What's Changed?
If you'd like to know exactly what's changed, please keep reading.
- The Tue/Thu 8:30 a.m. classes change from Moderate to Gentle.
- The Tue/Thu 4:45 p.m. classes are cancelled.
- We've added a new 5:30 p.m. Strong class on Mon & Wed and cancelled the all the 6:00 p.m. classes. Over time we've seen 6:00 p.m. attendance dwindle as rush hour traffic has increased on 79. We're hoping more people will be able to make it to class at 5:30 before the traffic gets too crazy, or 6:45 after the traffic has settled down.
- We'll have availability for Individual Instruction on Tue and Thur evenings.
- My Sat/Sun 6:45 a.m. classes are cancelled as I'll be away for most of the summer, learning more at the last module of my training course in India.
- Due to travel schedules, some classes will change teachers over the course of the summer. For these classes, we've detailed which teacher will teach each month.
We know your yoga practice is important to you, and it's important to us too! Please know that in situations like this, when we do have to make schedule changes, we do so very thoughtfully. We spent weeks figuring out the least disruptive way to organize our Summer Class Schedule while prioritizing the needs of the students, the teachers, and the studio.
Even still, we know change can be difficult to manage, so if you're interested in a little yoga philosophy, we can consider what yoga teaches us about change.
What Yoga Teaches Us About Change
Vairagya (vī-rog-yah) is a Sanskrit term that means non-attachment. Yoga philosophy teaches us that when we have attachment to something, we will inevitably feel pain, and when we can avoid attachment, we can avoid pain.
For example, say you buy a shiny new sports car. You really love your car. You wash it by hand every Saturday, you buy it only the best type of fuel, and you've even given it a name. You car brings you so much happiness. Then one evening, as you're driving your beloved car into your garage for the night, you get too close and scratch the passenger side door.
You are so devastated. You experience a range of emotions from anger to sadness, and you are so upset that even your sleep is disturbed and you are tired and cranky the next day. This is the type of pain that happens when we have attachment to something.
Yoga philosophy teaches us that in order to avoid or minimize our experience of pain, we should practice vairagya, non-attachment. If we practice vairagya with the Summer Class Schedule, we cultivate an attitude of non-attachment to the schedule, and even non-attachment to the class type and the teacher.
Perhaps you typically attend a Moderate class with a certain teacher. You love this teacher's style of teaching. You have developed a good relationship with this teacher. Then one day you arrive for class and a different teacher is at the front of the room. If you practice vairagya, you can think to yourself, "Oh look, there is a new teacher today. I wonder what I can learn from this teacher."
Her teaching style will be different than your favorite teacher's, so you will have the chance to practice being really present and focused so that you can understand her language and sequencing. This intensified focus is meditation, which is known to provide many mental health benefits.
The new teacher's life experience will be different, so she may teach a familiar concept in a different way that brings you a new level of understanding.
The new teacher's sequencing will be different, so you will get to use your body and your muscles in new ways, providing new avenues to strengthening and flexibility.
When you practice non-attachment, you avoid the experience of pain when your favorite teacher is absent. You see her absence in a new light - as an opportunity to learn something new from a new teacher. And when your favorite teacher is back, you may even get more benefit from her familiar teaching because you will be changed by the experience of having practiced with another teacher.
We look forward to seeing you soon. And please feel welcome to contact me with any questions, concerns, or doubts. I'm always just an email away.
All the best,
