Capturing True Essence

"A photographer gets people to pose for him. A yoga instructor gets people to pose for themselves." ~T. Guillemets

In my experience with both photography and yoga, I find something different. When taking photographs of people, I get the best shots when they are not posing for me but instead, being themselves - laughing and talking and being. Just like in yoga class. I help my students to find "their pose" - a comfortable and steady space of being. To breathe, to smile.

How wonderful it is to capture a person's true essence through a photograph or through a yoga pose. I am so grateful I am able to do both.

I don't know why they call it ONE - revisited

I found this little gem I had written back in February of this year (wow, seems like forever-ago).


I Don't Know Why They Call It ONE
It is not my first choice! Actually, I do know why they call it ONE and it still is not my first choice. Ask me about Virabhadrasana II or Virabhadrasana III. I love both of those versions - strong and open and free! Virabhadrasana I has never felt like my pose in all of the years I have done it. There is something about that back leg, and there is something about that front leg. Oh yes, and there is something about the lower back and the extended arms. It doesn't feel strong and it doesn't feel balanced and it doesn't feel free. Does anyone else agree?

Maybe someday I'll learn to love it - just not today.

There were sure some strong feelings about Virabhadrasana I (Warrior I). I can tell you that I have not spent much time on this pose since I wrote this post that appeared on ...musasana... so many months ago. Today I'm bringing it out of the yoga closet and sharing it with the class I teach. I want to know what they really think of this pose and maybe I'll have some new feeling as well.

What do you think of it?

Viva WI!

Who Is Your Yoga Teacher?

What Costa Rica Taught Me

1. I don't melt in a monsoon
2. Bugs can grow really big
3. The jungle is mesmerizing
4. The people of Costa Rica are kind and gentle - all of them
5. I enjoy waking up to the sounds of the howler monkeys
6. Sloths really do move slow
7. Beans and rice are nourishing
8. Yoga in the jungle is delicious
9. Snakes can get into yoga rooms
10. It (whatever "it" is) will never dry

I patiently await my return - next time with more friends :-)

For My Students - Props for Class

I am so honored to have you for a student!

It is important that you have the right props to receive the full benefit of the yoga poses. I recommend all the props (and own them or have used them) myself. Please click through - it will take you to my Amazon store. As always, please let me know if you have any questions. ~ Peace, Karen

(1) Yoga Mat (Regular or Tall)
(2) Blankets (wool or cotton)
(2) Blocks (regular or cork)
(1) Big Blue Block (if you use one of mine in class, please purchase this)
(1) Yoga Strap

Model - Me!
Photographed by Amy Zellmer, Custom Creations Photography

WoYo A Go Go!

Happy New Year and come WoYo with us! Practice every day for the month of January. It is so fun and a great way to inspire you to your mat every day.

Tomorrow I will be focusing on twists to twist out the old. I'm ready to bring in the new.

Costa Rica Yoga in 32 Days

Here I am, 32 days before the Costa Rica Yoga Retreat. It is -14 degrees at my house right now. It is 73 degrees in Costa Rica right now. Where would you rather be?

Laura and I have been preparing for our adventure for many weeks now. Which travel yoga mat to purchase? Which pair of yoga shorts? Water shoes?

Of course we always talk about the yoga. Can you imagine yoga in the jungle, with monkeys watching? Sign me up! Oh, wait - I already have my ticket. What about you?

Related Posts
Do Some Yoga In Costa Rica
Yoga Retreat In Costa Rica

What brought you to yoga?

"I tried yoga once but took off for the mall halfway through class, as I had a sudden craving for a soft pretzel and world peace." ~The Quote Garden

After teaching a corporate yoga class last week, an employee walked into the room. One of the students asked if he was going to join yoga. He replied, "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga". Most people are not very flexible when they begin yoga - that is one reason among many why they try yoga - to improve their flexibility. Then after a little while they experience many of the other benefits of yoga.

I enjoy hearing the stories of what brought people to yoga - to increase flexibility, quiet the mind, soft pretzel and world peace :-) If you do yoga now, why did you start?

If you have done yoga for some time, why do you keep going back? Is the reason the same as when you first started?

If you don't do yoga (and would like to), what is holding you back? Are YOU not flexible enough?

Related Posts:
"...through yoga"
"How I began Yoga"

Do Some Yoga In Costa Rica

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” - Mark Twain

"...and do some yoga!" ~ Karen

Yippee, only 93 days (but who's counting?) until we board that plane for the Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica. So far I have purchased 4 new bikinis and 3 new yoga tops for the adventure. I am looking at a new travel yoga mat from Hugger Mugger - I think that will be a smart purchase since I will only have so much suitcase room - 4 bikinis do take up some space :-) I can't decide between the green mat or the blue one. Decisions, decisions.

Want to Explore, Dream and Discover? Join us in Costa Rica - the more, the merrier!

Related Posts:
Wanna "Yoga" In Costa Rica?

Wanna "Yoga" In Costa Rica?

Yes, for real! Laura and I are going to Costa Rica for 7 days of yoga and jungle and ocean and fun. Join us at Samasati Yoga and Nature Retreat from January 24 - 31, 2009. Check it out.

Why I Love My Life #29

#29 - Yoga in a barn. I take my yoga classes in an old refurbished barn.

"I love it here in the barn," said Wilbur. "I love everything about this place."
- E. B. White - Charlotte's Web

I agree Wilbur.

I fight: Savasana

I like to think that I fight nothing. My last post really opened my eyes. It was written before my restorative yoga class on Wednesday night. After that experience, how would I write that line today?

i fight: a long Savasana

When I first started to practice yoga the reason I went back time and time again was because of Savasana. I found it amazing that someone (my yoga teacher) was inviting me to lay down (with a blanket!), close my eyes, in a quiet room, in the middle of the day and relax. Lovedeveryminuteofit! Now, not so much.

The first 5 minutes are good, however lots of adjusting, then the fight begins. I have a theory that maybe only a piece of what is going on. I am very flexible. My joints are very open. As I lay there and my muscles start to let go and surrender, I start to feel very unstable. Whispers of pains and aches get louder. There is a feeling of dislocation in one of my shoulders. My eyes do not relax but move around inside the closed lids. I often feel energy racing out of my hands and feet. No wonder!

I want a redo on that line - i fight: the feelings of instability in Savasana by accepting them and trusting that I will learn whatever they are here to teach me.

That feels much better.

Tadasana = Presence

My friends and I have started a new blog. We choose a pose each month, study it, practice it, and write about what we have learned from it. The pose this month is Tadasana. We would love for you to join us!

For me, Tadasana is a pose of awareness. It has taught me many things On and Off The Mat. When I am On The Mat it is a very centering and grounding pose. It brings me in touch with where my body is at that moment in time. Read the rest here....

Yoga : Music : Bliss

I have a tendency to get stuck in my ways but sometimes I think I just forget things.

I forgot how wonderful it is to add music to a yoga practice. I did for years and then stopped (for many years) and then remembered again last night. It was supta baddha konasana, late evening, dark room, eye bag and the soft, relaxing music. Bliss.

Or was I just stuck in my way of silence and yoga practice?

What happened...

I went here...


It was not a regular Las Vegas week. I was working with my husband - really. I ate well, did my daily yoga practice (thank you WoYoPracMo), went to sleep early each night and then got the flu. Wow! Seventeen days later, I finally feel almost normal again. It's great to be back.

What did I do? Slept. Then when I couldn't sleep anymore, I broke out the knitting...

Then when my brain started to work again, I read a great book - The Power of Now.

What did I miss?

Sunrise Earth

OK, so the new TV isn't so bad. I found DiscoveryHD - HD Theater channel last night and saw a commercial for a show called Sunrise Earth. Every morning at 6:00am for an hour they show the sunrise from a beautiful place on the earth. This morning it was Skellig Michael Ireland. For one hour I was on the cliffs, listening to the ocean and the birds calling, watching the sun rise. It was spectacular. I cannot begin to do it justice here - all I can say is - if you have access to it, watch it. I love the ocean and I felt like I was there.

Then I remembered this quote:

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts." ~ Rachel Carson

As I was watching this, contemplating its beauty, it was inspiring me, filling me up. I did feel strong and full of energy. I also felt hopeful and appreciative. It do not know of a better way to start my day (except BEING there - but it was so true, I felt it). I had a truly inspired day today and I'm pretty sure it was because of this experience.

My yoga mat will be right in front of that TV tonight with Sunrise Earth. I always wanted to do yoga in beautiful places and I can make that happen right now in my family room.

Anything but...

Maybe you have this issue too. As I wrote about in the last post, I got into a little fender-bender. For the insurance, I have to fill out their 9 million question form about who, what, where, when and how if I want the insurance to pay for the bumper repair. I do want the insurance to pay, but I don't want to fill out the form! So, what have I been doing today instead of filling out the form? ANYTHING I can think of or find to do.

I told myself yesterday that I would do it today and mail it off. Then it would be complete and no more avoiding it. It is sitting in plain sight on my kitchen table. Every time I look at it, it's time to put in a new load of laundry, or iron the cloth napkins, or water the plants, or wash the dishes, or sort through the huge pile of catalogs, or clean the foot of snow off the roof - you see my issue? What's a girl to do?

Oh yes, now it's time for my yoga practice! Maybe that will inspire me - I'll let you know :-)

Crash Onto My Mat AKA Yoga Appreciation

My car got rear-ended (with me in it). I sing it in my head, like a catchy song. Although it was not fun (or catchy for that matter) and my body is sure to tell me about it all day long, it has been inspiring.

Why this, why now? I'm not sure I know the answer yet. One thing I do know is that I have never had such an appreciation for my yoga practice. The mat has been occupied everyday - many days more than once. And each time a tremendous wave of gratitude / appreciation for this practice came over me.

Rampage of Appreciation - YOGA:

1. Asana!
2. I know how to move my body in a way that will protect it and also nurture it
3. I know which asanas will gently bring my body back
4. I am able to modify asanas to give my body exactly what it needs in this moment
5. I can do yoga anywhere, at any time

Does it get any better than that?

I'm in!

WoYoPracMo - What a wonderful way to start out the New Year.

I've been thinking about what my practice will look like for January. Should I set an intention for it now? Will I bring in breathing and meditation everyday too? Which poses do I want to focus on?

Then this quote appeared...

"Live your questions now, and perhaps even without knowing it, you will live along some distant day into your answers." ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

I'm going to live the questions for a little while... :-)

Yummy Yoga

Yoga is yummy. I said that today while teaching and I really liked it (although I think my students thought it was a little strange). The saying "you are what you eat" really applies to yoga too. I feel like I eat or ingest yoga. I can describe yoga as yummy to my body. Every asana I do is like eating a piece of food (good, healthy food). It nourishes and fills me up - that's yoga - and that is yummy! The best thing about yoga is that "yoga calories" don't make you bigger, they make you whole.