Eric here,
There are a just a few more spots left in the Spring Intensive. With these remaining slots, we can make space for partial attendance. If you’d like to drop in for just one or two days, let us know.
This coming week, another opportunity exists for some extra yoga immersion. In partnership with Jill Blake and Piece of Quiet Studio, I will be teaching 2 special classes on Tuesday the 24th (Restoratives), and Thursday the 26th (Breathing). Both are at 2:00 PM and run to 3:30.
Tuition for these events is a drop-in of $15/$10 for students, or pay what you can. For more information on these events, click here.
And before we get to this week’s post from Chelsea, please note, Ali’s Tues. 7 PM vinyasa is not happening on 3/24.
Melting is Messy Business
by Chelsea Doohan
Here in Massachusetts, everyone is talking about it: The snow is melting!
After the winter we’ve had, this is big news and a big relief.
As much as we love that Spring is coming and the snow piles are shrinking, the residue can be pretty unattractive during this in-between time when the snow is no longer fresh but hasn’t yet disappeared….
The remaining piles seem to be magnets for dirt and grime. The more they melt, the more filthy water runs down the streets and sidewalks; piles of grey (or yellow), half-frozen sludge remain for now; and all the run-off from the melting creates lots of mud.
When I was driving past some ugly sludge piles the other day, I realized that at times something inside a person needs to melt as well, and it can be just as messy.
I’m talking about big things but also little things, like a knot of muscle in your back, a ball of worry or tension in your gut, or a tightening of your jaw in anger.
Doesn’t it feel nice when those things melt? Well, sometimes. And other times, melting is a painful process. These little things can be covering up bigger things. When it all feels like too much to unpack, a person is more likely to just stay in the stuck and frozen patterns. (At least they are familiar and.)
But melting, little by little, is possible, and yoga can help.
In a yoga class, most of life’s outward distractions get left at the studio door, which leaves you face to face with any inward distractions, and whatever presents itself in your own body and mind. This can be a very uncomfortable place to be. But it is also an opportunity.
It’s an opportunity to let go of stuck patterns that have a hold on you. In a safe and supportive class context, it is less unpleasant to engage this process of melting, compared to trying to make these changes on your own.
Remember that sometimes in our bodies–just like an icy walkway–things get messy before they become more ordered and tidy. In the process, it can feel about as lovely as a grimy slush pile.
But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of beauty underneath it all.
And it doesn’t mean it’s not worth the melting.
What is Spring without a little mud? What would rivers be without snow melt to feed them?
We need the melting. And we need not fear the messiness of it.
Keep in mind that all that beautiful messiness benefits from a container. One of the important things you get when you purchase a yoga class is that container, a space in which the messiness of melting is supported and even encouraged.
Spring can be such a busy time that getting to a yoga class becomes challenging. But if your life is hectic, now might be exactly when you need the container of a class to support and guide you. A little structure can go a long way.
I invite you to come, with all of your messiness, to one of Solaluna’s studio classes, where teachers endeavor to provide a friendly and supportive space in which to melt and open the stuck parts of yourself. Click here to see all the schedule information.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Looking forward to a muddy Spring!
Chelsea
