iRest Yoga Nidra can be perceived as resting, especially since rest is in the name, and we all are not people who rest. Resting can even be a bit scary. It is easy to wonder: Will everything be OK if I slow down and rest? What if I told you that iRest Yoga Nidra is active resting? You are doing something. You are actively listening to a voice, following the prompts, re-wiring your brain, and improving your health.
Welcome, Gretchen Clore! Dogwood Studio’s New Summer Intern (2024)
We welcome our 2024 summer intern, Gretchen. “I am excited to intern with Dogwood Studio.” Teaching yoga is a lifelong learning and Gretchen looks forward to deepening her therapeutic and functional approach to yoga. She enjoys working with beginners and seniors. “This is an incredible opportunity to deepen my personal yoga practice and to strengthen my yoga instruction,” says Gretchen. “At the age of 57, I’m much more concerned with how I feel in a pose and how my students feel in a pose—not how the pose looks.”
Accepting Change
Yoga invites an exploration of positions and movements you don’t always do. This opportunity to experience something different allows you to embrace the discomfort of change. You learn to notice when your mental imprints, known as samskaras, shape your perceptions, reactions, and understanding of the world. Exploring new thoughts, habits or routines cultivates mental resilience and openness.
The Components of Functional Movement - Stability, Mobility, and Flexibility
Functional movement is the integration of stability, mobility and flexibility to support natural movement patterns and adapt to the physical demands of daily life. This approach takes into account individual differences, including skeletal variation and medical history. It's not just about being strong but being able to feel good and move well on and off the mat.
Spring Process
Happy Spring and blessed Equinox. 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. This moment is not a sudden, isolated occurrence, but rather a continuation of all other moments, breaths, and (inter)actions. Our asana practice provides us a wonderful container to notice, observe, and experience our own process. It is in moments of observing attachments or aversion that we createspace to be free of these kleshas.
Yoga in The Garden!!! April 2024
Yoga in the NC Botanical Garden, resumes April 4, 2024 for 11 weeks. Spring offers us a unique opportunity to observe the ever-changing quality of nature (called anicca in Buddhism). While practice yoga in nature this spring we can witness the changes in phrenology of the trees changes and the emergence of perennials. This provides an opportunity to witness anicca in ourselves. Each time we arrive to the mat, we are anew.
Perfection Lies Within
Every time we show up to our yoga practice we can open ourselves up to learn something new about ourselves. We can invite curiosity to listen and notice how the body, mind and spirit respond to our practice. We should strive to observing without judgment or desiring to fix or change anything. If we are lucky, we can embrace mindfulness and learn something new about ourselves.
The Profound Practice of Āsana
For many people, their first exposure to yoga is the physical practice, referred to as yoga āsana. Everyone’s body is different so their physical practice will be different. No matter how you practice yoga āsana, you are integrating the physical, energetic and spiritual body. Yoga āsana offers a tangible tool to cultivate stillness through movement.