I'm home from an exhausting visit to San Diego. I was there to help my folks with medical stuff.
I still have no idea what is up vis-a-vis St. Luke's--where, when, etc. My plans to teach in a friend's kitchen fell through. Now what?
This might take some pondering . . .
Monday, September 20, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Where Are We?
Right now, Moon Tree Gentle Yoga is studioless in Spokane. Yes, we lost our lease (it's complicated) thus our lovely violet studio is no more. Fear not, however, because there are several options brewing.
1. St. Luke's Hospital has promised to provide us with space. They are moving in the mode of s-l-o-w so we must be patient.
2. Several students have offered up space in their homes for small classes. This could be a great thing to keep cost low and classes intimate.
3. I might find more permanent digs in other studios.
4. Suggestions, offers, solutions accepted.
I will be heading out of town to take care of my folks from September 12th thru the 19th. When I get back, expect more info.
In the meantime, call 509-481-3134 and/or email me at yogalena@aol.com
Peace be upon you,
Ma'lena
1. St. Luke's Hospital has promised to provide us with space. They are moving in the mode of s-l-o-w so we must be patient.
2. Several students have offered up space in their homes for small classes. This could be a great thing to keep cost low and classes intimate.
3. I might find more permanent digs in other studios.
4. Suggestions, offers, solutions accepted.
I will be heading out of town to take care of my folks from September 12th thru the 19th. When I get back, expect more info.
In the meantime, call 509-481-3134 and/or email me at yogalena@aol.com
Peace be upon you,
Ma'lena
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Mercury is Retrograde
Mercury went retrograde on Monday. Yes, that means everything is FUBAR. Insert a huge, frustrating yell here . . .
No, actually, I do not feel better.
Let's just keep breathing through this, okay?
Inhale,
Ma'lena
PS. Um, don't forget to exhale, too.
No, actually, I do not feel better.
Let's just keep breathing through this, okay?
Inhale,
Ma'lena
PS. Um, don't forget to exhale, too.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
SAVASANA, THE SACRED REST
By
Ma’lena Walley
Savasana, or corpse pose, is the one where we lie on our backs, feet splayed, arms alongside, allowing ourselves to sink into the earth. Still as a corpse. This pose should be simple yet most of us find it challenging. Sometimes it seems impossible to lie down, settle our breath and quiet our mind. Many people fall asleep—not surprising in a culture starved for rest.
Rest is a state wherein we cease movement and attempt to recover and refresh ourselves. Savasana takes this rest even deeper by allowing us to tap into the divine.
When we come in to the pose, we give ourselves permission to create a space around us and within us that is sanctified. To fall into savasana is to enter a rest that is sacred, one that brings us peace and comfort as well as the safety to completely be: be silent, be reflective, be receptive, become the holy being that we already are. We feel the power of gravity and surrender utterly, without reserve. We feel everything becoming heavy, muscles and bones sinking, nestling into the earth, sending out roots that anchor us and connect us to everything and everyone
Savasana is an active rest; we breathe and our bodies gently rise and fall, moving effortlessly. As we settle into comfort, releasing tension and mental chatter, our breathing slows and deepens into our own pattern and rhythm.
In savasana the part of the brain that responds to meditation—the parietal lobe—becomes tranquil. Thus we soften ourselves from the inside out: organs—stomach and liver, heart and lungs, kidneys and bowels. We push the softening outward, allowing it to radiate into our veins and nervous system, limbic, respiratory, immune and circulatory systems. We invite the softness into our muscles and bones, down to the marrow, softening our joints, tendons and fascia, softening all the way out to the surface of our skin—softening, settling, sinking into the earth, nestling into a burrow so that we are completely safe and comfortable. Now as we breathe we experience the quietude of body and mind before stepping into our spirit—that endless mobius of timelessness where we are able to reach the divine.
We are at ease. We move from comfort into calm; from quiet into stillness . . . We breathe and release, breathe and release.
©Ma’lena Walley, May 2009
By
Ma’lena Walley
Savasana, or corpse pose, is the one where we lie on our backs, feet splayed, arms alongside, allowing ourselves to sink into the earth. Still as a corpse. This pose should be simple yet most of us find it challenging. Sometimes it seems impossible to lie down, settle our breath and quiet our mind. Many people fall asleep—not surprising in a culture starved for rest.
Rest is a state wherein we cease movement and attempt to recover and refresh ourselves. Savasana takes this rest even deeper by allowing us to tap into the divine.
When we come in to the pose, we give ourselves permission to create a space around us and within us that is sanctified. To fall into savasana is to enter a rest that is sacred, one that brings us peace and comfort as well as the safety to completely be: be silent, be reflective, be receptive, become the holy being that we already are. We feel the power of gravity and surrender utterly, without reserve. We feel everything becoming heavy, muscles and bones sinking, nestling into the earth, sending out roots that anchor us and connect us to everything and everyone
Savasana is an active rest; we breathe and our bodies gently rise and fall, moving effortlessly. As we settle into comfort, releasing tension and mental chatter, our breathing slows and deepens into our own pattern and rhythm.
In savasana the part of the brain that responds to meditation—the parietal lobe—becomes tranquil. Thus we soften ourselves from the inside out: organs—stomach and liver, heart and lungs, kidneys and bowels. We push the softening outward, allowing it to radiate into our veins and nervous system, limbic, respiratory, immune and circulatory systems. We invite the softness into our muscles and bones, down to the marrow, softening our joints, tendons and fascia, softening all the way out to the surface of our skin—softening, settling, sinking into the earth, nestling into a burrow so that we are completely safe and comfortable. Now as we breathe we experience the quietude of body and mind before stepping into our spirit—that endless mobius of timelessness where we are able to reach the divine.
We are at ease. We move from comfort into calm; from quiet into stillness . . . We breathe and release, breathe and release.
©Ma’lena Walley, May 2009
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Astrologer at Moon Tree
Are you astrology phobic? Curious? Wanting to experience a full reading and have never had the nerve or opportunity? Here is your chance.
Robert Brown, www.writingsinthesky.com, will be available for readings in the studio. He already has an appointment for a one hour reading, $100, in the studio on Thursday, August 13th. Call if you are interested in making an appointment that day for an in-person reading. 456-5116.
Beginning in the Fall, Robert will begin doing psychic fair readings, $20 for 20 minutes, or $40 for 40 minutes. These will take place on the third Saturdays of every month. Call 456-5116 for more information.
Besides being one of my best friends, Robert is smart, funny and imaginative. He is also intuitive and usually spot on in his readings. I've been skeptical about this sort of metaphysical mumbo jumbo--tarot, auras, crystal work, etc.--yet now having had several readings with Robert, I've come to appreciate this science, particularly when Mercury is Retrograde and the Moon is void (of course.)
Please explore his website, and come to the studio for a reading. If nothing else, it will be fun and you will learn a great deal about yourself.
Appointment are required. No drop ins, please.
Aries all the way,
Ma'lena
Robert Brown, www.writingsinthesky.com, will be available for readings in the studio. He already has an appointment for a one hour reading, $100, in the studio on Thursday, August 13th. Call if you are interested in making an appointment that day for an in-person reading. 456-5116.
Beginning in the Fall, Robert will begin doing psychic fair readings, $20 for 20 minutes, or $40 for 40 minutes. These will take place on the third Saturdays of every month. Call 456-5116 for more information.
Besides being one of my best friends, Robert is smart, funny and imaginative. He is also intuitive and usually spot on in his readings. I've been skeptical about this sort of metaphysical mumbo jumbo--tarot, auras, crystal work, etc.--yet now having had several readings with Robert, I've come to appreciate this science, particularly when Mercury is Retrograde and the Moon is void (of course.)
Please explore his website, and come to the studio for a reading. If nothing else, it will be fun and you will learn a great deal about yourself.
Appointment are required. No drop ins, please.
Aries all the way,
Ma'lena
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
1st Monday Meditation with Robert Brown
Last night Robert Brown, astrologer, teacher and supreme friend, taught a Kundalini meditation class at Moon Tree Gentle Yoga. There were only two of us, and we were enchanted. We learned a 31 minute "Sa Ta Na Ma" sequence that left us renewed and energized.
Robert is a great teacher and I hope to entice him in to doing more classes in the future. For now, check out his website: www.writingsinthesky.com
Sa Ta Na Ma,
Ma'lena
Robert is a great teacher and I hope to entice him in to doing more classes in the future. For now, check out his website: www.writingsinthesky.com
Sa Ta Na Ma,
Ma'lena
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Spring in Spokane--one never knows . . .
Hail! Snow. What's next?
I do love variety, don't you? Yesterday I sat sipping tea while I watched the hail power down; we have come to expect the unexpected here in Spokane.
I have come to feel the same about the classes I offer at Moon Tree--unexpected and varied. My Monday evening Meditation class is going through some changes. Instead of having a class every Monday, I am now going to offer the class on the first Monday of each month, with the prospect of adding a second class on the third Monday of the month. Everyone is invited, all are welcome--chair students, advanced students, students from other studios, strangers, friends and assorted.
Likewise, the Chair Yoga class is on hold for now except I promise to not play crappy music while you are waiting! (I never want to listen to someone else's idea of an appropriate soundtrack while I am waiting on hold for whomever or whatever to get back to me. Why can't we just have silence?)
My Sweet Boy, Fidelio.
My beautiful cat, Fidelio, died on my 55th birthday. What a lesson in acceptance it has been. I am grieving still, bereft, because I miss him every day and still have a hard time believing he is gone. It was shocking, but perhaps not entirely unexpected. Still, the timing . . . I will always remember him on my birthday, which is a good thing.
That's all for now. I'm off to teach my Tuesday evening classes. This week's theme is sweetness.
Sugar and spice,
Ma'lena
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