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I am creating these "Yoga Extras" blog posts for those of you resonating with the public yoga classes & Yoga Teacher Trainings I am leading. Inside of these blog posts you will find extra resources that support our weekly class theme. The weekly classes I guide are themed according to the season & collective energetic "weather"–This is of course influenced by many things; for instance, not only national and global events but how masses of people are feeling about and reacting to those events. It is also influenced by space weather (see spaceweather.com) & the current movement/placement of celestial bodies ie: the sun, moon, planets, nodes, stars, etc. You can find me teaching currently at Black Swan Yoga (North-Anderson) in Austin, TX. I am on the schedule as "Erika K." Mention this webpage for a free class.
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Hello dear beings! (NEW VIDEOS below)
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Video messages below…(I've added a couple to the ones from last week as this week is a variation on last. The theme deepened for me & I'm explaining this on this week's new vids, posted beneath last week's. xo)
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The first two are a personal story of how this theme is applying to me. The third is a message about my upcoming travels/extended teaching sabbatical 😉
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Lots of Love,
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ek
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Such a flattering image!
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NEW VID going deeper into last week's fishy theme
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Click the image below for the music from this week's class:
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For this week's readings, see below.
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A simple fish nosing its way along the bottom is in itself a profound teacher, and like the deepest teachers, it doesn’t even know it is teaching. Yet in its tiny, efficient gill lives the mystery of how to live as a spirit on Earth.Â
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As we all know, by swimming, the fish takes in water, and its gill turns the water into the air by which it lives. Though there are biological details that explain the mechanics of this, it is, in essence, a mystery.Â
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The question is, What in us is our gill? Our heart, our mind, our spirit, a mix of all three? Whatever it is, like the smallest fish, we must turn water into air in order to live, which for us means turning our experience into something that can sustain us. It means turning pain into wonder, heartache into joy.Â
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Nothing else matters, and just like fish we must keep swimming to stay alive. We must keep swimming through the days. We cannot stop the flow of experience or the need to take it in. Rather, all our efforts must go into learning the secret of the gill, the secret of transforming what we go through into air.Â
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So, what is your gill? For me, it is my heart, and love becomes the unseeable trail I leave behind. But whatever it might be for you, it is more important to swim through the days and honor the gill inside you than to figure out how it all works.Â
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Mark Nepo
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Below is an active-learning opportunity (as opposed to passive-learning like reading or listening to information). I advocate for active-learning as a booster shot for your personal growth. We MUST investigate ourselves for our own answers, not just repeat back information we've heard.
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What is the essence within me, my own gill, that breathes life into my experiences and transforms them into sustenance?
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As I journey through the ebb and flow of each day, how do I turn the struggles and triumphs into a nourishing current that carries me forward?
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When do I feel most truly alive, and how do these moments reveal the quiet magic of my inner transformation, like the fish in its water?
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How do I turn the ache of my heart into the breath of joy, and find wonder within the depths of my pain, much like the fish turns water into air?
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How can I honor the sacred process within me that alchemizes experience into vitality, rather than being preoccupied with understanding its mysteries?
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What does it mean to keep swimming through the days of my life, and how can I stay buoyant and present amidst the endless flow of experiences?
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In what ways do my heart, mind, or spirit serve as the vital force that transforms the raw currents of life into a source of strength and renewal?
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What are the quiet, hidden strengths within me that help transmute my encounters into something that nurtures and sustains my soul?
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How can I feel the gentle workings of my inner gill and deepen my connection to this part of myself that turns experience into the breath of life?
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How might I release the need to fully grasp the mechanics of my inner transformation and instead embrace the flow and rhythm of living through it?
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