my intentions for the coming year: Be better in all areas of my life and...
by Brianna | Nov 18, 2015 | Fear, Five Minute Yoga Practice, Healing, Healing Yoga Practice, Yoga, Yoga Davidson
I think we can all agree that what is happening in the world is scary. There is violence, strife, poverty, and heartbreak pretty much in every direction. So much suffering is being actively created by the hands of FEARFUL man. Title it what you like but it is fear that is breeding the violence, greed, racism, extremism, the endless arguments about borders, and creating the absolute hell of war. That is fear – often labeled as something else – operating behind the scenes. Which begs the question: “How do you behave after you become afraid?” Not the very instant the fear strikes. But after it settles itself. After it becomes normal rather than abnormal to feel afraid. When the fear has become your bedrock. How then do you behave? Anxiety has always been an issue for me. My practice over time has become my medicine. If I don’t practice enough I notice my anxiety begin to spark and fire. I notice the heat beginning to build and I know I need to get back on my mat for longer practices. And I do. I hate anxiety! So I practice. She noticed her anxiety sneaking around, its darkness at her edges. It appeared as a crawling thing in the corner, a demon in the shadows. It took up space and sang its siren song of misery. Excerpt from Healing Footstep to Footstep For a long time I though my anxiety happened in a vaccum. I was anxious because I was anxious. OKAY?!?!?!?! But through the awareness that practicing yoga and meditation ultimately brings I now recognize that what I...
by Brianna | Oct 22, 2015 | Affirmations, Breathing, Healing Yoga Practice, Hypnosis Davidson, Power of Thought, practice, Reading Yoga Betterment, Yoga Davidson
Whenever I am out moving through a beautiful landscape it is so much easier to feel at ease. There is an abiding peace that happens when I spend time with the waters, the forest, the desert, and everything else in between. Does that happen for you? The world did not have to be beautiful to work. But it is. What does that mean? Mary Oliver Nature is my personal church. I find it easier to pray if I am outside. Usually I am walking. Sometimes I am dancing. After all, there is always a reason to rock out to the Joyful Song. Last night I listened to several interviews with Mary Oliver – she and Rumi are my most favorite poets. Much of the conversation was based on her love of a walk in the woods, both in reference to exercise and Walden’s beautiful book. Like him, her love of nature resounds throughout her writing. For an entire year, at the end of every yoga class I read Mary Oliver’s poem Wild Geese. Arguably a repetitive offering to my students. But I often find that there is power by way of repetition. I have certainly seen that power in my personal practice and in my students’ practices. During the course of the following interview she speaks to the the necessity of repetition and rigor in her art. She touches on the many failed attempts and the requirement to keep going, keep doing, keep writing. Plus she recites Wild Geese: Mary Oliver On Being Question: Where have you seen the power of repetition in your own life? To...
