Written By Ainslee Cunningham
Learn how meditation is an essential gateway to awareness of our three bodies and support for the three levels of consciousness in this week’s Lunchtime Learning, Meditating to Cultivate the Rule of Threes - Harmony Wednesday March 27th at 11:30 a.m EST. Sign Up In Person or Online
On Sunday, March 31st, 10:00 a.m. EST Sam Sather, founder of Dogwood Studio, will be presenting an online dharma talk on behalf of Insight Yoga Online Community. Insight Yoga Online Community Presents “The Six Perfections.” This 60-minute workshop will weave in discussion, meditation, optional yin poses, and self-inquiry. Sign Up on IYI’s website here.
Happy Spring and blessed Equinox. The emerging Spring is evident all around the Triangle NC: Redbuds bursting and Carolina Jasmine vining along the treelines, Buckeyes leafing out and Virginia bluebells sending up their blooms. If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a Morel mushroom in the woods. If you’re even more lucky, you’ll be pardoned by the Pines as they shower pollen upon us.
This moment of Spring that we are in is not a sudden occurrence, but is rather a continuum of the rhythm of the natural world. In other words, this moment is part of a spiralic, dynamic process. For example, the Redbuds took in light last year and stored energy in its roots throughout the winter, the same energy that is providing the beautiful buds we see at the current moment. The Redbud has been in process, and will continue to be in process as the Spring evolves: it will bloom, grow new leaves, and begin taking in light once again to sustain its growth for the season ahead and beyond.
Earlier this week with the Equinox, night and day were equal. Yet the moment of the vernal equinox has been building since we reached the longest night at the Solstice, and will continue to grow until the longest day at the Summer Solstice. The balance of light and dark is also a spiralic, dynamic process that creates the rhythm of the seasons and the growth cycles surrounding us.
Like our redbud friends and the solar cycle, we, too, are in process. This moment is not a sudden, isolated occurrence, but rather a continuation of all other moments, breaths, and (inter)actions. We have our own seasons and cycles of life, of winter, of spring. Like the energy of spring, a freshness and new beginning is available to us if we are open to it. We can bring this idea to our asana practice: Each time we arrive to our mats, we bring our process with us (history in our body, how we slept the night before, our emotional and mental state), yet we can approach the moment, the pose, the breath with the freshness of spring. When we approach a balancing posture (Vrkasana, tree pose, for example), we can allow our balance to be a dynamic process. The pose itself is not static: the muscles in our feet contract and adjust to the body’s shifting weight, our blood continues to move throughout our body, and our emotions contribute to how we hold ourselves in that moment.
Our asana practice provides us a wonderful container to notice, observe, and experience our own process. Perhaps we respond to our process with attachment or aversion; yet this, too, is part of our process, and as we deepen in our practice, we can notice these moments of attachment or aversion and have space to be free of these kleshas. As we let go of attachment and aversion, we arrive more into an equanimous, balanced state, allowing our process to rise and fall as it is without reactivity.
We invite you to deepen your practice in our weekly classes held both in-person and online. Yoga in the Garden kicks off in 2 weeks at the NC Botanical Garden in Chapel HIll, and will continue throughout the Spring. Sign up for a class here.
Reach out to us with your questions at info@dogwoodstudioyoga.com. We are here to help. ❤️❤️❤️
Ainslee Cunningham is a 200-hour registered yoga teacher (RYT) who is deeply inspired and influenced by nature. Ainslee aspires to support people with the mind-body connection of yoga, especially those affected by addiction and trauma. She is committed to exploring how we embody the elements of the natural world and how we can deepen our connection to the Earth’s natural rhythms.
SAM Sather, founder of Dogwood Studios, is a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and an Insight Yoga Institute (IYI) endorsed teacher. She 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.
