When you are inside a cozy, welcoming studio such as Pink Lotus Yoga on Detroit Avenue, it is really hard to remember that there are many people in the world who do not practice yoga. At least, that is my experience as a Lakewood resident and yoga studio owner. Truth be known, I walk around with yoga blinders on. (One time I described to my husband a scene in a film I’d seen--the protagonist was going through intensive physical and mental acuity training. I called the training ‘yogic.’ My husband stopped me and laughed. “Marcia,” he said. “Not EVERYTHING is yoga.” His statement did not compute.)
My yoga blinders are built of the stuff from which optimism springs, for it is a deep-felt dream of mine to introduce yoga’s many, many physical, mental, and emotional benefits to many, many more people. I meet people all the time who are curious who have not taken a class yet.
If you are one of those people, or if you have a few classes, consider that February is Beginners’ Month at Pink Lotus Yoga. And to that end, we are offering four incredibly affordable two-hour introductory yoga sessions. Each session is only $12.00.
Attend one, two, three, or all four.
You will receive much personalized instruction in these two-hour classes for beginners that introduce the fundamentals of yoga: healthy body alignment, breathwork, deep relaxation, information about yoga history and philosophy, and whole-self wellness, all in the comfort of a classroom with beginners like yourself.
Wear comfortable clothing, avoid eating one hour before class, and bring a yoga mat and blanket. Arrive fifteen minutes before class to park, check in, and settle in.
Fee: $12.00 per two-hour class SPECIAL NEW YEAR'S RATE!!
Members’ Fee: 20% off
Go to our website’s scheduler, and check under Workshops/Series/Events for more info and to register: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/adm/home.asp?studioid=21931
Or visit us http://www.pinklotusyoga.com to learn more. Or reach out to us at 216-632-0816 or pinklotusyogastudio@gmail.com
 Though it is still summer, fall has already arrived for many of us in the form of back-to-school activities, new work schedules, cooler temperatures, and more. This is the first fall we’ll be celebrating at Pink Lotus Yoga since opening our doors just nine months ago. Every season is a time for new beginnings, and at PLY, this is no exception. Here’s something brand new at Pink Lotus Yoga! Welcome to the Lotus Pond The Lotus Pond is Pink Lotus Yoga’s new education-focused extension, whose mission is to offer yoga education to the public, the studio’s students and members, and those interested in further yoga training, including teacher training. The Lotus Pond is the official administrator of the studio’s educational efforts: namely, the PLY 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program (anticipated to begin mid-year 2013). We're just swimming with excitement over this! :) The Lotus Pond offers more than yoga classes and workshops: courses and immersions take place on weekends and evenings and offer lecture and discussion on the history, theory, methods, and philosophies behind various styles and systems of yoga as well as the essential practice. The Lotus Pond is rooted in the belief that a well-rounded education of yoga requires both practice and study. Its first mini-course, a survey into four distinct styles and practices in yoga, takes place on Saturday, September 22nd and again (course repeated) on Saturday, October 13th from 2-6 p.m. The title of the course is Yoga Studies: New and Ancient Styles. See the link below, Check out The Lotus Pond’s inaugural mini-course, Yoga Studies: New and Ancient Styles, and register today>>
This is one of my favorite short videos relating to yoga. We watched it in Yin Yoga teacher training, and it was a hit. Here, in "The Fuzz Speech" Gil Hedley talks about fascia. No better need for yoga than for fighting fuzz.
Warning: There is footage in this video showing human cadavers.
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/03/the-video-every-yogi-needs-to-see
For most of my seven-year career instructing yoga, I have offered classes outdoors during the summer. I find that yoga and the great Cleveland area outdoors are a perfect pair. Or, as one of my students says, yoga and the outdoors go together like peas and carrots.
The number of students attending Pink Lotus Yoga outdoor classes has grown steadily over the years. And it makes sense why: The scenery is great, the crowd is mixed level and welcoming, and the price is right (by donation).
This year, even though this studio opened in December, we'll be offering 48 outdoor classes this summer. The first two, offered next weekend, will constitute a fundraiser.
Join us Saturday, May 12th from 9:00-10:00 a.m. and on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 13th from 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.at Rocky River Park to raise funds for the Edna House for Women. Rocky River is located at Parkside and Beachcliff (north of Lake Avenue). Parking is limited, so consider arriving early or sharing a ride.
Conceived by and for women alcoholics, The Edna House offers long-term, structured sober living and education to women seeking recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol. The Edna House receives no government funding, operating completely on donations from individuals and businesses.
We hope you can make the fundraiser and will spread the word about it.
As I write this, I'm in the studio, sitting in the lobby working on my laptop doing this and that and in the background listening to and watching Sarah Husher teach her Monday evening Vinyasa class.
There is so much calm in this class, I note as I listen and periodically peek into the studio, and so much hard work going on, too, that I realize after a minute I have myself become calm, sitting and amazed and touched by these students'--and this teacher's--tenacity in their practice and guidance.
Sarah speaks: How lucky we all are to have the bodies we do, to be able to engage in the practice as we do. But really, she says, our bodies are merely on loan. We have to take care of our bodies. "So take care of your house," she says, expanding on the analogy of grand impermanence: The idea of how we can't take any of it with us, but that does not mean we are not responsible for it while we are here.
I think about my yoga house (this new studio!), and how I love to be here, and how I love to take care of it and the people here, for it feels like a place of good people and good yoga.
But then I focus on a downside, my current physical limitations that are prohibiting me from any posture practice of my own, and which are making teaching--and even cleaning my studio--very challenging.
I sit pouting for awhile.
Sarah is preparing to end her class. She speaks: We end where we begin, soft, but more conditioned....Her students have returned to Child Posture, the opening posture.
This phrase--that we end where we began, but more conditioned--strikes me. I imagine myself healthy and taking class again, back where I began years ago, before this studio, before my pain began, back to Child Pose. Of simply practicing again. And of more than that. Of something taller than that. Of sweeping my studio with joy rather than pain-fed groans. And of more than that. Of finally learning to stand on my own two hands in the middle of the floor, without a wall or a teacher.
Our bodies are on loan, it is true, but our hearts and spirits are not, and this class in this space in this moment, from my very participating as an outside member, gave me hope again, a surge, a conviction to stand up, and to keep standing up.
I imagine spirit, and yoga, and love. And that even challenges are okay.
And then Sarah plays for her students John Lennon's "Imagine."
Imagine, indeed.
_(This is the first in what I intend to be an occasional posting series containing--to the best of my memory--verbatim quotes spoken in the lobby at Pink Lotus Yoga. Thanks to the speakers.)
"I'm afraid of bears. So when I go backcountry camping, I practice Alternate Nostril Breathing. It calms me down so I can sleep."
"I mastered fourth grade math." (to yoga studio owner during a discounted class package transaction)
"Not *this* time, bucko! There's no TIME for depression!!" (to friend, both arriving for class)
"I want to come here for the socializing. But then can someone give me a lift home?" (person waiting for bus in front of studio, stepping in to check the studio out)
"Have you seen my pants?"
Well, the new Pink Lotus Yoga studio has been open for almost three weeks, and it's been quite a journey already, not only for myself but for the many members of the PLY kula who helped get these doors open. In particular, Terry Grdina and Lindsey Wilber--who kept showing up day after day to prime, paint, help us tear up a floor and prep it for painting, move and haul things, and many tasks I have undoubtedly forgotten--are to be richly thanked, and are, from the bottom of my heart. The Camino family; my sister; my brother; friend and window designer Maria Weber Kramer; student, friend, and artist Dave Smith; student and friend Robin Suttell; friend Ben Small; business advisor extraordinaire Aaron Vaughn; and my fellow Grrl Geniuses all deserve a big round of yogic applause for what they have given to me, to the space, and to the spirit of yoga community over the last six months. But I can't end this list of thanks without thanking a very special person: Ann Fiorilli.
It was Ann, a quiet student with pretty great yoga skill, who came up to me one summer day after an outdoor yoga class at Rocky River Park and offered her services to the Pink Lotus Yoga studio-to-be. Having heard from me that I was planning on opening a studio, Ann let me know that space design was her thing--who knew??--and that she wanted to work with me to create a studio that I would love.
What a gift that was, and how lucky I am. Ann went into action before I'd even located a space, creating a lovely concept board of colors, shapes, and textures that she thought best represented what I was all about as a person and yogi. We ran with her concept, and once we found a space--18103 Detroit Avenue in Lakewood, OH--she really got down to work, offering countless suggestions: from color to carpet. Every inch of my studio is a testament--thanks to Ann's devotion and vision--of the good things that can arise when community-building is at the helm. Thank you, Ann.
And to all of you, I thank you for reading and wish you a yoga-filled holiday season and new year. Come by to our studio. Did I mention that the yoga here is as cool as the space? It is. --Namaste.
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