JUST STOP! written by Jan Spiller

Behind the timeless striving

Of man to reach his goals…

Behind the search for knowledge

So the answer can be known

Behind the endless looking for

That something to make us full

The object of the searching

Has been there all the while.

If you can stop…and listen

Just stop, and you will know -

The mind was only a diversion

And all the time you were whole!

Apart from the appearance

Of what in life is real

Apart from the mirage of things

That seem to have some value

Apart from personality

With all its different needs

Lies the source of all . . . . .

To live content with small means

to seek elegance rather than luxury and refinement rather than fashion

to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich

to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly

to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart

to bear all cheerfully

do all bravely

await occasions

hurry never-

in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconcious

grow up through the common.

This is to be my symphony.

-William Ellery Channing

Intention from Hot Yoga class on Friday

This from the work of Gay and Kathlyn Hendricks.
"I am willing to transform myself in whatever ways are necessary to serve my highest evolution and have the highest quality relationships with others."

Also-
"One of our biggest issues as humans is acknowledging our innate loveableness."

Why Meditate?

"Why sit in meditation? I don't know, except that a part of us has to. We don't sit because it is holy, or because it is good for us, or to impress people. We sit because we love it and hate it and because we must. We have to for our sanity, our deep sanity. We sit because this is when we discover how things really are, who we really are. Meditation is a source of vitality for our essence; it gives us ground and source, and opens us to the light.

Sit like an old frog by the river, softly quiet and immobile, hunkered down on the smooth surface. Do not force immobility. Sit just to be sitting, to be still for a while, to catch your breath. And when you need to flash your tongue to catch a fly, do so. Action will come from that space of alert deep stillness that does not preclude action, but rather prepares you for effective action. Meditation is a natural human ability, similar to imagination, concentration, and creativity - not so much something that has to be learned as something that can be remembered..."

this is from Hugh Milne's book The Heart of Listening: A Visionary Approach to Craniosacral Work.

from 0 to 60 in two months-new classes!

Five classes of my own/a week, starting tomorrow!
Sundays: Serene Vinyasa at the Fort Bragg Yoga Studio, 430-6 pm.
Mondays & Tuesdays: Yoga at the CV Starr Rec Center, 7-815 am.
Wednesdays: Hot Yoga Flow at Hot Yoga Mendocino, 9-1030 am.
Serene Vinyasa at the Fort Bragg Yoga Studio, 530-630 pm

(this last one is likely, but not confirmed yet, it will start in April).

March quote

It is the first mild day of March.
Each minute sweeter than before...
There is a blessing in the air
Which seems a sense of joy to yield...

~William Wordsworth

Teaching schedule.

Links>

As you will see if you look over to the right side of this page, I've added a number of links. Judith Lasater and Shiva Rea are the most recent teachers that I have trained with. Also linked are locations where I teach on the Mendocino Coast. The Yoga Journal and Yoga Today sites offer some great resources for your home practice. Stay tuned...:)

Schedule, moving deeper into February

hello all! I am delighted to report that I am getting more requests to sub classes, and feel joyously blessed to be able to continue teaching in this community. I've received nothing but support from the other teachers around here, which I am most humbled and honored by.

To recap and update:

Redwood Health Club

*CHANGE* Saturday, February 13th 10:30-12:00 Lisa Orselli is subbing this class.

Tuesday, February 16th 5:30-7:00 sub Yoga Flow for Mike

Saturday, February 20th 10:30-12:00 sub Yoga for Susan

Mendocino Hot Yoga

Wednesday, February 17th 9:00-10:30 Hot Yoga Flow

C.V. Starr Rec Center

Tuesday, February 23rd 7:00-8:15 sub Yoga for Kristan

In other, more personal news, I've quit waiting tables at Lee's Chinese, which is a giant leap of faith in some ways. The net that will appear consists of a combination of teaching opportunities (both group classes and privates) and student loans/scholarships. Ultimately, whatever happens, quitting that job is the right decision for me at this time. It was the one incongruent thing in my life, the one thing that didn't really reflect who I am and the direction I want to be heading in.

Finally, some yoga quotes for you. Hopefully, these will re-inspire you to your home practice, inspire you to come to our classes, or both!

Love, Hannah

P.S. Remember, you can follow me at www.hannahcosetteyoga.blogspot.com

P.P.S. Also remember: comments, of any kind, are welcome at any time! :)

"Stress causes dramatic reductions in the ability to think coherently and creatively, and to perform movements requiring skill and dexterity."

~Michael Hutchinson

"Equanimity and peace in all conditions, in all parts of the being is the first foundation of the Yogic status. Peace is the first condition without which nothing else can be stable."

~Sri Aurobindo

"Where does the body end and the mind begin? Where does the mind end and the spirit begin? They cannot be divided as they are interrelated and but different aspects of the same all-pervading divine conciousness."

~B.K.S. Iyengar

"Yoga is a technology for arriving in this present moment. It is a means of waking up from our spiritual amnesia, so that we can remember all that we already know. It is a way of remembering our true nature, which is essentially joyful and peaceful...It is a means of staying in intimate communication with the formative core matrix of yourself and those forces that serve to bind all living beings together. As you establish and sustain this intimate connection, this state of equanimity becomes the core of your experience rather than the rare exception."

~Donna Farhi

schedule

here's the latest: I'll be subbing the Saturday morning yoga class at the Redwood Health Club from 10:30-12:00, on the 13th of February.

Other than that, Wednesday the 10th will be my first official class at Hot Yoga of Mendocino (www.hotyogamendo.com ). 9:00-10:30 a.m.

Oh-www.redwoodhealthclub.org for more information.

february quote

February arrives cold, wet and gray, her gifts disguised for only the most discerning spirits to see. Gentle is our path. Gratitude is the thread we weave into the fabric of our daily lives this month...

~Sarah Ban Breathnach