You don’t need to hide anything or pretend that something’s not there. All your sadness, all your anger, all your doubt, all your frustration, all your confusion. It’s all welcome here. All of you is welcome here.
― Jessamyn Stanley, Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance

Hello Friends,
First, a quick reminder that Tuesday Dharma River Zoom classes begin again on January 9th 2024. Friday DR classes, and Thursday Root River Classes will continue without interruption.

As the calendar year begins, like many of you, I find myself looking back on the last year. Thinking about what inspired me, and what I remember. A lot of what I loved this past year is wrapped up in our friendship, and for some of you, our practice together. Thank you for being in my life.

In my own practice I’ve been thinking a lot about nurturing and asking myself the question, “Where do I need more nurturing in my life?” I’ve also been reflecting on Ahimsa, which translates as compassion and non-harming for all living beings.  It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddism, Hinduism, and Sikhism. It’s also, as you know, a core philosophy of yoga. It is about bringing compassion to ourselves, our community, and our world. It speaks to us of interconnectedness.

If you’ve practiced with me this past month, you’ve likely held this intention with me. In our asana practice, we can narrow this focus to just ourselves, and only what happens on our own mat.

If you, like many, are thinking about resolutions and intentions for 2024, I invite you to ask yourself these same questions, widening your lens a bit to bring your practice off the mat.

What in you needs more nurturing?
What are the ways you can be compassionate with yourself? Your community? Your world?
How can you practice non-harming with yourself?  Your community? Your world?

For me, I find that this process can  start with myself and grow larger, or I can gain inspiration for what I want to share with my community and then notice what support I need for that. I find the more I practice, the more my experience of interconnectedness grows.

Happy New Year Everyone!

love,
Elle