Prague yoga

As you may or may not know, I became certified in Prague. This was for a variety of reasons, most of which I will not bore you with, but I will say this...it was absolutely wonderful for me to get certified in a place where I was not known in any capacity. It allowed for little distraction - I could connect with the practice. The above is the room where the magic happened (now owned by new management, so slightly different).

However, now that I am done with teacher training, I certainly do know people in the Czech Republic - wonderful people - and I stayed with the lovely Blythe for a few days this week. We had a routine I highly recommend: hours of yoga followed by hours of eating vegetarian food from heaven. I do not think that is what they mean in yoga when they remind our bellies to expand. :)

I took everything from Jivamukti to Hatha/restorative and a traditional Ashtanga pranayama flow with a Nepali yoga teacher. I felt very blessed, and very stretched. And I feel every time I take a new class with new ideas, it makes me an even better teacher - one that can move easily from a meditative class to a Bob Marley flow. To each their own?

My question for you today: what is your own at this moment? What feels very you?

Lotus Room in Malta

So now I am in Malta. But my philosophical ideas and mat obsession will not take a vacation, so I created a practice on my friend's rooftop to the clattering of bells. Then I found a phenomenal yoga studio created by the lovely Jenny, in a very hard to reach area, but certainly worth it as it was a room filled with inspirational women. So inspirational that after an hour class I had four new Facebook friends, and some great ideas for flowing classes.

Jenny has been trained in Shiva Rea, which is a flow type of yoga with music. As I myself like the idea of blending music into my classes to create a mind breath connection flow that mimics dance, I was intrigued. We did new moves, we revisited old ones, and the class was so great that I entirely forgot about my full bladder. After chugging several bottles of water beforehand to combat the Malta heat, I feel that every woman will realize what a feat that is.

At the end of class, she read to us from the Yoga Sutra, and we were invited to celebrate life and what it offers us. Celebrate the summer heat, rather than always escaping to air conditioning and complaining about sweating. Imagine how much you wanted that same heat in the winter months. Use the time to stretch more deeply, to eat with more gusto, and to linger with your family over a meal that does not revolve around the television schedule. And if you feel like adding your own yogic dance to this gratitude, then by all means...

The Power of Intention

I was in Zurich today for a workshop with the American Max Strom, a man with a football player's body and the calmest voice and demeaner. He had many interesting and energizing points to make, and made me even more aware of the true purpose of yoga. As a teacher, we are there to facilitate the three pillars of yoga: body, mind and breath. To heal and restore positivity and be more than stretching, all three must be called upon. But as we cannot make someone put their legs behind their heads (thank goodness) we cannot make them be present. I would like to help you to cultivate a new intention every time you step on the mat, whether it is being easier on yourself or healing a past injury or emotional trauma.

This workshop in Zurich was facilitated by the first sunshine of what feels like the year in Zurich. The light streaming in the windows, with a room full of "OM" regardless of accent or origin was truly beautiful. I invite you to sit still for one moment and reflect on your intention for this day. Sit with it, believe it, let it sit in your bones. Then move throughout your day and remind yourself of that intention. That is yoga off the mat. Have a lovely day.

Welcome to Om At Home

Hello future students! I am currently still teaching in Switzerland and loving it. Not so shabby to stand in Tadasana (mountain pose) and actually look at mountains! However, I am so looking forward to returning to Toronto and really sharing my passion for yoga everyday. I truly believe that by focusing on something as simple as breath and movement, we will find more peace within ourselves to deal with the day to day of city living. Let's start by celebrating the summer, getting healthy and remembering what it is like to play again.

I will use this blog to post updates about my classes and offer some yoga tips. I hope to hear from you soon, and until my move...namaste!