After practicing hatha yoga the first few times, I fell in love with how it made me feel. It wasn’t like a “runner’s high,” I knew what that was, and this was quite different. I was also astounded at how little I could bend my body compared to others. After all of the weight lifting I had done, I was so stiff it was at times embarrassing, as no posture came easily to me. But then I had an epiphany: I was the stiffest person in class, and I may always be. And for the first time in my life that became okay. I decided to give myself permission not to have to be the best or compete like I’d been trained to do in sports (compete until you win, or die trying). I knew that I would never excel at this, but I LOVED it.

So, I gave myself permission to be the stiff guy in the back row, the guy who was trying hard but was kind of embarrassing to watch. This allowing felt so liberating, I believe it inadvertently accelerated my practice tenfold. It was almost indescribable; I started to feel like plates of armor were being pulled off of me, creating a new sense of physical freedom and emotional ease. My joints were opening and my muscles were elongating, but I was also opening stagnant energy channels and pulling open my heart center, especially from the impact of the breathing practice.

That is when things really started to move. Unexpectedly, I started making choices from a different perspective, and was noticing that my life was subtly changing. This, I learned, is because as soon as your criteria for making choices changes, it changes the course of your life. From little decisions to big decisions, you begin to make them differently. Instead of going here, you go there. Instead of eating this, you choose that. Instead of befriending this person, you befriend that person, and so on. All those little decisions change the course of your life. Finally, one day, my heart learned what joy was, and I felt my spirit heal from within. Then my life began to grow toward the light, like a plant reaching toward the sun.

Posted by: Max Strom

Max Strom returns to 8 Limbs Capitol Hill on July 31 for two workshops: Heart Core Yoga and A Life Worth Breathing. Born with severe clubbed feet, Max Strom spent much of the first six years of his life with his feet confined in plaster casts and braces. Today, he is known for inspiring and impacting the lives of his students. Due to an ever-increasing demand for his teachings, Max travels extensively teaching and lecturing on personal transformation, spirituality, and yoga. He has taught tens of thousands of students, trained several hundred teachers. You can see more of his work on his DVDs, Learn to Breathe, to heal yourself and your relationships, and, Max Strom Yoga – Strength, Grace, Healing.

Hello you all out there! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I fell off the writing wagon for a while and am attempting to jump back on. At a yoga class last week I ran into local writer, Stevie Kallos. The last time I’d seen her was at Clair Dederer’s Poser reading at Elliott Bay Books. At the time I was writing daily (thanks to the inspiration of Clair’s book) and doing it without any effort at all. Wake up, brush and neti, write, then sit and practice asana. Easy, peasy! I find rising early in the winter wonderfully peaceful and grounding. It’s dark, quiet, and I relish the solitude before the whirl of the day begins. I told Stevie that I was myself writing. She was excited and encouraging, and gave me her card.

In the last few months, as the sun has beat me to the punch (and Mad Men Season Four held me in its throes each night), I have had a harder time with any of the previously mentioned practices. Our family adopted a dog (and guess who now gets up as soon as I get up?), I had several workshops and projects to prepare for, yadda yadda yadda. I just had stuff to DO each morning before the kids woke up and the earlier light fed that DO mode I so easily tap into.

At first I was OK with letting go of the writing – I had shown myself that I could branch off into creative writing and knew I’d return when the time was right. But after a while it started to feel like I’d lost the vein I’d been mining so successfully (and more importantly, to such personal satisfaction). I’d read an amazing article or even just a poignant phrase and get a little jealous (rather than inspired).

When I saw Stevie last week I lamented that the writing habit had fallen off, and that I was feeling ready to get back to it. I’d brought back daily asana and meditation (with a weekly commitment verbalized to my mentor!) and seated in that could take on that newer practice again. Oh, and we finished the season of Mad Men.

“It’s like a yoga practice,” Stevie said. “You start it up with just one pose. Writing is like that, just write as long as it takes to do a pose.”

Oh how many times I’d said just about the same thing to a yoga student who wanted to start a home practice: “Don’t think of practice as a whole 90 minute class, connect to a couple of poses you enjoy and just do them.” Practice is just that, it is practice. It is a discipline, but it is also a reward. It is a commitment, but it is also a freedom. When I practice, be it yoga, writing, patience, conscious parenting, or vegetable growing, (next up: piano playing), I feel more free to be exactly who I was put on this planet to be.

So the next morning, I wrote. Just a page, mind you, but a page none-the-less. The next day I put in another page. And now I am finally writing a full-on blog post. Phew that feels good (you can imagine how many times in June I thought “I need to write a blog post!”).

What will your practice be today? What have you put off because you don’t have time, or have too much to do? Try just five minutes. And then do it again tomorrow. Tell someone about your commitment, or write it down. And ENJOY!

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

For many of us in the U.S. Memorial Day means a long weekend and the start of summer. Historically, though, it is a day of remembrance for those who have lost their lives in military service. Now in another era of war, our country has lost many men and women to combat in the last decade. Memorial Day is our way to pause and remember those lives as we continue on our own journey.

The Sanskrit word Smrti means literally “that which is remembered.” It is one of the five Vrttis, waves or fluctuations of the mind. It is one of only five ways that our mind moves. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali speak to these five thought waves in Sutras I.5-I.11. Each is said to be Klista Aklistah, colored or not colored. Memory can be colored by conditioning, ignorance, fear or attachment, or it can be pure uncolored memory.

Coloring the waves of our minds makes life interesting. My daughters and I went to see the musical Mary Poppins on Saturday. Some of the most memorable scenes involved bright colors, representing the magical places Mary could transport Bert and the children to (remember those horses that leapt off the carousel in the movie?). Mary could take the children from the greyness of their London life to a technicolor fantasy world, and make them “feel like I could fly.” But now I’m getting diverted to another of the five Vrttis, Vikalpa (imagination)…

The challenge of coloring our memories is that over time it becomes difficult to separate out the real from the unreal. This leads to Avidya, ignorance, and the other Klesas, the five causes of suffering. One of the practices of yoga is to become a witness to the Vrttis, our thought patterns, to progressively learn to remove the charge or coloring, from these waves as they move through our minds. Then they stay clear and we learn to see life as it is rather than through distorted lenses.

Even the American day of Memory, Memorial Day, can be colored, by aversion or attachment. Those who disdain the military and U.S. involvement in the affairs of other countries could refuse to acknowledge this day. Others could experience it as a tragic day of mourning for those lost at war and be upset that others are having a social BBQ. A Memorial without color might simply honor lost lives, with a moment of silence, or the decoration of a grave (Decoration Day was the precursor to Memorial Day).

Memory is powerful. It can shape our present in a variety of ways. If we can uncolor it, we let go of the drama that surrounds the past and arrive more fully present in each moment.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

Ever since I got my Undriver License I have been meaning to blog about the non-profit group that is licensing people to STOP DRIVING. May is Bike to Work Month so, though it’s late, it’s time! I met the Undriving folks at the Ballard Sustainability Festival in the fall of 2009, where I made an “Undorsement” to walk, bike, telecommute, or skip the trip at least 50% of the time instead of driving a car.

My serious cycling days began when I was about 13 and took long rides under the oak trees in (flat) New Orleans. I loved it for the exercise but hardly thought of it as a commuting option. When I went to college in the cold mountains of Vermont, I got my first mountain bike and went carless for my first three years of college (yes, in the cold…I mastered the use of two wool scarves over everything but my eyeballs). Once settled in Seattle in 1993 I managed to get around town on my bicycle more often than not.

In 2000, pregnancy and moving to Madison Valley put a bike wrench in my cycling habit. I just didn’t think the surrounding hills were surmountable, plus I was tired, and pregnant, and then had a baby to bring with me. The car became my main mode of transportation. This persisted for the most part until 2008, when my family moved out of our home to remodel. I lived in a home with an easier bike ride to work, and thus I shifted from driving everywhere to biking whenever possible. My Undorsement was to not drive 50% of the time. I have had weeks of 100%, but have held to at least 50% since then.

Check out the video a local documentary student at UW made for Undriver about my story back to the bike, even with kids, an uphill commute, and a busy life. We made it to inspire you to make the extra effort and UNDRIVE!

http://undriving.org/anne-phyfe-palmer

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

Last fall 8 Limbs yoga teacher Jenny Hayo introduced me to “Insights at the Edge,” podcasts posted by Sounds True founder Tami Simon that interview visionary poets, teachers, artists, speakers, business owners (et al!) on their current edge and contribution to the world on the level of consciousness raising. I have tuned in as often as possible, often during runs in the Arboretum or walking up the hill to work. I have found this solitary physical activity while listening on earbuds to amazing information quite transformational. The podcasts are free and I want everyone to know about them!

My favorites have been Richard Freeman’s Living Yoga, Tara Brach’s Radical Acceptance, Ken Wilber’s Integral Transformation, David Whyte’s Being at the Frontier of Your Identity, and Peter Levine’s Healing Trauma. But I have honestly barely scratched the surface myself. Most all that I have even tried have been amazing. Tune in, let me know what YOU enjoy hearing about at annephyfe@8limbsyoga.com. You can get them through the Sounds True website or iTunes.

Sounds True’s slogan, “many voices, one journey” is by divine accident very similar to our new slogan at 8 Limbs: “many paths, follow yours.” We are both committed to sharing their diverse wealth of information that is available to assist practitioners in their practice. And we are both businesses that strive to succeed at what Sounds True contributor Patricia Aburdene calls Conscious Capitalism. We believe that putting those words together is not only possible, but essential for the sustainability of our economy, our planet, and our own lifeforce.

Thank you for being part of this conscious capitalism experiment. We will continue to do our best to be a wonderful place for you to practice yoga, and for our staff, a wonderful place to work. We value your support and your presence at 8 Limbs. Namaste.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer (from the May Newsletter)

A few years ago I found myself resting deeply in savasana at a yoga class in New Orleans while on vacation. As I drifted in relaxation a sound began to emanate from the front of the room. It quickly moved to fill the room with a low vibration. Every atom in my body and the air and objects around me seemed to also vibrate with the sound. It created a feeling of oneness that was quite profound.

After savasana I discovered that the sound came from a singing bowl played by the instructor. It opened my eyes to the power of sound. Since then I have also had the benefit of receiving a Gong Bath (gongs are played and you are literally bathed in sound) and a massage treatment with Acutonic tuning forks. Each time I am amazed at the depth of this work. It quickly takes you deep, to a primal place accessed through the power of vibration.

Megan Costello, our Capitol Hill manager and a sound-healer, will bring her knowledge of this power of sound through training in Acutonics to a Yoga, Sound & Meditation Workshop with MJ Daniels this Sunday, May 1st at 8 Limbs Phinney Ridge. Join them for a “tune-up”, combined with yoga and meditation, to bliss out and connect with the power of both sound and silence.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna tells Arjuna “Yoga is skill in action.” For the many of us who practice yoga asana, this may be experienced as the bringing of awareness into the actions of the physical body. While reconnecting the mind with the experience of the body is a great start, and a challenging accomplishment, it is only just the beginning. To truly deepen our experience of yoga and gracefully navigate our lives we must learn not only to be present in the moment, but how to move skillfully through the thoughts, emotions and attitudes that surface and block our dynamic energy and inhibit the realization of our potential.

In practical terms this means that rather then just being aware of our tendencies to become agitated, angry, nervous, anxious, over-excited, sad or blue we develop the tools to move these energies through us without getting thrown off our center, distracted, scattered or put down. Rather then simply reacting or responding to whatever life throws our way, we choose the quality of our experiences by what we bring to the moment – not what the moment brings to us.

There are many ways this can play out in our lives. For example, you might have a co-worker or family member who is often agitated and seems to have an uncanny ability to spread the irritation around, or maybe you know someone who is often negative and spending time with him or her pulls you down. It might be that your spouse or children are getting on your nerves or that every time you get in your car you feel an intense dislike for the drivers around you. These moments not only cause shifts in our emotional field, but they draw our energy and attention away from whatever it is we set out to do. Aside from trying to let go of these disturbances after the fact, there are simple but effective measures we can take to prevent ourselves from being thrown off center in the first place.

If you are at all curious how you can target or develop your home practice to balance your energy and remain steady through the whirl of life experiences and emotions, check out my Yoga & Mindfulness Workshop at Capitol Hill on Saturday morning, April 9th. We’ll be examining the 5 root causing of suffering according the Yoga Sutras, developing the Buddhist technique of Mindful Awareness to view our sufferings with neutrality and compassion and looking at the system of Ayurveda to assess which asana, pranayama and meditation techniques help us keep our cool when things get heated, which ones help us spark the fires of inspiration and energy when feeling low and how to prevent bouncing back and forth between the two.

Posted by: Jen Yaros

Yoga & Mindfulness for Emotional Balance
8 Limbs Capitol Hill
Saturday, April 9, 2011
10:00 – 12:30pm
$35 through April 4, $45 after

www.jenniferyaros.blogspot.com
www.jenniferyaros.com

It has been a week now since the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in Japan. I find myself reeling daily with the news of the devastation, loss of life, and potential for even more damage on the nuclear front, not to mention the simultaneous events in Libya. Wow, again? It feels like our earth has been dealing with one catastrophe after another. Manmade, natural, it hardly matters. We are interconnected and the wheels or karma are turning, seemingly faster and faster. It would be easy to find either numbness or compulsive attention to the newsfeed to avoid or process this reality, but living consciously asks us to step back and consider how we can best serve a situation with our given resources, be they energetic or monetary.

I have found that to be pulled down by tragedy is a response that is easy to move to but highly ineffectual. Like wallowing in S*(&$%, it serves no one. Instead, we can offer our deepest presence and a wish that those who are suffering become free and find joy again in their lives.

I learned the mantra Loka Samasta Sukhinoh Bhavantu from my first teacher Kathleen. The meaning I was taught and eventually passed on myself was “May all beings be happy and free.” This is so sweet and lovely that it can sometime feel to me a bit trite, as if “well duh” could be sarcastically added at the end.

I recently decided to dive a little deeper into this perfect package of a translation and learn the actual meaning of the words, thanks to Google and a Sanskrit dictionary.

Loka has many meanings, one of which is room, or place (location, anyone?). It also means humankind, folk, wide space, and earth. Samasta means combined, united, put (or thrown!) together. Sukha is joy, delight, comfort, or ease, and sukhinoh is one who is in that state. Bhavantu means they shall, and I believe relates to the word Bhavana, which I was taught is an attitude or an intention that you choose and direct one’s attention toward.

Ah, now the mantra has a little more traction for me, and I can offer it across the ocean with a deeper sincerity. YES, we all have the capacity for joy, for delight, for ease. YES, we are all united on this planet, for better or worse. YES, they shall become free and full of joy once again. YES, this is what I wish, what I hope for and I can offer my practice, my efforts, towards this wish.

Please join me for a special practice this Monday, March 21 at 7:15pm at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill. We will focus our practice twofold: sending both supportive energy and awareness to our neighbors in Japan and donations to Mercy Corps and their disaster relief efforts. No donations required to join us, just a willing and open heart. Should you choose, please bring cash or checks made out to Mercy Corps. 8 Limbs will donate all drop-in payments for class to Mercy Corps.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

It’s the month of March and the winter funkies officially set in for me about two weeks ago. It started when I began to feel extremely tired, despite eating well and getting plenty of sleep. And my mood, usually somewhat upbeat, started to drag me down. And then my kids got sick, and my husband was busy with work, and I just had to carry on, cook the dinners, make the lunches, hit my to do list, and on, an on.

I am someone who really notices when I am out of whack, be it physically, mentally, or emotionally. My old habit is to look at what I need to do, to change, to get back to alignment. More yoga? Longer meditation? Less wine? More water? I want to fix myself, and get back to feeling more at ease in my skin. What this often translates in mind that is I need to be good, to do the right thing. The pressure builds and I end up feeling squeezed tight and stretched in all directions, all at once.

Last Wednesday morning, I tried a different approach (you guessed it, the other options weren’t working, and it was going on two weeks). Instead of trying to figure out what to do, I got curious about the source. “What’s under this spinning?” I asked my journal. And I sat with that. Something shifted, a little. And that morning I took a yoga class. Something in me said “go in that room before you go to the office.” As we wound down practice with a supine passive side stretch, the one where you move one leg and then the other over, and repeat, what lay beneath welled up, and tears started to stream down the side of my face, the way they do when you are lying on your back. Now these weren’t tears of sadness, or grief, or even tied to anything in particular. They were just the release of compression. I had finally become willing to allow what lay beneath to come to the surface.

After a few satisfying minutes of sobbing in an empty office, I returned to myself, to space, to openness, like I’d been cleansed by tears.

May you find your own way through the end of winter. To help you out, Melina has posted Late Winter Ayurvedic Tips on the Blog Post before this one.

And it’s Daylight Savings Time again. Don’t forget to set your clocks forward (spring ahead) one hour on March 13 (the birthday I share with 8 Limbs Managing Director Ashley Dahl, incidentally). Happy almost Spring!

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

Today is the day our nation celebrates an American hero named Martin Luther King, Jr. Declared in 1983, it is a day to acknowledge this great man and bring awareness to our own relationship to his legacy, a life dedicated to freedom for all beings.

Freedom is essentially the goal of yoga – freedom from physical and mental suffering, freedom from attachment, freedom from aversion. Moksha is the Sanskrit word for freedom from the cycles of life and death.

The opposite of freedom is bondage. We may be bound in our thought patterns, bound in our prejudice, bound by a bad back. Through yoga we are systematically releasing ourselves from the physical, mental, and energetic blocks and obstacles that keep us from our true nature, which is freedom and joy, and the realization that we are all one.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great Karma Yogi. He took action in the service of mankind. He wanted American to wake up, to be fully present, to witness the injustice and degradation that his brothers and sisters experienced, and change the system.

Today, can we spend time not only honoring this great warrior in the fight for human freedom, but working to further his cause? What is one thing you could do today to put energy towards human rights? How can you practice Karma Yoga, the yoga of selfless action?

Want to take yoga beyond the studio environment? Get involved with Street Yoga, dedicated to bringing yoga, mindful breathing, and compassionate communication to youth and families and their caregivers struggling with homelessness, poverty, abuse, addiction, trauma and behavioral challenges.

Passionate about whole foods and how they are can provide freedom from illness and mental disturbances? Check our Urban Farm Hub to learn how you can get involved in the effort to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to those with limited access.

Sick to death of the criminal justice system and how its corporate housing units are holding tanks rather than opportunities for transformation? Sign up to volunteer for Yoga Behind Bars, a wonderful local non-profit dedicated to bringing yoga meditation classes to incarcerated youth and adults in Washington State as well as those at risk of entering the criminal justice system.

There are, of course so many ways to help, but these are a few local, easy-to-access organizations that are working for freedom, every day.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer