Strong and Centered: Teaching a Private: Wailea, HI: August 22, 2022

Me and Star both love a daily yoga practice. My dog and my practice help keep me strong and centered.

After having a brush with an exposure to Covid and not getting the virus, I'm even more pro-vaccine. Nonetheless I tested, nonetheless I isolated for 10 days. Some say, at this point in the pandemic it's easy to just stop caring. But look what happens when we all stop caring. Hospitals are filling up again, people are getting sick again, our lives, all of us, are put in jeopardy one way or another.

Once again, I'm spending more time at home. Ug, it's you again, I think as I step on my yoga mat. The ride from extreme anxiety to mini-depression impossible to ignore. The Gita says, "even a little bit of practice will shield you from sorrow", and how true this feels for me. I feel better when I practice regularly. Sometimes it’s vigorous, sometimes I barely move but always i feel better.

This is a significant booster to our immune system.

And the immediate counterpose to feeling helpless and frustrated. and, every so often, clear, is miraculous. Getting on my mat and doing a little practice helps keep me strong. I helps me stay centered.

And when I'm lucky, I have days where i get to share the practice with others.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to say “with everybody” but I’m not strong and centered enough to do that yet. I’ll do it outside and with vaccinated people. That’s where I’m at with it all today.

Here's our practice:

Banana

Side lying leg lifts

Cat and cow
Leg lift push ups
Birddog with arm and leg lefts
Wrist circles

Tadasana
Half moon side stretch

Pyramid with warrior II variation
Goddess with sweeping breath
Twist and dip
Warrior II with open heart arm pulse

Tree

Uttanasana
Table top
Eye of needle
Easy twist

Savasana with hands on heart and belly

Stand
Namaste

Health, Love, and Rock and Roll