It’s time to announce that I will close the Plaza Nino Coco Yoga & Wellness space at the end of this month. I am so grateful to have been invited to partner in running the space over the past year and a half, and I am so grateful for the warm welcome I received returning to the local yoga community. It has been an incredibly enjoyable and fulfilling experience, and I learned so much in this time as I stepped into more responsibilities in holding and managing this space. Yet however much love, thought, time, and effort I put into this space, Miranda was the real heart of it; the vision belonged to her, and I can only imagine her tremendous efforts and dedication in creating the space and running it on her own before my return to Coco. By November, however, I began to feel called to begin focusing on my own dream—the land nearby sitting empty waiting to host the beautiful yoga shala I envision. This shift in my energies and priorities marked an inevitable fork in the road; and I sense that my decision to close after March this year played a part in Miranda’s decision to end our partnership in November. While I agreed to take over the rental contract in December and keep the space open through the summer season; I did so with the understanding that both Miranda, Metzi, and myself were committed to teaching through the end of March this year. However, by the end of December Miranda’s plans had changed, and last week with complications in the Monkey Trail commute getting worse, Metzi decided that it’s become too difficult to keep up. If I still were able to count on myself for the season, I’d definitely make it work as I had planned, but at New Year’s Eve my husband and I had news, which although gave us more cause for celebration, also made us put away the champagne. In these early weeks of pregnancy I’ve needed considerable rest, have had much less mental and physical energy to put toward work, and have acknowledged my recent ankle injury a clear sign to step away from teaching. While a big part of me would love to fulfill the commitment I made both to our incredible instructors and to our amazing students, to keep operating the space through the end of March, I must make the difficult decision to honor first my commitment to myself. This is a precious time in which I need to care for myself and draw my energies inward in conscious creation. Having previously experienced the pain and difficulty of miscarriage, I don’t take anything for granted and will do everything I can to support a healthy pregnancy. I have spent much time in contemplating this decision to close early, and it has weighed on me these weeks, but ultimately my intuition has given clear direction and by now I know to follow always the heart’s call. I am so grateful to Marcos and Vanessa who will step in to fulfill the January yoga schedule; they have such bright light and tremendous wisdom to share. They both plan to continue teaching classes beyond January and will be available for private sessions as well; more information about their public classes beyond January will be announced as it is determined. For those who will have remaining classes on passes that extend into February, you will have the option to apply these to Marcos and Vanessa’s classes, apply these to classes at the new yoga studio in Hacienda Blu in Playa Panama, or to receive a refund for unused classes. Please plan accordingly in purchasing new passes through the rest of January; for those accustomed to purchasing the more economic pass options, pass extensions will be available to buy additional passes at your usual class rate. Veronique and I will continue to be available for healing treatments and may be contacted through Coco Yoga or individually to set up appointments, and Angel can be reached through her Soul Sisters group. To those who have already offered your support and encouragement in making this decision, I truly appreciate your kind words and care. Thank you to all for your understanding. While this marks the close to one incredible chapter, the story is but beginning, and I look forward to the day that I will open again the doors to Coco Yoga and Wellness in a space created with love to foster healthy and vibrant community around Yoga, Arts, and Healing.
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GUIDED MEDITATION, FRIDAYS 8:15 - 9:15 AM, December 2019Meditation benefits our health in many ways, especially helping to lower blood pressure and relieve stress or anxiety from our ever-changing world. Angel hopes to share the peace and self-connection that come with practicing meditation and finding inner stillness. Rather than trying to stop our busy minds and silence the noise of constant mental activity, Angel teaches how to disengage from the flow of thoughts, stepping back to become a witness or observer. Angel offers these guided meditations on a donation-basis. SOUL SISTERS CIRCLE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 11TH, 7:15 - 9:00 PM
Today in Satsang I asked students whether they practice yoga at home. What does your own self-guided practice look like? What challenges get in the way? I asked myself, if students aren’t practicing on their own, am I succeeding as an instructor? Give a fish/teach to fish...is it important that students develop a hearty home practice? What’s the first obvious challenge to a home practice? Our consensus today: dogs. If you’re in Downward-Facing Dog, dogs want to play. Even if you’re shut away in your room, you’ll soon be drawn out but their little noses bopping up against the door. Dogs are the first challenge to home practice. And if it’s not dogs, maybe it’s kids, maybe it’s the ringing phone, maybe it’s one of a million other things that calls for your attention, pulling you away from your mat. But after that, after all the outside distractions, what’s the next challenge with home practice? Our consensus today: discipline. What is discipline? Is it a word with a check box next to it, and we can mark off either we have it or we don’t? Is it an attitude? When I think about discipline, I think about taking time to define a mental framework and have specific strategies in mind.
For example, if you want to form a new habit like making your bed each morning, the idea of discipline might comprise a firm decision of absolute follow-through. It’s all or nothing. You make the decision that you will form this new habit. You commit. Then every morning first thing upon waking, you make your bed. You make your bed no matter how tired or lazy you feel, no matter how late you are and rushed to get out the door, no matter if your only plan for the day is to go for a stroll, have a bite, and then get right back in bed. This form of discipline equates success with strict consistency, getting it done no matter what. It’s extremely potent; it can be highly effective. Sometimes this discipline framework may be applied to making shifts around diet. If our motivation is clear and pressing enough, like in the case of confronting a severe health issue, then this all-or-nothing approach to revolutionize our diet may be just the ticket. However, if we’re not quite so intensely compelled to make the shifts, maybe we have only a general sense that we could make some changes to improve our health or minimize our environmental impact, then the all-or-nothing approach could be a setup for failure. If you stray too far or too often from your initial decision, all or nothing may easily default to the latter; when it’s all or nothing, nothing is the choice of least resistance. In this sort of situation, we might be more successful setting up for ourselves a specific proportional rule. For instance, as long as we follow our new diet guidelines 80% of the time, then we are being disciplined enough to make lasting change. So how about when it comes to developing a home practice? Whether you commit, all or nothing, to a firm decision that each day upon waking you will be on your yoga mat without fail, or whether you’re less strict and decide that as long as you’re fitting practice into your schedule once or twice a week you’re good, either of these strategies can build discipline to show up on our mats with consistency. Getting to the mat is at least half the battle, but then how do we stay disciplined once we’re there? What do we do when we start to practice and inevitably the time comes, the thought arises, we’d rather be doing something else? We’d rather be back in bed, or we’d rather be getting ahead of tasks for the day, or whatever is calling to us, maybe we just don’t feel up to it. Inevitably there will be times when we want to call it quits, when we won’t feel compelled to move through a complete practice. What do you do at these times? All or nothing, you’re finishing practice no matter what? Do you reflect on how consistent you’ve been and weigh out whether you’re meeting your proportional target? When we’re in our practice it’s not going to serve us to have to stop and weigh choices every time we are feeling challenged, so what can we do? For myself, whether I’m flowing through Ashtanga practice, or whether I’m sitting down for meditation in stillness, I use the three-strike rule. I begin my practice, and the first time I feel like I want to stop, that’s what tells me the practice has begun. Everything before the first time I want to call it quits was the warm-up, and now I know that I’m in my practice and I keep with it. It’s interesting to notice when the first strike happens--it may be when I’m just getting going, it may be when I’m already most of the way through. On an amazing day, that first strike may not come at all. So I continue. If again the thought arises, “I’d really rather stop.” That’s strike two--that’s what tells me that I’m in the heart of my practice. I take note, because right here is where my work is. This is it. My awareness intensifies, I realign my form, and I keep going. Sometimes there’s a strike two, sometimes there’s not; it can be telling to track the patterns. Most of the time I will complete my practice with two strikes or less, but sometimes there’s a strike three, when again I think, “I’m really not feeling this today.” Three strikes and I’m out. When for a third time I feel like it’s not in me today, that’s my cue to listen. That’s when I know today I’m better served taking rest. It’s important to know when to call it quits. It’s important to know when we are better served taking a rest. Our practice needs to serve us, and it’s important we develop awareness around our limits. For me the three strike rule has proven invaluable in practice and beyond. It can be applied with interpersonal relationships. How do we know when there’s value working things through, when moving through the challenge serves our growth and development? How do we know when it’s time to part ways? It can be applied to our goals, like working toward a degree or certification. How do we know when we’re facing common hurdles and the difficulty is an important part of the training process? How do we know when it’s time to accept that this path may not be for us, and our true dharma is waiting as soon as we’re ready to let this one go? And if we do hit three strikes, does that mean the practice is not for me? Or does that mean, not today, but you can be sure I’ll be back again tomorrow to give it another shot? It’s not an easy process, and three strikes may be an oversimplification, but then, maybe it holds true. What do you think? I’d love to hear your input. ~ Teagan May this practice serve our highest health and wellbeing. May we be of service to all beings. Namaste.
Vanessa da Silva will lead a two-part workshop Saturday May 4th, 2019. During the early morning session 7:00 - 9:30 am, Vanessa will guide students in Mysore-Style primary series Yoga practice. In the late morning session 10:00 - 11:30 am, Vanessa will speak on Yoga Philosophy and lead Satsang, a spiritual discourse in community. Essence of Mysore WOrkshop, Saturday May 4, 2019
Vanessa began her formal Yoga training in 2013 with Indira Kalmbach, director of Pavones Yoga Center in Costa Rica, fulfilling RYT 200 hours Multidimensional Yoga Teacher Training, and completing RYT 500 hours with supplementary courses in Art of Flow and Integrative Healing Yoga Therapy. The following year Vanessa traveled to Mysore, India, birthplace of the Ashtanga Yoga System. She studied with Sri B.N.S. Iyengar, disciple of Sri Krishnamacharya, who is considered to be the father of modern Yoga, and Vanessa fulfilled a Yoga Teacher Training in the Ashtanga Vinyasa Tradition. Ever since then, she has returned to India to study with Ajay Kumar, direct disciple of B.N.S. Iyengar, to deepen and strengthen her personal practice, and to continue study in the Ashtanga Method, concluding a two-month Teacher Training course in Mysore-Style Ashtanga Vinyasa in 2017. Vanessa has developed a great interest and respect for the Mysore-Style method and has dedicated herself to share this beautiful Ashtanga Yoga tradition. In 2018 she began full-time Yoga Philosophy study with Mr. Sudheera, Sanskrit scholar from Mysore, and has completed third-level Patanjali Yoga Sutras and Baghavad Gita classical studies and chanting. This workshop is open to all students and is split in two sections: Primary and Philosophy. Students may choose to attend either section on its own ($20 each) or join Vanessa for the full workshop ($35).
Part 1: Primary The morning begins with twenty minutes of Sound Meditation: Omkaara, chanting the sound of Om. which is the first mantra in a traditional meditation practice, and Bija Mantras to activate the energy of each chakra to purify the mind and body. This uplifting sound meditation will calm and center students to prepare to flow through Mysore-Style primary series. In Mysore-Style students practice at their own pace the portion of the sequence appropriate to their personal practice. The practice is done peacefully in silence as Vanessa guides the students individually by physical adjustments or verbal instruction. Cards outlining the series are available for reference for those who do not have the sequence fully memorized. This amazing method following a fixed sequence encourages focus on the subtle energy of each posture allowing the prana to flow at ease, as less emphasis goes toward the physical performance of the asana. There will be an official break 9:30 - 10:00 am; however, not every student will need the full two hours to complete their Mysore-Style practice and may finish Part One earlier than 9:30. Please nourish yourself; you may bring snacks to the studio. Part 2: Philosophy Vanessa will dedicate the second portion of the morning to Yoga Philosophy. She will delve into subjects including the meaning of the Om symbol and mantra, study of the first three Yoga Sutras, the purpose and meaning of Ashtanga Yoga, and the fundamentals of Ashtanga Yoga practice: Breath, Bandha, Drishti, and Vinyasa. The morning will conclude with Satsang as Vanessa answers questions and addresses students' doubts or confusions.
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