Yoga Notes


Need Yoga & Meditation Supplies?

posted Aug 16, 2012, 5:58 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Aug 16, 2012, 6:09 AM ]

Wild Garden purchases yoga mats, blankets, blocks, and meditation cushions from YogaAccessories.com.


Yoga Class Tomorrow

posted Feb 11, 2012, 9:39 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Feb 11, 2012, 9:40 AM ]

Clara Burns teaches 12 - 1 pm Sunday, February 12 at Fertile Ground Wellness Center in Denver. Pre-registration required.

Solstice Sun Meditation

posted Jun 27, 2011, 8:59 AM by Claramarie Burns

The longest day of the year is a good time to meditate on the sun’s energy, practice Sun Salutations, and bask – a beautiful day to breathe in light.

Find a quiet place to sit outside where the sun falls on your closed eyelids. Sit a few minutes, breathing naturally, and soak up the light. Visualize the sunlight filling your whole body, as if your body were a transparent bottle, now shining with the sun’s light. When you’re ready – keep it short enough to not get a sunburn! – move to a shady spot to sit quietly, bringing your body-bottle of sunlight with you. Sit, breathe, and enjoy your inner sun radiance for as long as you need to energize and relax deeply.

To finish, make an inward gesture of thanks to the sun, sealing your practice with gratitude – and bring sunshine to everyone and everything you encounter today.


Classes Start September 7

posted Sep 1, 2010, 6:41 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Sep 1, 2010, 7:08 AM ]

Two new classes begin Tuesday, September 7th. Classical Yoga, at Amala Yoga Community, meets 10-11:30 a.m. Yoga One, offered through the Colorado Free University, meets four Tuesdays, 6-7:25 pm. 

Wildflower

posted Jun 20, 2010, 2:23 PM by Claramarie Burns



Extremes

posted Jun 14, 2010, 11:14 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Jun 18, 2010, 4:52 AM ]

Hot and cold go the days these days, with temperatures approaching record highs, and within a day or too plunging unseasonably. No matter how long we've lived in the changeable mountain regions, It can still be hard for the body to adapt to these plummets & leaps, so emblematic of the emotional ups and downs we may experience from time to time, or sudden social and economic changes. It can help to shift one's frame of reference to things more lasting - the universe, the stars, the sun - to get some perspective on local inner and outer weathers. We can breathe through these roller-coaster rides, too, letting our breath be the constant that our circumstances may seem to lack. Our breath can be counted on, to center and bring perspective to tumultuous experiences . . and it's always there, never costs us a thing! We need only remember to allow our breath its natural, free flow, and sink into that hammock of energy we find in our steady breath.

Go crazy, plant life!

posted Jun 7, 2010, 8:09 AM by Claramarie Burns

Sun is calling - & calling us all to renew. Let go of something you don't need, invite in something you do. Drink in the vivifying energy of summer sun by spending some time outdoors - in the shade is fine for soaking up what you need from the sun - in meditation, Hatha Yoga asana, pranayama . . . the prana is flowing, so soak it up.  Take a walk you don't usually take, spend time in a garden, tend some plants if you can. The energy of the outdoors, whether it's plants on the patio, or fields on a farm, or flowers in a park, is freshening to us humans too, and complements and supports Yoga practice. 

Enjoy the summer of summer; start today, and keep going all summer long!

Tuesday Tuesday

posted Apr 6, 2010, 7:27 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Apr 6, 2010, 8:13 AM ]

We often hear encouragement to keep up our hopes - where there's life, there's hope, hope springs eternal, et cetera.  The trouble is, where there's hope, there's also the counter tendency to despair!  What about choosing to opt out of hope & despair?  To recognize what is, and let go of what might be, or might not be?  

Hope & despair rely on our adherence to the pairs of opposites: attraction and aversion, desire and fear. Reality sits squarely in what is.  What we know for certain to be true, the fact of our being, we can count on never to disappoint us or to lure us on to hopes of happiness that prove transient, or fears of a failure that seems eternal.  Our being is the only source of true happiness, and it is always available. We need only quiet our minds enough to consciously experience the fact of who we are.

With even a small step in meditation practice, we can begin to recognize the unchanging nature of being and build a secure foundation on which to enjoy what comes our way, solid in the experience of basic goodness - the foundation of all our existence. We can ride the breath to a quiet mind, experience our true identity, and find true peace of mind. When we do, our peace of mind reaches deeper than hope, and we see despair for the illusion it is - the product of a divided, distracted mind.

posted Apr 6, 2010, 7:27 AM by Claramarie Burns   [ updated Jun 7, 2010, 8:12 AM ]


Good Morning, Breath!

posted Apr 2, 2010, 5:38 AM by Claramarie Burns

Thanks for carrying me through another day, another night - always available to bring steadiness & peace, draw my awareness inward, and strengthen my being.

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