I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the Olympics this past week, marveling at the skill, focus and determination that propels the human spirit toward excellence. I’ve been teaching on the theme of acceptance, and this week in class, I focused on the expression heard in such competitive arenas:

  ~ “Don’t settle for less than the best” ~

This phrase works in the context of Yoga, but it holds a different meaning. In Yoga, the ‘more’ and ‘the best’ is defined as that which resonates on the deepest level of our Awareness, that which brings the mystery more fully into view rather than what often seems to be asking for an uncertain amount of striving to attain an idea of perfection.

It’s not uncommon for us to assume we are attending to the meat and potatoes of life in the daily dramas. And then whether it’s a mid-life crisis or the such, at some point, we wake up to realize that our satisfaction and accomplishment where not touching deeply enough, they were only serving a superficial sense of ourselves. The achieving of expected landmarks and the efforts to prove oneself can auck so much of our time and energy for fleeting approval, leaving us with the hollow feeling we missed out on what it was all about. 

Yoga invites us to welcome such awakening through pivotal moments, sometimes called mini-deaths. In fact, this is what we practice in the final resting pose, Savasana, corpse pose. The idea of waking up is the realigning with what is authentic, true and revolutionary, stripping away what is otherwise more of a distraction or merely serving the illusions we weave. The ‘death’ is of the false sense of self, the dropping away of superficial concerns in exchange for the lasting presence of one’s fathomless inner presence. Some call it finding your purpose but it’s so much “more”, we are ultimately invited to know the innate potential within us that is so complete and everything, that it can never and will never be expressed or actualized in this lifetime. It is the resounding Self within! As one moment of awakening is often just the beginning, through practice, the inner orientation towards what resonates become one of the best tools to living fully from the heart. Truly this is not settling for less!

Yoga retreats and trainings are often pivotal moments in our lives. I invite you to contemplate whether now may be the time to commit to the awakening intended in such settings. (2024 offerings below)

I also invite you to reflect on previous pivotal moments in your life, as their resonance continues to do its work in our innermost core, long after the initial understanding has been integrated. Going in, to commune with the experience again, can be such a rewarding practice.

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DIVING INTO THE UPAs
I will be offering an online course on the Anusara Yoga Universal Principles of Alignment! This is being offered through ASHY and is for all practitioners, students and teachers.

FALL YOGA RETREAT
My annual Fall retreat returns Oct 17-20. We will be upstate New York in peak leaf viewing season and it will be right on time for all of those who join. 

ANUSARA IMMERSION
I will hold an Anusara Yoga Immersion this Fall in my Harlem home studio. This space has proven to be a boon to our studies.

**New tiered pricing for 200hr TT:
I’ve been wanting to launch tiered pricing for a while. Over the many years of offering trainings I’ve recognized a pretty consistent grouping of financial ability in teacher training participants and want to offer them forward as such.

This pricing is for the full 200hr Teacher Training, Immersion pricing alone can be found on my website. Payment plans at any level are available.

• $2475 Scholarship level, for those who are in tighter financial situations due to circumstances of life transitions, debt levels, age and more. Paying at this level grants you the full training experience being, as it is being offered to everyone in the group 
• $3600 Mid-tuition level, for those who find the full tuition level is not feasible/adds too much constraint to their financial wellbeing
• $4500 Full-tuition level, if you able to pay the full tuition price we are very grateful as it allows us to offer the other pricing levels, welcoming a more diverse and expansive group