Greetings Family and Friends of the Hearth Yoga Community!

I hope that July offered you a few chances to pause and catch your breath. As we begin the adventure that is August, I encourage you to do something bold:

-- PAUSE --

Exhale

and know --

whatever chapter you are in,

we live one sentence, one word, at a time.

With Fall knocking on our door with its many decisions, it's easy to fall [pun intended] into the trap of fast-forwarding the remainder of summer and "skipping to the end" -- tempted you may be, resist you must.

As Prince Humperdink discovers in The Princess Bride, if you "skip to the end" you run the risk of missing some very important details -- Some of the best parts are waiting for us in the middle ...

We are in The Middle of a lot of things right now... And yes, it may feel as if we are surrounded...

BUT...we are not without hope...

No matter what the Fall will entail, we have *just* enough time to forge a new path forward.

The good news?

The new path forward, starts with a PAUSE.

Even if the pause is 30 seconds, at times, that's all we need to see, hear, feel, and process a little more clearly.

Would you like some help pausing right now?

Here's what we've been discussing in 9am Adaptive Hatha class:

Pausing and breathing: The Check-In

Just like it sounds, we've been "checking in" throughout practice and throughout our day by asking ourselves 2 questions...

Question #1: Am I breathing?

When the answer is yes, you can move right on to Question #2.

When the answer is no, EXHALE.

Once you catch your breath, without being mean to yourself or criticizing, take stock of what you were doing and see if you can notice WHY you weren't breathing.

It's possible you were: concentrating, worried, distracted, or making a difficult decision like which olive oil you need to purchase while on your monthly grocery quest...

If you were holding your breath, it's worth noticing what you were doing if only so you can be more aware of your need to exhale when you come back to that activity in the future.

No need to berate yourself. Just exhale and then inhale and then exhale...Continue...

Question #2: HOW am I breathing?

Again, coming from a place of observation [not judgment], notice HOW breath is entering your body [nose? mouth? a little of both?], how it travels through your body, and how it leaves.

What route does it take? What expands as you inhale? What softens as you exhale?

Want to explore these questions more? Practice at home and then join us for class :)

Starting this week we welcome a new offering to Hearth Yoga:

Chair Yoga: 11a-12p, Wednesdays

Do you have a chair? Do you have an hour? Join us.

Chair Yoga is one of the most accessible yoga practices as it requires nothing more than you and a chair. Our practice is beginner friendly and tailored to the group who shows up on any given day. No special attire or secret handshake, just a chance to catch your breath, stretch, calm your mind, and ease your heart.

Along the way we will work on improving our balance, strengthening our muscles, bones, and posture, and expanding our breath. This practice is open to folx of all ages and backgrounds who seek calm, focus, and clarity.

Need a break from work or classes? Join us. No costume required. Just bring yourself and your chair.

AND...

because you read to the very end, I offer you the first few hints for our August Adventure Yoga: [8/22/20]

“But there was one other thing that the grown-ups also knew, and it was this: that however small the chance might be of striking lucky, the chance is there. The chance had to be there.”

Have a sense of where we're going? Tell the rowers where we're rowing. Feel free to post your guesses for our Adventure Yoga destination on the Hearth Yoga Facebook page.

With gusto and gratitude,

Tami

P.S. Know someone who should give yoga a try?

Feel free to share this message with them.

P.P.S. I only ever want to send you news you can use. If you no longer need to receive messages from Hearth Yoga, just respond to this email and I will remove you from the scrolls.