Mother Ship Yoga and Wellness Presents:
Spring Forward Yoga Re “TREAT”
Friday March 25, - Sunday March 27, 2011
Join us on the OBX for a weekend of Interdisciplinary Yoga Practice
Hosted By: Michelle Shipley RYT 200hr Yoga Alliance Member
Guided Meditation: Janice Lane M.Ht
Massage: Brandi Miss LMBT
For More Information / Registration Please
Contact: Michelle Shipley 252 292 2163
micheshipley@yahoo.com
How exciting!! The talented Miz Shipley will be hosting another fabulously delicious yoga retreat at the Tarvelier in Duck! Michelle will lead us in restorative yoga on Friday night, an interdisciplinary practice on Saturday, and finish us off on Sunday with delightful surrender in yin yoga... all this body goodness will be interspersed with journalling, guided meditation, massage & bodywork, downtime to let it all soak in, and of course, yummy food! What a wonderful way to spend a weekend...
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Opening Chant
Vande Gurunam Charanaravinde
Sandarashita swatma sukhava bhode
Nishreyase Jangalikaya Mane
Samsara halahala mohashantiye
Abahu Purushakaram
Shankachakra Asi Dharinam
Sahasra Shirasam Swetam
Pranamami Patanjalim Om
translation:
I respectfully bow to the lotus feet of my teacher,
who teaches the knowledge of the Self that awakens us to great happiness,
who is the Jungle Physician and dispeller of the poison of conditioned existence.
Taking the form of a man, up to the hands, and holding a conch and a discus/sword, (boomerang?)
and having a thousand heads of white light, Pantajali, I bow to you.
Sandarashita swatma sukhava bhode
Nishreyase Jangalikaya Mane
Samsara halahala mohashantiye
Abahu Purushakaram
Shankachakra Asi Dharinam
Sahasra Shirasam Swetam
Pranamami Patanjalim Om
translation:
I respectfully bow to the lotus feet of my teacher,
who teaches the knowledge of the Self that awakens us to great happiness,
who is the Jungle Physician and dispeller of the poison of conditioned existence.
Taking the form of a man, up to the hands, and holding a conch and a discus/sword, (boomerang?)
and having a thousand heads of white light, Pantajali, I bow to you.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Surrender, Not At All Bittersweet!
I taught my first private yoga lesson this morning and it felt very good. I showed up with an open heart and did yoga with a new practitioner, allowing her to show me where her body is at by guiding her through a series of movements yolked together with the flow of her breath. By observing her body's innate ability to move into postures and the letting go that accompanies intentional release, I was able to lead her into a body more fluid and less tense than when we started. "I feel good, looser," she said when we were done. I considered that an accomplishment on both our parts, hers in the surrendering, mine in the facilitation.
Then I held a make-up Baby Yoga class today for the snow day we had here on Thursday. One hoopster mom showed up with her darling boy and we spent the time talking and getting to know one another a little better... it was exactly as it was meant to be! I am honored to have shared tidbits of yogic lore and wisdom with her, and the shared feeling that we have a lot to learn from one another. She has been practicing yoga and hooping on the HoopPath for several years and taught both for many until she gave birth to her son. It makes me giddy just thinking about my connection with this amazing woman, mother, friend, teacher, wife, practitioner, hooper... I am so happy to share a community with her!!
All of that to say, I surrender... wholly, totally, completely to the life I am meant to live! Namaste, Brandi Miss
Then I held a make-up Baby Yoga class today for the snow day we had here on Thursday. One hoopster mom showed up with her darling boy and we spent the time talking and getting to know one another a little better... it was exactly as it was meant to be! I am honored to have shared tidbits of yogic lore and wisdom with her, and the shared feeling that we have a lot to learn from one another. She has been practicing yoga and hooping on the HoopPath for several years and taught both for many until she gave birth to her son. It makes me giddy just thinking about my connection with this amazing woman, mother, friend, teacher, wife, practitioner, hooper... I am so happy to share a community with her!!
All of that to say, I surrender... wholly, totally, completely to the life I am meant to live! Namaste, Brandi Miss
Friday, February 5, 2010
A New Mat.
I am still using my old, yellow monster mat that has footprints from my dirty feet and months of perspiration at Naeda’s former Bikram Studio. I am sensing that a new, bright-light-green (for healing) mat is coming soon to hold me for my next self-immersion into my practice. Back when I started this blog, I was going to yoga seven days a week, often twice on Wednesdays, and had been for months. It was a traditional “bikram” practice, doing the same twenty-six poses on each side of the body in temperatures kept just above a sweltering one hundred degrees. I LOVED going to the studio to do the yoga and I loved learning about the other aspects of yoga as well. I found a lot of strength in my body and self-trust in my heart to do exactly what I needed to do to be true to my own self.
Hard to believe, but our planet has made almost two whole revolutions around the sun since then and a lot of the details of my life have changed. I am living in a different place, interacting with different people on a daily basis, and eating different food. But I am still Brandi and I still enjoy all things beautiful, happy, and peaceful… I still and always will love Carrboro, the town I “grew up” in… and am so in love with living on these sand spits that I spent the first eleven years of my life connecting with as “home”. And the difference that I am most un-proud of is that I had not taken the time during all twenty-one of the past months to get myself settled back into my practice. I have gone through spurts of doing yoga at home and even bought a couple of yoga dvd’s… but for me, nothing takes the place of having a studio with teachers and other students who all acknowledge the divine in each and one another.
For the past five days, I have pulled out my old, yellow monster mat and gone up the road to the Outer Banks Yoga & Pilates studio. I have taken beginner, restorative, vinyasa, and tai chi, taught by Anne, Michelle, and Julia with an array of other students. I have glistened, slipped, fallen out of pose, sweated, felt that my limit had been reached and possibly gone beyond, and I have been unable to move completely into some poses that I did before with ease. In the beginner class! This time, I feel very okay with all of it. I know that with each day of practice, my body will loosen up and my connective tissue will become more solvent and my muscles less constricted. Every day that I have unrolled my mat, my blood has gotten a super supply of oxygen, my organs a good massage, and my lymphatic system has been stimulated, all of which help me to be more healthy in my body. And that’s not even touching on the myriad of other ways putting into practice the eight limbs of yoga help me. They help me to help myself lead a more centered, more productive, more creative life!
Not that getting back onto the mat has been all that easy a thing to do in the wet, cold, windy, winter weather we have been having. These mornings have been perfect for snuggling up in warm blankets to sip coffee and write letters to friends who are far away. On my second morning at the studio, I was the only person who showed up for the class. Michelle, who was gracious enough to lead just me, shared a little piece of wisdom with me that has stuck in my head all week long. She said, “I don’t always want to come to my mat, but when I’m done with my practice, I am always glad I did!” Let this be a mantra to me as I head into another week of my newly rediscovered life on the mat… perhaps a new bright-light-green one?
Hard to believe, but our planet has made almost two whole revolutions around the sun since then and a lot of the details of my life have changed. I am living in a different place, interacting with different people on a daily basis, and eating different food. But I am still Brandi and I still enjoy all things beautiful, happy, and peaceful… I still and always will love Carrboro, the town I “grew up” in… and am so in love with living on these sand spits that I spent the first eleven years of my life connecting with as “home”. And the difference that I am most un-proud of is that I had not taken the time during all twenty-one of the past months to get myself settled back into my practice. I have gone through spurts of doing yoga at home and even bought a couple of yoga dvd’s… but for me, nothing takes the place of having a studio with teachers and other students who all acknowledge the divine in each and one another.
For the past five days, I have pulled out my old, yellow monster mat and gone up the road to the Outer Banks Yoga & Pilates studio. I have taken beginner, restorative, vinyasa, and tai chi, taught by Anne, Michelle, and Julia with an array of other students. I have glistened, slipped, fallen out of pose, sweated, felt that my limit had been reached and possibly gone beyond, and I have been unable to move completely into some poses that I did before with ease. In the beginner class! This time, I feel very okay with all of it. I know that with each day of practice, my body will loosen up and my connective tissue will become more solvent and my muscles less constricted. Every day that I have unrolled my mat, my blood has gotten a super supply of oxygen, my organs a good massage, and my lymphatic system has been stimulated, all of which help me to be more healthy in my body. And that’s not even touching on the myriad of other ways putting into practice the eight limbs of yoga help me. They help me to help myself lead a more centered, more productive, more creative life!
Not that getting back onto the mat has been all that easy a thing to do in the wet, cold, windy, winter weather we have been having. These mornings have been perfect for snuggling up in warm blankets to sip coffee and write letters to friends who are far away. On my second morning at the studio, I was the only person who showed up for the class. Michelle, who was gracious enough to lead just me, shared a little piece of wisdom with me that has stuck in my head all week long. She said, “I don’t always want to come to my mat, but when I’m done with my practice, I am always glad I did!” Let this be a mantra to me as I head into another week of my newly rediscovered life on the mat… perhaps a new bright-light-green one?
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Esta Tan Frio!
mi espalda es tiesa y vesto mas ropas que prefero, pero soy tan feliz estas a mi casa! Soy a karma yoga, ciao!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
A Daily Practice...
This morning when I stepped onto my mat to begin my yoga practice, I started out okay. The opening pranayama went well and so did ardha-chandrasana with pada-hastasana, but then, during my first set of utkatasana, I suddenly felt very, very tired. Not sleepy tired, but physical exhaustion. Once my mind registered what my body was whispering, I was overcome with a sense of panic; how was I supposed to make it through the next eighty-two minutes? I was so tired. Deep down in my bones tired. My body needed a break and hard core yoga in one hundred five degrees is not what most would consider a break. I wanted to grab my mat and run for the door. Or maybe just lie in savasana until class was over, hoping no one would notice. I wanted to cry. In fact, I almost did. But something propelled me onward and I did finish the practice, even if it was the most excruciating ninety minutes I have ever spent on my mat.
After trying to let these tired thoughts go, I knew I had to keep going. Even if my working edge was not in the depths that I usually find it, it was there somewhere and I was just going to have to go easy on myself. But it's hard when you realize that you might need to take a break, that you are not Superwoman, really! Staying focused on my breath was difficult and my concentration was fuzzy so my balance was all thrown off and I could not hold my poses. I felt awful. Like I was the biggest poser... who was I trying to kid? Obviously, I cannot maintain a daily practice, I mean, look at me! I have been practicing every single day for weeks on end and I had only gotten worse.
And since I have been practicing daily for so long, shouldn't that make me different than the others in my classes who don't? Shouldn't I be stronger, more disciplined, always practicing in tip top form? Ohhh... Big Sigh! Ego interference... That was today's lesson. No matter how often or how many times I step onto my mat, I will always be in MY body wherever my body is at at that point in time. I will always have my breath and my breath only to lead me. I am never going to achieve perfection... if so, what would be the point of practicing? And my practice is not about anyone else's... it isn't about anyone else's breath or form or concentration or ability... so there is absolutely no need for me to go there. No one is watching me and judging me based on how hard I push myself or how well I maintain my form. In fact, all anyone else is doing in that room is their own practice... and bless them if they ever feel like I did today.
After trying to let these tired thoughts go, I knew I had to keep going. Even if my working edge was not in the depths that I usually find it, it was there somewhere and I was just going to have to go easy on myself. But it's hard when you realize that you might need to take a break, that you are not Superwoman, really! Staying focused on my breath was difficult and my concentration was fuzzy so my balance was all thrown off and I could not hold my poses. I felt awful. Like I was the biggest poser... who was I trying to kid? Obviously, I cannot maintain a daily practice, I mean, look at me! I have been practicing every single day for weeks on end and I had only gotten worse.
And since I have been practicing daily for so long, shouldn't that make me different than the others in my classes who don't? Shouldn't I be stronger, more disciplined, always practicing in tip top form? Ohhh... Big Sigh! Ego interference... That was today's lesson. No matter how often or how many times I step onto my mat, I will always be in MY body wherever my body is at at that point in time. I will always have my breath and my breath only to lead me. I am never going to achieve perfection... if so, what would be the point of practicing? And my practice is not about anyone else's... it isn't about anyone else's breath or form or concentration or ability... so there is absolutely no need for me to go there. No one is watching me and judging me based on how hard I push myself or how well I maintain my form. In fact, all anyone else is doing in that room is their own practice... and bless them if they ever feel like I did today.
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