​How are you doing with the end of daylight savings time last Sunday?  I know, as I teach in the studio during the evening, it is very noticeably dark.  And we had 3 snow storms in October!

As I am currently sitting in Whitefish, Montana (here to teach a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training weekend at sister studio Yoga Hive Montana) it is dark and cold.

Not that long ago, it was extremely difficult for our ancestors to get through the winter.  Winter was survival time!  So we, the resourceful humans, started to create rituals with light.  Leaves off the trees?  No problem, we will string them with lights.  Time for holiday celebration?  Lights on the house, candles in each window.  Winter holiday time?  Bake!  Have friends over for meals and parties.  Everyone gathers in the kitchen, the heart of the home, for warm food and love.  These rituals offered hope and light in the middle of the darkest season.

As I stare out into the darkness, I light a candle (yes, I bring a candle when I travel as part of my daily meditation ritual) and that brings me to my top tips to get through the darker, colder months.  One of my favorite Anne Frank quotes:

Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.

1. Candles!  One or many.  Bring candles into your daily routine and you will feel warmer.  I have a friend who does a once a week “brownout” with her family.  One night a week, they use the absolute minimum possible electricity.  Candles, storytelling, being together as a family, even reading by headlamp.  No TVs, devices, or running dishwasher, just the family spending time together. 
2. Watch the sunrise and the sunset.  Take a moment, quiet the mind, pause and simply breathe.  The sun is the force of life, and sun gazing as it sits next to the earth brings life energy within you.
3. Breathwork.  There are many techniques to stoke the inner fire.  Several long deep breaths through the right nostril brings warm sun-energy.  One of my favorite breathing techniques I learned in India is called Prakasha, or Breath of Light.  It is a more meditative breath practice that builds energy.  Sitting tall, close your eyes and bring your awareness to light in and around you.  Inhale in seven short parts through the nose to create one full inhalation.  Direct the breath and light up to your third eye.  Hold the breath in as long as comfortable and exhale gently through the nose in one part.

A Sattva Himalayan Yog-Vedanta Journey to discover the true nature of self.
Return to your highest self beyond all masks and illusions.
Go beyond the mind, to embody what you’re learning at the level of your soul
Understand ancient yogic teachings from an accessible & modern perspective

Co-Lead Sattva Yoga Journey by Gordie Roach and Natalie Belden

We will move through transformational Tantric practices connecting body, mind, and breath, using Kriya Yoga intentional movement for evolutionary expansion into the Soul.

Breathwork (Prana)
Kundalini Kriya (Tantra)
Bhakti (Mantra (Devotion of the heart))
Hatha (Asana (Freedom Movement))
Laya Sufi (Meditative Chi Energy)
Meditation (Silence)
​

We have big news!

For quite a while I have wanted to bring more “yogic lifestyle” into Yoga Hive.  By yogic lifestyle I mean the way we live our lives and the choices we make to bring harmony and contentedness to ourselves and our community.  I care about each of us individually and also our relationship to the world we live in and the planet we live on.

Yoga is not one hour a day; it is all the time.

Every breath, every choice, all that we do is Yoga.

Personally, I work hard to do the least amount of harm possible and I care very much about the planet.  This is reflected in my food choices and shopping patterns.  Are you familiar with zero waste initiatives?  Zero waste is a visionary goal to reduce and eliminate discarded materials from our lifestyles.  For example, how many people buy laundry detergent, then when it is finished, throw the empty container away and go buy a new one?  And shampoo, and dish soap, and household cleaners… this list could go on a long time and there are millions of people doing this.  Zero waste means we take a container, that we use over and over again to a location and fill it up.  Then when it is empty, we refill it again.

Enter Refill Revolution.

Brittany La Gesse is Founder and Owner of Refill Revolution in Boulder.  She and I have partnered for the Holiday season to bring zero waste to Louisville in the form of Refill Revolution pop-ups at Yoga Hive. She will bring bulk refill supplies but also the many other items needed to support this lifestyle, such as re-usable straws, portable utensils, reusable produce bags (no need to ever grab a plastic produce bag again!), towels, and much, much more! November 1st and 2nd will be the first 2 pop-ups.  And, we are co-hosting a Holiday Open House on Saturday, Nov 2nd.  We will have free yoga classes and snacks and deals and prizes and it will be a perfect time to pick up Holiday gifts and support the move to reduce waste in your life and the lives of your loved ones.

Mark your calendars for Nov 1st from 5:00-9:00 (during Louisville First Friday Art Walk) and Nov 2nd from 10:00-4:00 for Holiday Open House.  Free Aerial Yoga on Nov 2nd at 9:00, 11:00 and 2:00 and free class cards will be handed out to those who come by on Saturday.  Also snacks, giveaways and all the party things.

Be sure to register for the free classes on the SCHEDULE.  They will sell out fast!