You can look forward to these wonderful upcoming offerings At Dogwood Studios:
Wednesday Lunchtime Learning: 11:45am to 1:00pm EST.
May 24th, Taking time for Thyme: Plant Meditation with Ainslee
May 31st - June 21, Therapeutic Yin Yoga for Any-Body with Sam
Monthly Yin Yoga and Meditation, 6:15pm EST
June 2nd and June 23rd, Friday Night Yin
Karma Week with a Summer Solstice Team Teach
June 19th-23rd to support LGBTQ Center of Durham that works to make sure all folks have the resources necessary to live full, joyful lives. Learn more at: https://www.lgbtqcenterofdurham.org/
June 21st Dogwood Team Teach Mindful Movement at The Parlour or Online
Yoga and Mindfulness are tools to embrace our completeness. Within all levels of awareness is Peace and Freedom. At our core we are Sat Chit Ananda, existence knowledge and bliss absolute.
A.K. Aruna explains this goal of yoga in his translation and commentary of Patanjali Yoga Sutras
तदा द्रष्टुः स्वरूपेऽवस्थानम्
tadā draṣṭuḥ sva-rūpe'vasthānam.
1.3 From yoga’s success then, the self, the witness of thought and their object simply remains in its own nature.
One way to experience the completeness within is to embrace silence. Ainslee introduced us to the value of silence with this quote from Thought for Today.
"Behind all creation is silence. Silence is the essential condition, the vital ingredient for all creation and all that is created. It is a power in its own right.
The artist starts with a blank canvas – silence. The composer places it between and behind the notes. The very ground of your being, out of which come all your thoughts is silence. The way to silence is through meditation. When you arrive in your own silence you will know true freedom and real power. Stop, take a minute, and listen to the silence within you today.”
Silence can be found through mindfully moving, being still in mountain pose or with meditation. Each of these practices gives us the opportunity to remove distractions and slow down. Embracing silence can ground you into the present moment and this may give you a glimpse of peacefulness. However, each day we have a different lived experience so the experience of silence may be different each time.
Sitting in silence is important but not necessarily easy. Silence may not always be pleasurable. Take it slow and be gentle toward yourself. This takes courage, persistence and patience.
Silence can bring up different thoughts, emotions and feelings around our current state. One cannot gain clarity without knowing the nature of our thoughts and feelings, and the nature of ourself. When the mind, body and emotions are less reactive, we can rest peacefully in our natural abode.
In stillness we get the opportunity to see, feel, hear parts of us that may be less visible when we are in our busy day to day. These parts of us were developed when we were children and are sometimes quite balanced with our now adulthood and help us, but sometimes these parts are not in balance and are in overdrive. This may be linked to many things, like a childhood or adulthood loss or trauma. So in silence our parts may be quite big and we may experience restlessness, pain, grief or anger. One of the benefits of spending time in silence is overtime we begin to be more the observer of these parts rather than reacting with them. Then they do not blend with our true essence, freedom. Noticing and experiencing whatever is present may allow for healing to happen. Being present with silence brings you closer to your true experience. We are giving ourself time to assimilate our experience.
Silence can bring dormant traumatic experiences and/or experiences that are too much. If this is the case, please get the support of a trained medical provider. Yoga and other mindful meditative practices are not a replacement for mental health services.
For World Meditation Day today, May 21st, take some time to embrace the silence.
Join us for a group yoga class or meditation using the calendar on our class sign up page.
If you have questions, reach out to us at info@dogwoodstudioyoga.com. We are here to help.
Aviva Chaye Tulasi is a team member at Dogwood Studios. She is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT). She applies the teachings of classical yoga to reduce the effects of negative stress and to balance the nervous system.
SAM Sather, founder of Dogwood Studios, is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT), individualizes the yoga practice with appropriate modifications for participants’ unique bodies and medical histories with a focus on finding calm and improving health. She offers several live, online and in person yoga classes as well as private sessions so you can focus on your needs one-on-one.