Lady Lavender: Divinity in progress...

Well, it has been awhile and I haven't gone to Yoga. My mom has been really ill with kidney stones and everything else you can imagine. I've missed work like 3 times in one week it seems and I'm far behind on catching up with the real world and the social world.

Without yoga this week, my life changed again. I noticed a strong imbalance in my way of thinking and my frustrations were so intense that it was almost scary. Perhaps it can partially be credited to the amount of stress that I feel at work and in the home life but, with yoga, it seems that I didn't struggle so much with those issues.I personally believe most of it comes from some hormonal imbalance while going through the mid-life crisis. Problem is, is that I'm not old enough for that yet - at least, so I hear. Either way, I'm feeling a pull to go on a year long sabbatical in Tibet. Meditation is calling me, the chanting feels good, and my intuition is getting scarily accurate. I feel like - what am I still doing here? Yoga, believe it or not - helps balance me.

Aum Tala Yoga: Lokaaa...bhavantu....

I love this stuff. Aum Tala yoga is something that was designed by two amazing people. They mix chanting mantras and flow yoga all together somehow and have it all set to live music. It was fantastic. Tonight's workshop was all about being connected with Earth and gaining balance which was in tune with exactly what I needed. It was funny how it worked out that way but it was a nice surprise to hear.

The place was a lovely martial arts studio on a top floor with gianormous windows. They had turned off most of the lighting and let candles light up the place. The place was very warm and cozy feeling plus, the addition of the live music - one guy on a mat with several authentic instruments from India, really spiced up my auditory senses. We start with chanting Ohm or Aum / probably Aum since the name of the workshop was Aum Tala... we did that 3 times. The vibration that one feels inside can instantly start to soothe the soul. We also got a chance to chant, Ganapati Ohm - to help remove energy blocks, and of course at the end - Ohm Shanti for peace, and Lok souki no....bhavantu - which I believe basically means, be happy. Either way, they were great releases and we sang one chant for 108 repetitions - Ohm dada dadaye namaha. It was all very uplifting and the strangest thing is being able to feel the energy shift. I was in a good place last night and I even made it to visualization during the meditative shavasana at the end of it all.

On the physical side of it, we did many things. Downward dogs, planks, side plank, warriors, etc.. all the ones that used to give me such a hard time. I noticed that tonight for the first time, I was actually able to hop from the standing forward folds to plank. Normally, I have to ease in to it. I was quite proud of myself. I was feeling lighter on my feet and when we did tree pose, I was able to hold it very steady this time. I still couldn't get my leg up to my thigh but, besides that - I was standing there - grounded! I was so happy with myself and my body. It was amazing. We even did a flowing pigeon. Who knew that there could be a flowing pigeon. She made us rock back in forth, do some prayer poses, all while sitting in pigeon. I thought I was going to pass out because my core was engaged the whole time. I'm sure I lost at least 1 inch on around the belly area. Needless to say but when we finished, I was downward facing dog tired. I was glad to be done with it all but most of all, I was thankful for having sweated profusely, gained physical prowess and experienced more enlightenment.

After it all I was glad to go home but I was more thankful for having found this wonderful group of instructors. I feel loved in that room no matter what and the end of it, I absolutely adore the fact that she anoints us all with some essential oils. Felt like lavender and eucalyptus or peppermint. Nice, soft, uplifting and invigorating - the oils almost mimicked how I was feeling at the moment. I hope to be able to go on a week long retreat with them. I think it would definitely be good for my soul and I should be allowed to take time out for personal development. Namaste!