What fun!  On the first Saturday of each month I teach a family yoga class at the San Carlos library.  The yoginis range in age from months old to elementary school age, and they are brought in by moms, dads, aunties, grandparents. The staff at the library help create a warm, welcoming "studio" for all of our dear students.
Today's class was full of energy, perhaps due to days and days of rain here in the SF Bay Area, and not much dry time to play outside.   We dialed up our practice, and wiggled fingers, toes, shook out our sillies and reached both high and low.   Our mountains were tall, our flamingos flew so high that when we reached our resting pose, most of us could breathe deeply and say Namaste to each other and our families....
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It has been some time since I last posted, it has been a journey.
My dear husband was diagnosed with multiple myeloma several years ago, and 
despite his courage, strength and extensive medical treatment, he passed away.
We were married for 26 years, and I miss his laugh, his energy.   
Reading Thich Nat Hanh has brought some peace in this difficult time, and I will share some of his wisdom in posts to come.

For the past several months, I have been teaching Story time Yoga at the Redwood City Main Library. My little yoginis are so full of smiles, energy and enthusiasm! The parents, family members and loving care takers who bring the eager students practice alongside, and the room is full of beautiful energy.  
To celebrate this special season of thanksgiving, my daughter Margot and I wrote a book about yoga and giving thanks, and distributed it to all the families who attended class yesterday. Here is a selection from this toddler's rhyming yoga book:

Hugs for me, hugs for my family
 
Giving a hug, getting a hug is so much fun
My mom, my dad, even my brother can give me one.
I can even reach out my arms and hug myself right now
Let’s try it together, and then take a bow



Class starts again in December, we meet the 3rd and the 10th at 11 AM in the Community room. Please bring your kid, and get ready to sing, dance and have fun with yoga.  

My Gentle Flow yoga class at Fair Oaks Community Center was featured in the Sequoia Healthcare District Annual report, which came out this week. The SHCD sponsors this class, in conjunction with Family Service Agency of San Mateo County to help provide healthy aging resources in our community.
The benefits of regular exercise are compelling at any age, and yoga presents the chance to participate in a low impact exercise program, ideal for changing bodies. Additionally, the focus on breath, flexibility and balance are unique to yoga, and are key to feeling good at any age.
To take a look at the report, you can visit :
http://www.sequoiahealthcaredistrict.com

In the past few weeks, I have opened my yoga classes with quotes from Judith Hanson Lasater's book, " A Year of Living Your Yoga".  This week we visited the idea of aging, and our culture's fixation on youth.  As I teach students from high school age and on up to some students who are in their 80's, this is a topic that led to interesting discussions.  Yoga presents different challenges to students of all ages, both externally and internally.  My younger students can flow through Sun Salutations, one after another, and often struggle to find stillness in Savasana.  For older students, learning to embrace the physical changes of their bodies is an ongoing process, presenting opportunities to adapt and be creative in finding meaningful approaches to asanas.  

Welcome to 2014!  As we start this new beautiful year, let's consider our hopes, our wishes for the upcoming months.  Let's be open to new challenges, and, to paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, try something every day that scares us!

To honor this, my hometown hangout, PeaceBank Yoga is supporting the local community be offering free yoga classes at Wellesley Crescent Park in Redwood City.  Every Tuesday night, throughout the month, different yoga instructors from the studio will teach from 6-7 PM.  Please come out, enjoy the wonderful experience of yoga in the outdoors, we have an amazing group of yoga teachers volunteering their time, and I will be

I have begun a single mandatory pose in every class I teach.  It is a moment of loving kindness, just a few breaths in the midst of practice, to thank ourselves, our bodies, our spirits for showing up on the mat.  Many of us spend time and energy critiquing our precious bodies and selves for not being quite what we think, hope, want them to be.  What if what we are right now, in this moment, is enough?  As I teach my students, I am so inspired by their practices, as they develop, as they keep coming back to the mat, and see beauty in every face, in every asana.  It is in this spirit of namaste, recognizing the light within, that I came to my first, and, likely only mandatory asana.  Somewhere in our time together, we will slow down, give ourselves a gentle hug, and say with ever increasing conviction....thank you.