self=study

Yoga Home Practice

Practicing Yoga in a Covid World – Welcome to your home practice

As a yoga teacher, I have always said that if I do my job correctly, you won’t need me or any other yoga teacher.  Essentially, my job is and always has been, to inspire you to want to practice yoga at any time and in any place and to feel safe doing so.  You don’t need me.  Your body holds all the wisdom you will ever need.

So, that being said, it appears that the current health situation of the world is inviting us to find our own practice.  To become our own teachers.  To trust ourselves and open to our own inner wisdom.

Take a seat.

Breath in, slowly

Breath out, slowly

Feel your breath

Gently turn your head from side to side

Slowly drop an ear to a shoulder, how does that feel?

Try the other side, how does that feel?

Gently move your arms up and down

Shrug your shoulders, do some windmills, how does that feel?

Notice your breath

Move your body

Stretch your sides

Rotate your torso

Move your legs

Bend your knees

Feel your hands, feel your feet,

Feel your breath

Begin to deepen the movements

Find what nourishes you, and repeat

If something hurts, stop

Notice your breath, keep it smooth, keep it steady, allow it to find your calm

Practice going deeper

Deeper in your movements

Deeper in your breath

Deeper in your awareness

Enjoy

Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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New Year, New Beginnings

Happy New Year

I am just back from 3 weeks in Mexico feeling refreshed and ready to embark on the New Year.  I admit to being a sun-aholic.  I love hanging out on the beach, playing in the water and living practically full-time out of doors and being warm the entire time.

I believe it is incredibly important to determine what nourishes you spiritually and physically and to make a commitment to setting aside time to recharge yourself.  Vacationing is certainly one way to do that, but we don’t always have the time or the resources to wander off to the retreat of our choosing.  But we can set aside time each week, and even each day to nourish our bodies and spirit.

Take some time to figure out what makes you feel good.  When do you find yourself smiling, both inside and out?  When do you experience a sense of contentment and well-being?  What gives you joy? Make a list, put it some place you can return to easily.  And then you have your own handy pick-me-up protocol.  Here are some of the things I do regularly that keep me happy, grounded and smiling.

  • Daily yoga & meditation
  • Walks in the woods and along the beach
  • Listening to music and having my own private dance party
  • Sipping tea, wrapped in a warm blanket and reading a book
  • Hanging out with my friends – perhaps with a glass of wine in hand
  • Spending time with my husband and kids
  • Cooking and gardening
  • Teaching and studying yoga

Okay, so there you have it, you know my list of nourishments.  I wonder what you will put on your list.

Good News – I am starting a new Tuesday Evening Slow Flow yoga class in West Seattle at Limber Yoga on February 5th at 4:30pm.

Come Check it out.  I am super excited to finally be teaching in West Seattle, and Limber Yoga has a great open light filled space, fully equipped with all my favorite props.

Happy New Year, may it be a year of joy and blessing and good health for you and all those you hold dear.

Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi

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Letting Go & Reclaiming Space

Dear Yogis

Happy Summer!  I hope everyone is enjoying this long stretch of sunshine we have had in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  I know I have.  As  usual, summer finds me playing on the water, hiking in the woods, picking berries, and dancing to music in meadows.  Yep, life is good.

I wanted to let everyone know that after much consideration, I have decided to make some changes to my teaching schedule.  I have decided to reclaim weekends and evenings and spend less time on the road driving.  Its has been a hard decision to make, and even as I write this I feel a pang of loss.   I will miss our Wednesday evenings in the woods and weekends mornings when we all breath together and nourish our bodies and spirits.  We have all grown so much over the years, and I will miss each and everyone of you.  Truly, it has been an honor.

But in letting go of these teaching slots, I will open myself up for more opportunities to study, practice and travel. I look forward to deepening my understanding of yoga, philosophy and anatomy and meditation through retreats and workshops that frequently fall on weekends.  Let’s call this a mini-sabbatical.

What this means  in the short run is that I will no longer be teaching at River Tree Yoga on Wednesday evenings or on Saturday mornings.  It also means that I will no longer be teaching at Village Green Yoga on Sunday mornings.  

My last day at River Tree Yoga will Be Wednesday August 9th.  

My last Sunday at Village Green Yoga will be August 20th.

I will continue to teach my Tuesday & Thursday Mid-Day Bliss class at Village Green Yoga.

And I am still offering privates, scheduled at your convenience.

In the Fall, I will be adding a weekly evening class in West Seattle and a monthly advanced practice class at Village Green Yoga.  There is also the possibility of workshops at River Tree Yoga.  More details on all of these will be coming your way shortly.

 

Be Well, Breathe and have an amazing Summer.

Shalom & Namaste,

Diana Bonyhadi

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Halfway through December, already?

It’s a blustery day in the Seattle Area.  Its windy, its wet, and it’s surprisingly warm.  And I am still coming to grips with the fact that we are almost half-way through December.  Don’t get me wrong, the fact that Winter Solstice is only 10 days away makes me incredibly happy.  It’s just that I catch myself wondering…where did the time go?

I know I am not unique in this wondering.  All of us at some point or another are struck by the fact that while time may seem to move incredibly slowly at one moment, most of us often have the feeling that time just keeps slipping away.  Dates that seemed so far in the offing are suddenly upon us. Babies become children, children become adults, adults become seniors and each of us find ourselves wondering how did we end up here.

The focus of my classes this week have been on Svadhyaya, or self-study.  It is the 4th of the Niyamas, or individual practices identified by Pantanjali (400 CE). This is an integral aspect of our yoga practice. Beyond getting the right alignment for a pose, or moving just so with the breath in a pose, there are also so many questions about our everyday practice. Which poses do we like and not like. Which poses do we avoid? Which poses make us feel powerful? Which bring us healing in times of suffering? Which poses make us mad or make us feel like crying or make us feel triumphant?

Svadyaya is also about the deeper stuff.  Why do we feel a certain way in a pose? Do we always feel that way in that pose? What else is going on for us in that pose?  Are there poses in which we feel nothing?  How is it that putting our bodies in an asana can even elicit that emotional/intellectual response? Why do the asanas do that?  Are we even aware of our thoughts and emotions while in any given asana?  So, not only are we trying to become more aware of our breath and our movements on the mat, but we are also trying to engage more fully in the study of who we are in each moment, and in every breath.

And if you thought this was just about yoga… it’s not… or it is.  It is not just about yoga, if yoga is something that only happens for you on a mat, in a studio, for about an 90 minutes a day.  On the other hand, it is all about yoga if you have begun to notice that your yoga is moving with you beyond the mat.  It kinda has the habit of doing that. Check out this link from Richard Freeman called Yoga Ruins Your Life, in which he talks about the permeability of yoga, as well as showcasing some very nice asanas guaranteed to make you ooo and ah.

Then these questions, this work of self-study really gets deep.  On a daily basis, moment by moment, we begin to explore who we are, what makes us think and feel the way we do, and why.  This is, I believe what we call the examined life – a life of self-study.  This is a life that allows us to answer that question, Wow, how’d we get here?  with  something along the lines of ” I don’t quite know, but at least I was awake for some of it. ”  Through Svadhyaya, we participate in the most important dialogue of all time; the dialogue that begins with ourselves; the dialogue that enables us to be more fully present in each moment.

Happy Holidays everyone.  I hope the Season brings you much light and love.  May the questions you ask continue to deepen and expand.  Don’t let yourself get too attached to the answers, they will probably change (follow this link).  Enjoy the journey and stay full of wonder.

 

Shalom & Namaste

Diana Bonyhadi