Hi folks. I’m stuck in blog limbo because I have SO MUCH TO SAY that I can’t even begin to sift through my brain. So, by way of breaking the writer’s block, here are some links and a wee announcement.
Upcoming workshop! I’ll be teaching a 2 hour arm balancing workshop at Moxie’s Nob Hill location on April 4th, hence the pic above. I’m super excited because a) it’s my first ever workshop and b) I freaking love arm balances. I’ve already spent a bunch of time figuring out a sequence that will target specific areas of the body to make key arm balances more accessible for all levels, followed by time working on specific poses in a way that will make balancing feel more available and rounded, even if your feet barely leave the ground. I would love to see you there, and please shoot me a line if you have questions about the content or level. Again: Sat April 4th, 1-3pm.
And then some links just by way of indicating where my head is at right now.
Are you addicted to a fast paced vinyasa practice? Read this and think again: http://www.bettermovement.org/2010/why-practice-slow-movement/
This is a wonderful article about the relationship between trauma and violence and some creative ways that this is starting – just starting – to be handled. I’m extremely interested in trauma research and loving how much this is getting airplay right now (check out All Things Considered for a bunch more recent articles around Adverse Childhood Experiences in particular). http://news.yahoo.com/battling-america-s-other-ptsd-crisis-194336514.html
Being a good friend, old-fashioned style. I would have loved everything about this article already, but it also references three books I love (The Empathy Exams, The Unspeakable, Art as Therapy). Sorry to put this so bluntly, but get your ass off Facebook and get intimate again: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/08/style/how-to-be-a-friend-in-deed.html
What do you think of when you think of beauty? I love how the eyes shine in these photos of luminous women from around the world: http://www.boredpanda.com/women-portraits-atlas-of-beauty-mihaela-noroc/
If you’re in any way a body-mind geek, these vintage illustrations of somatic consciousness will leave you enthralled: http://www.brainpickings.org/2012/11/29/emotional-anatomy-stanley-keleman-vincent-perez/
Stephen Cope, one of my favorite yoga and mindfulness writers, nails what it’s like to get in touch with reality, and to feel better by feeling more fully: http://kripalu.org/article/440
“Holding space” is a term that is bandied around in the yoga world, and elsewhere, with little nuance. This is a beautiful breakdown of what it might actually mean: http://heatherplett.com/2015/03/hold-space/
Om shanti, shanti, shanti.
Andrea Drugan Yoga 