The Kapha qualities outside can make you feel heavy and lethargic and/or pull you towards foods that promote weight gain or the use of recreational drugs and alcohol to cope with depression, stress, and the winter blues; here we again see the precept “like increases like.” It’s not easy to break out of this cycle, but it is possible.The main intention behind my winter seasonal vinyasa practices is to help you ward off typical Kapha imbalances by raising your core temperature, enhancing your metabolism, and increasing your circulation and spirit by offering you dynamic, invigorating, rhythmic sequences that keep the earth and water from going out of balance.

With this said, I do believe it is important to get ample amounts of sleep, rest, meditation, and retreat space in the winter. After all, most of the natural world becomes dormant during this season. Since it’s not possible for most of us to crawl into a cave and sleep for three months, take whatever quiet space you can and sit in the cave of the heart, meditate, and reflect as often as possible on your spiritual nature, nurturing your sacred being. The more imbalanced you get at this point, the harder it is to get back on track in the springtime. Discover what inspires you to stay healthy!

If the Kapha elements go out of balance in the winter, consider using the “opposites decrease” sutra. How will you know if your elements are off balance? You will know if your Kapha imbalance is too extreme when it prevents you from leaving the house after you’ve filled your freezer with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and rented multiple HBO series! If you find yourself in this situation (or a milder version), consider finding a way to get up and exercise every day, no exception! It can be a home yoga practice, a gym work out, or a brisk walk or run, or a snow adventure such as snowshoeing, skiing, or sledding—whatever it takes to get the earth and water elements moving.

Also, try eating less to keep your digestive fire bright, supplementing your diet with vitamin D, omitting sugar and alcohol to reduce mood swings, enjoying a hot bath, sitting by a fire, or spending five to ten minutes in a tanning bed or in front of full-spectrum light bulbs. These are just a few alternative ways to move you towards sukkha, and away from suffering, or dukkha, during this dark season.

Mild depression is natural during the winter. It’s important to remember that not every moment in life should feel good. If we are attached to the idea of everything feeling good, we miss the other half of the human experience, and will be disappointed often. I have found that forming a relationship with discomfort makes happiness richer. Through embracing life’s challenges, the law of contrasts has helped me grow, mature, and gain a few seeds of wisdom.

Posted by: Melina Meza

For more inspiration and support around these themes, join Melina for her upcoming Seasonal Vinyasa Workshops at 8 Limbs Wedgwood, February 10-12, 2012.

Early last year 8 Limbs was approached to produce a yoga DVD with a local company called Topics. Topics wanted to get a Blu-Ray Yoga Set “on the market” and asked us to create four classes to be taught and modeled by 8 Limbs instructors. They auditioned and chose six teachers for the project, Angela Gayle, Chiara Guerrieri, Jay Holby, Dawn Jansen, Anne Phyfe Palmer, and Jen Yaros. The six instructors worked together to offer multi-leveled classes that would welcome a beginner but challenge an experienced practitioner.

The shoot took place at 8 Limbs Phinney Ridge on a set designed by Etta Lilianthal, 8 Limbs student and workstudy extraordinare who is also an acclaimed set designer for local film and theater companies. We had the pleasure of recording voiceovers at Jack Straw Productions and worked with Evolve Hair & Art, Samara Skincare, and Erin Orden to get ready for the HD cameras.

Each class has a main instructor who designed and scripted the flow of the practice. Two other teachers shot the class with them to demonstrate different modifications. Jen teaches a simple but engaging BASIC class to build foundation and increase strength and flexibility with attention to breath and alignment. Chiara offers a class for CORE that shows participants how to utilize yoga postures and practices that stabilize and invigorate  core musculature. Jay offers traditional yoga postures and strength training exercises in a challenging STRENGTH practice. Anne Phyfe’s VINYASA class teaches a steady vigorous flow practice using intelligent sequencing to engage your entire body and your attention. Angela and Dawn shine as the amazing model students.

These HD YOGA sets are now available at your neighborhood 8 Limbs, all four one-hour classes for $24.99. Check out our lovely teachers and let us know what you think!

Posted by: 8 Limbs Yoga Centers

P.S. Blu-Ray format will only work on Blu-Ray and Playstation players! We are hoping that later this year they will also release a standard DVD set.

Tomorrow is the powerful time of Winter Solstice, when the darkest day of the year wraps itself around our hemisphere. I have myself often missed the Winter Solstice, busy with preparations for the holidays, or travel, or just busy. At this time in our history we can turn on lights when we want them and ignore this annual change, whether they are Christmas lights or computer screens.

This year I was hit with a pretty powerful response to this powerful time. I took a real, but fortunately short trip to the dark side.

For the last few days I have felt caught in a spiral, a matrix, really, of what simply felt like craziness, set off by exhaustion from an exceptionally full week followed by my 11-year-old’s birthday sleepover. I felt disconnected to my body, to practice, to reality. I didn’t want to meditate, or even do downward facing dog pose, and considered that it was actually time to quit yoga altogether, that I was done with that chapter.

I know enough now about my mind to know that it doesn’t always speak truth, that it can sabotage and misdirect me, especially when I am disconnected to my practice. So I sent out SOS messages to a few friends and mentors, scheduled a yoga class I knew would include restorative poses, and I carried on. Talking helped some, but it didn’t get at the crux of it. Someone mentioned to me that we were approaching Solstice, and that this can be a strong time for people. I thought that made sense, for those other people, and tucked that away in my mind.

I sat up this morning in bed at 1:40am wide awake, mind racing. Somehow guided by my inner wisdom, I got up and onto my mat. I sat and practiced Chandra Bhedana, a pranayama practice that focuses on lunar energy and loops from an inhale through the left nostril to an exhale on the right, over and over. Then I sat. Then I wrote. An hour later, I finally discovered what was lurking under the surface and needed to be seen. I had forgotten, completely, that this is the time of year that my family experienced a great loss several years ago. It took coming back to practice, both the practice of yoga and the practice of writing, to do a reverse spiral back to the source of this “pain body”, as Eckart Tolle calls it.

Once I acknowledged what was there, and let the tears come, I finally came home to myself and was able to go back to sleep and return to the life I am used to living, connected to my heart, to my body, and to the world around me. It was a dance with darkness that I helped me to acknowledge the fragility of sanity and reminded me of the power of these practices to help us to access and move through whatever we are served. I also know that I am fortunate and that it is not always that easy to find one’s way through a tough spot.

If you are ever struggling with darkness, know that there is support for you in the world. There are people who have been there and can be guides on the journey. There are professionals who can grab your ankles if you are falling, if you let them know you need help. Sometimes a yoga teacher you connect to can be a lifeline. It’s not just asana, of course, and for many of us yoga teachings have held the keys to sanity for thousands of years. Reach out, ask for help. Learn about Pranayama and Meditation with an experienced teacher.* There are many at 8 Limbs, in Seattle, and the world beyond to support you on your journey.

May your Solstice be filled with truth and the light of wisdom.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

*Jenny has two more of her special Meditation practices at 8 Limbs Capitol Hill on Wednesdays at 8am (through January 4) and will offer a Pranayama Workshop January 7 & 8 followed by Pranayama Series.

Thanksgiving, by definition, is a time to give thanks, to strengthen our “attitude of gratitude” towards the many blessings in our lives. Studies have shown that gratitude has a very strong link with mental health.  Not surprisingly, people who are grateful report higher levels of well being– more happiness and less stress and depression.

This Thanksgiving I will be teaching a benefit class at the Phinney Ridge 8 LImbs in honor of the Bailey-Boushay House.  The Bailey-Boushay House offers both end-of-life care and recuperative care for people with AIDS, cancer, ALS, and other acute illnesses.  I chose to support the Bailey-Boushay House partly because it is a wonderful place that does an amazing job, and also because it is one of my secret strategies for continuing to develop my own healthy levels of gratitude.

For almost 6 years now I have been a volunteer in the Bedside Yoga Program at the Bailey-Boushay House which was started by Molly Lannon-Kenny and Stephanie Sisson of the Samarya Center. Every week I get the opportunity to spend 2 hours with the residents there.

Sometimes we “just” sit.  Sometimes we practice mindful breathing or gentle movement. I seem to give a lot of foot rubs. We are instructed to be present with the residents.  We are not there to heal or to fix.  We are there to witness, to share, to exchange. To be of service in whatever way seems appropriate at any given time.

When Molly and Stephanie first approached me about joining their program I was very reluctant. I felt afraid. I felt under prepared. I told them I was too busy to volunteer. I told them that I was worried that I would get depressed being around dying people. They smiled at my concerns and kept on insisting that I was a perfect fit for their program. Finally after a couple of years I agreed to try it, just to get them to stop asking.

Of course, they were right.  It was perfect for me.  I had no idea that giving to others could feel so good! That was a big surprise. Instead of feeling depressed and depleted I feel fed and joyful from my time spent there.

It is such an honor to be with people who are facing the end of their lives. There is such beauty, such clarity, such bravery and grace that I see on a regular basis– amongst the residents, and also amongst the wonderful staff there. It is a special sort of person who is drawn to this kind of work. I am continually inspired and humbled.

I have regularly occurring exchanges with people I encounter that leave me forever changed, for the better. Over and over I am instructed in the lessons of gratitude–I am reminded to cherish this brief life I have, to celebrate good health, to appreciate the people that I love while we are all here together. And, most importantly, the residents I meet help to prepare me for that most important and inevitable lesson, that of loving and then letting go, of my loved ones and sooner or later of my own dear life.

This lesson has become incredibly valuable to me in the past year, as I practiced letting go of my stepfather, my best friend (who I’ve known since 5th grade), my beloved grandfather, and a dear yoga teacher (and a kitten). They all died very close together and in very different ways (sickness, car accident, old age). My weekly practice of volunteering at Bailey-Boushay has really helped me to be able to hold all of that pain and loss. All those years of loving and letting go again and again were the perfect training. I have been able to sit with the pain, to breathe into it instead of trying to squash it down. To feel that love, which is eternal, is on the other side of pain, and to remember that life and death are also two parts of a whole. We are more than this body, more than these emotions, sensations and thoughts.

I am grateful to all of my loved ones, past, present, and future, and I am looking forward to being able to celebrate Thanksgiving in such a deep and beautiful way with many of you.

Posted by: Tracy Hodgeman

Tracy will teach the Thanksgiving Day Benefit Class at 8 Limbs Phinney Ridge, 9:30 – 11:00am. For a listing of the classes at all four 8 Limbs locations click here. Join Tracy for her Yoga Nidra Yoga Bliss Workshop on November 12 at 8 Limbs West Seattle. This regular offering is also scheduled for February 11 and June 23.

Morning is one of the most auspicious times of the day to provide our bodies and brains with nourishment essential to perform at optimal levels.  Self-nurturing acts such as a warm shower before practice, mediation, or simply deep breathing contribute to overall wellness and may start each day in a more positive manner. Such routines are very much a part of the ancient yoga practices.

Here are some suggestions and ideas that have helped me start my day in a in a way that is both soothing and energizing. Although these are beneficial for morning, you may practice them anytime you need to feel at peace or refreshed. Some of these suggestions have been given to me by Dr. Naomi Huang ND owner of Laurel Tea Company and Holistic Lifestyle Wellness Specialist.

Before Bed - Set out a glass of water beside your bed and drink it upon rising. The point is to replenish fluids and stimulate the gastrointestinal tract, while also encouraging the first morning elimination of waste. Some people add a squeeze of fresh lemon, which is nutritious and helpful, though not strictly necessary.

Rest - Though the yoga tradition specifically addresses waking up with a variety of rituals, the real trick is to begin by going to bed early the night before. Sleep is essential for the body. This permits your body ample time to go through its natural renewal process. If you are not able to rest sufficiently practice restorative postures such as legs up the wall.

When You Rise - As you wake up take a moment to observe your breath. Once you’re feeling awake, visit the bathroom to empty your bladder and, if it comes naturally to you at this hour, your bowels. Scraping the tongue is said to remove ama, the toxic residue that builds up overnight. Do this regularly as part of your morning wash-up and tooth-brushing and it may help make morning elimination a natural part of your daily routine.

Practice - Enjoy a daily ritual such as prayer, mediation or hatha yoga practices which calm and connect you to your essential nature. Even if you don’t have time for a full asana practice, it’s a good idea to stretch your muscles with a little yoga — such as a sun salutation — and to practice deep breathing. Meditation can be quite simple such as sitting quietly and connecting to the breath. A breathing technique that nurtures balance and instills mindfulness such as alternate nostril breath can help you ground you for the day ahead. Here’s how to do it: Begin by using your right thumb to gently press your right nostril closed. Breathe in slowly and deeply through your left nostril. Press your left nostril closed with your right ring and little finger, removing your thumb from your right nostril. Exhale slowly and thoroughly through your right nostril. Then inhale through the right nostril and exhale through the left. Alternate between nostrils for about five minutes.

Self Care - Take time to nourish yourself in a way that supports your well being. This can be a basic self care ritual such as a warm shower with aroma therapy, a cup of tea, dry skin brushing or other practices (sadhanas) such as hatha yoga exercises.

Eat Breakfast- The most vital meal of the day is breakfast. Sit down and enjoy a nutritious breakfast which includes protein. Focus on the nourishing ritual, rather than watching the news, reading the paper or eating while you get ready or drive. Foods containing essential fatty acids (nuts and seeds), vitamin C (fruits and vegetables), and anti-oxidants (green tea) also provide your body and brain with the fuel necessary to perform at optimal levels. Eat in a relaxed and mindful way. Pay attention to the natural cycles within your body. Sense the elements of nature within you.

Visualization- In sacred geometry, the circle represents the universe, creation and balance. It is also a symbol of the expansive coming forth from a divine center and the natural beginning and ending of a cycle. Acknowledge, appreciate and honor the beginning and ending of your daily circle. From a peaceful and energized center expand towards the possibilities and joys of each day. Your day is precious!

Allow there to be fluidity around these practices. Be gentle with yourself and start where you are each day. Remember the rituals are tools to simply support you in whatever way you wish to be supported.

Posted by: Dawn Jansen

Join instructor Dawn Jansen for The Art of Daily Practice Workshop this weekend, October 29 & 30. Participants will receive instruction and support to develop simple rituals that complement our fast-paced lives. Several suggestions will be offered both in asana practice and lifestyle to support this individual crafting towards balanced daily living. Whether our day begins or ends with asana, meditation, a pleasant walk, pranayama or a soothing bath, we will explore these self care practices and more. Based on our own unique rhythms we will examine which yoga practices are best for us in order to maintain health and equanimity.  Please be prepared to participate in some group discussion and time for journaling. The more concrete steps you take to bring yoga into all the sectors of your life, the more of a peaceful, mindful and joyous life you will have.

As Labor Day nears we are in the annual “Back to School” season. It’s time for many kids (and adults, really!) to head back to the classroom.

For many of us, the practice of yoga starts in a classroom, with a teacher. We show up, they teach us, we learn, we practice, we progress. The word Educate comes from the Latin word “educare.” I am told it is a midwifery term that means “to be present at the birth of” or “to bring up.” This points to the idea that an education is an unfolding, a shaping. All of us, not just “teachers,” have opportunities every day to midwife/husband others through life’s ups and downs, its opportunities and challenges. We are all students and we are all teachers. There is no one teacher, there is no one way.

In the last few months I have transitioned from Studio Director to a more focused role as the 8 Limbs Education Director. As the founder and owner of 8 Limbs for the last 15 years (stay tuned for our “15 Days of 8 Limbs” Celebration in October) it was time to shed some of my roles and habits in the organization. I also wanted to focus more on teaching, both my own and the amazing staff of teachers here at 8 Limbs who deserve more focused support. As Education Director I am primarily in charge of studio schedules, teacher hiring and support, and event programming.

Ashley Dahl, who has over the last 5+ years created a progressive learning culture within the staff at 8 Limbs, has moved from Managing Director to Executive Director to take on some of these roles and help keep an eye on the vision and big picture of 8 Limbs. Ashley has been invaluable in our evolution and now has more space and time to keep us strong and flexible in today’s quickly changing world (sounds like yoga, doesn’t it?).

We head “back to school” this fall with a diverse line-up of teachers and subjects, including our 200 and 500-hour Teacher Training Programs. We embrace learning and growth on all levels and are excited to pass on more of the business end of this to all of you through a Conscious Business Management Workshop that Ashley and I will host with Socially Responsible Organization (SRO) Consultant Flip Brown on September 30. This workshop is aimed at small business owners and managers of companies and non-profits interested in bringing Socially Responsible Business Practices and EASE (Effective, Aspirational, Sustinable and Enjoyable) into their workplace. Visit our blog for more on this next week.

Amy Weintraub joins us to share her practices and knowledge around preventative practices for depression and anxiety (remember we are heading back into the darker season…) with her LifeForce Yoga® Weekend September 9-11. Dawn Jansen will share her 20+ years of experience in yoga with a limited group in her Individually Tailored Asana Workshop on September 23.

One last mention for now (see below or visit our website for more upcoming events) is my own yoga teacher Rod Stryker who visits 8 Limbs October 7-9 for a weekend of Parayoga®. Don’t miss this master yoga and meditation teacher whose book The Four Desires was released in July.

Hope to see you this fall in the classrooms of 8 Limbs (including the newly remodeled Capitol Hill studio!) and the enormous classroom of life.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer, 8 Limbs Owner & Education Director

8 Limbs owner Anne Phyfe Palmer was chosen as one of this week’s featured contributors for Questionland’s GET FIT focus. Check out her answers, ask her a question, and answer some yourself, you just might get a mushroom.
Ask Anne Phyfe Palmer at Questionland Seattle

One of the benefits of the amazing yoga community in Seattle is working with other teachers exploring the edges of yoga. One of my heroes, Molly Lannon Kenny, is one of the founders of The Samarya Center is a non-profit yoga and therapy center in the Central District (we profiled their Sun Salute-athon Fundraiser in Cal Anderson Park in July). Molly so inspires me in her work to bring yoga to EVERYONE. She has focused on the therapeutic benefits of yoga and her business is based on the model of abundance.

Robin Rothenberg has been teaching yoga for over 25 years and has operated The Yoga Barn in Issaquah for that long. Robin, too, has taken her work with yoga into the therapeutic realm has brought shed terrific light on yoga to the public through her work with the NIH on yoga and back pain, menopause, and arthritis. Robin is also the host of a new radio program, Living Yoga Radio, on Alternative Talk 1150 AM.

On Friday, October 29, Robin, Molly, YogaBlaze founder Soleil Hepner, and I were invited to participate in Robin’s insightful show, which has featured such yoga greats as Gary Kraftsow, Nischala Joy Devi, and this Friday, Richard Miller on Yoga Nidra. We are the four Seattle Yoga Teachers who have been chosen to represent our fine city in the Virtual Yoga Conference presented by YogaHub February 8-11, 2011. Click here (scroll down to our listing) to listen to the show and hear about this new way to access the wisdom of yoga, from your living room. I am excited to see what it is like sharing with folks all over the country via computer and telephone! There is also a “sneak peak” on the conference this Thursday and next (November 4 and 11) at 5:00pm PST. Check it out!

In the Virtual Yoga Conference, called “Yoga, Meditation and the Philosopher’s Stone” I will be presenting two topics: “The Koshas – Unveiling Your Potential” and “Prenatal & Postnatal Yoga – Embracing the Positive,” both of which will occur on Wednesday, February 9th. We’ll send out links to sign up through 8 Limbs in the next few months. But for now, check out the sneak peeks to see how easy it is to tune in. Amy Weintraub, who has visited 8 Limbs several times to share her great knowledge about Yoga for Depression, is one of the sneak peek presenters.

Posted by: Anne Phyfe Palmer

When I came out 10 years ago, one of my mother’s biggest fears was that I would be living in a world of injustice and like any mother, she was afraid of how people would treat me. While it hasn’t always been easy, I found that part of what drew me to yoga was the level of acceptance I found in teachers and in the community. No matter where you were in your life or in your practice, yoga met you there.

Every time I step onto my mat, I feel as though I have the opportunity to shed the shell of my identity. As we begin class, we all simply become practitioners of yoga, here to explore the dance of yoga together. It’s not about who we are outside of class: our job, our culture, our identity—we are all here to explore our internal energetic world to see what unfolds and to ultimately realize that in reality we are all the same. As Desikachar once said: “Yoga exists in the world because everything is linked.” The more I practice the more I see myself connected to all those around me. Their struggles are my struggles and we become beautiful mirrors for one another. With this awareness of interconnectedness, it becomes impossible for me to judge anyone for who they are.

In very different ways, both my yoga community and my queer community have helped me to embrace who I am and love the differences I see reflected back in others. My hope is that each time I teach, my students have that same experience I have had so many times “its okay to be wherever you are and we are all there together.”

In celebration of Pride, 8 Limbs will be hosting a benefit class the Friday June 25th. The benefit will support our Capitol Hill neighbor, Gay City Health Project (www.gaycity.org), and all donations made during that class will directly support the organization. In addition, Kaladi Brother’s Coffee and Macrina Bakery have been kind enough to donate coffee and pastries for a post class brunch! The class is an All Levels Flow from 9:30am- to 10:45am. Suggested donation is the 8 Limbs drop-in rate of $16, but I encourage you to give whatever you can.

Come celebrate Pride with me and both of my families!

Posted by: Megan Costello

A recent trip to Egypt and the holidays have helped to remind me to daily practice the act of Gratitude:
To enjoy the rainy days in Seattle when water is more expensive than gasoline or requires a two-hour walk in both directions.
To be able to practice Yoga in America in the middle of the week when so many others around the world are simply trying to stay alive.
To choose organic foods when so many people in our country and around the world are starving.
To have a yoga community that encourages and supports the growth of individuals. May we use that support and compassion to find our dharma to improve the world around us.
To count every blessing large and small and always maintain an attitude of gratitude.
As we recognize all we have, we acknowledge all we have to to give. Never for any minute shall we take are lives and opportunities for granted. We are truly blessed. To count these blessings would be a mathematical feat.

Posted by: Marni Yamada