What Yoga Pose are You?

(excerpt from Yoga Journal)

I thought this would be fun....let me know what pose YOU are!



Every yogi, no matter how much or how little experience you have with yoga, has one: one particular pose you love above all others. It's the pose that feels most like home, and the one you keep wishing the teacher would call out next.

Here's a guide to what a propensity for a certain pose might have to say about you.

Tree Pose

You’re grounded but you enjoy testing your limits. This is often a favorite pose of newer yogis–it's a first foray into challenging balancing poses and when you nail it, it feels effortless. If you wobble more than you stand still in this pose, focus on feeling your connection to the earth by rooting down through the big toe mound of your standing foot and the sole of the foot that's pressing in to your inner thigh. If you're pretty stable here, prioritize lifting your ribcage and fingertips up as high as you can.

Backbends

Whether you're a wheel junkie or just love lying down with your ribcage draped over a rolled up blanket, a propensity toward backbends indicates an open heart, loving nature, and excitement about the future. Be careful that your exuberance doesn’t lead to injury—if your quads, abdomen, chest and shoulders aren't open in your backbends, you could tweak your back. Translated to daily life, if you aren't as flexible as you are strong, you could wind up with too much on your shoulders.

Forward bends

Sitting or standing, a love of folding forward indicates that you are introspective and not afraid to let yourself get quiet so you can hear you own thoughts. Forward bending is also associated with looking to the past—be sure you don’t spend so much time folding forward that you forget to be open to the present or anticipate the future.

Revolved standing poses

You're not afraid to take a bite out of the cookie of life. You've got a lot going on, and yet it all seems to work because you know that it takes a delicate balance of hard work and surrender to keep it all together. Just remember to treat yourself to rest and a quiet practice of restorative poses to keep your batteries charged.

Headstand

You're interested in building your intuition and learning how to maintain a sense of trust in the face of a scary situation. You're also not afraid of a challenge. Like handstand fans, you're open to seeing things from multiple points of view. Your challenge is to learn how to find your center even when your world is turned upside down.

Handstand

You're a thrill seeker and yet know how to find balance in the midst of chaos. Or, at least, you’re working your way toward it. You also aren't afraid to look at things from a different vantage point from the average soul. The trick for you is to balance your exuberance with grace, and to learn how to fall softly for those times when your enthusiasm leads you into a precarious position.

Cobbler's pose, pigeon pose, and/or split pose

You're not intimidated by a little discomfort and crave the release that comes from working your edges. You also tolerate emotionally charged situations well – the hips are often storehouses for unprocessed emotions, and many people shy away from these poses because they aren't comfortable with accessing the hidden feelings they may have. Just remember that boundaries are healthy. You don't want to overextend yourself, making you either overly vulnerable emotionally or prone to muscle pulls physically.

Corpse pose

You are likely tired, over-scheduled, and craving some profound rest. And what’s so wrong about that? Our society may prize people who can keep up a furious pace, but some part of you knows that there's a time and a place for stillness, quiet, and reflection. Indulge in a few moments of rest each day, always keeping in mind that the true challenge of the pose is to allow your mind to quiet without falling asleep or planning what you're going to have for dinner.


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Be Joyous

For some, the holiday season is a time of joy, family and celebration. For others, this is a time of profound sadness — wrought with pain and suffering from failed relationships, financial challenges, job dissatisfaction and self-worth issues. Today I want to share a tool to help you or someone you love transform feelings of depression by looking at circumstances as gifts.

On the other side of depression is expression. I believe the reason each of us is here is to express our feelings, thoughts and talents — to share our gifts in service to humanity — in a way that moves us forward, beyond limited thinking and choices that do not serve us. This is where we can move from fear to faith, from doubt to trust, and from pain to power.

Let go of toxic energy
As this year comes to an end, it is the perfect opportunity to release any unwanted experiences, thoughts or belief systems that no longer serve. It feels to me like cleaning out a storage room that is holding broken and restrictive energy. Whatever you are holding onto that is keeping you small, now is the time to let it go! Peace is here. Love is available. Joy is around the corner. Harmony is surrounding you. Light is expressing as your very life. Take advantage of this life you have been given, and dare to step out into a field of freedom that is your divine inheritance.

Take a moment to think about how you have grown, the unexpected gifts you have been given, and the simple ways you have been shown that you make a difference. You are powerful. Shine your light this holiday season. Many await your beauty. Grace is available right at this very moment to guide you to freedom and peace.

Happy holidays to you! I am so grateful that we have had the opportunity to share time together this year!

Take a moment to remember this:
Today, I let go of anything that will not support my peace. I proclaim that my presence is the gift, and it blesses all who experience me. I am joyous and ready to express love and light in every situation.

(excerpt from yogablog)

My Birthday wants to THANK YOU!

What a special treat to actually get a birthday present that you want AND that can generate such happiness to so many others!

WHAT DID WE GET?

Well THANK YOU for my "party" this morning and to those of you who donated funds to our Hot Yoga House Foundation! With these fund we are able to share hot yoga with people who cannot afford it right now. Each of you has gotten something from your mat that you may be didn't expect and want others to share in that too.....I couldn't have asked for anything more!

The people who are able to come to yoga because of your generosity are speechless and would tell you that they have been blessed beyond measure!

Thank you....I don't deserve such wonderful people in my life but I am sure glad I have you!

Happy Thanksgiving from our "house" to Your's!

I hope you find this Thanksgiving full of love!

I am SO glad we had class this morning....Thanksgiving is a time when you gather with family and friends and let them know you are grateful they are in your life!

SO....To my Hot Yoga House FAMILY I am so thankful and blessed to have each of you leave an impression on my life! I didn't open our "house" with thoughts of adding to my family BUT that is exactly what I have been blessed with. This past week with your outpouring of thoughts, prayers, and service for me was overwhelmingly humbling. You'll never know what it meant to me. I know people don't do things for a "THANK YOU" but it's nice to hear...SO Thank you to Michael, Melanie and Abby for filling in when I couldn't be there,to Sherrie for her support and laundry services, for Robin who mopped the floor when I couldn't and the cards, notes and words spoken I will always be "THANKFUL".

I KNOW I am NOT the only person who has been on the receiving end of this love, I've seen it and now experienced it! If you've ever been worried or uncomfortable trying a yoga class our "home" is one of the most comfortable places you will find. We invite you in......

NOW to just share a little from this morning's class....hummm where do I start! I am THRILLED everyone can make our "house" feel like "home" and that things you do at your own home you feel like you can do in our's...You know that's all I am saying!! Yes that's it...if you want to hear the incredible GREAT THANKSGIVING GAG played on their poor unsuspecting yoga instructor (me) this morning you'll have to come to a class to learn all the details! OR leave the pranksters themselves leave comments!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving...Love and Blessing to you and your family!

Enjoy our Meditation Room! Take some time for yourself!

Here's just a little clip of our meditation room. It's the perfect place to begin or end your asana practice. Come sit a while....it's for YOU!

Websites...Blogs...Facebook...Twitter...OH MY

Sometimes it's all just too much!

I apologize for not updating this...but I am making a commitment to you RIGHT NOW...I want to share things with you so I AM going to keep this updated...AND I need your help too! People don't just want to hear from me, they want to hear your comments as well so share them here!

There are so many avenues to "reach out" or to "social network" as they call it, and sometimes it's all just TOO MUCH (and I know many of you can relate!) YES we have a few Facebook pages, I encourage you to become a follower. Now you'd have to talk to the tech savvy Abby to find them all but I THINK you can become a "friend" of Hot Yoga House, then add the GROUP Hot Yoga House THEN there is also a FAN PAGE named THE HOT YOGA HOUSE so when you have an hour or so check it out! They actually can be fun but so can just this simple blog! ONE SPOT where you can check the schedule for classes, see what specials we might have and take a virtual savasana in our new MEDITATION ROOM (once I figure out how to put the video on this blog!)

YES there are ways to "network" but what would really connect you to the world around us is simply by coming to yoga and spending time on your mat! Take the time to SLOW DOWN, go within, spend some time on YOURSELF, BREATHE....see how your life will change!

So all that being said....look forward to a few brief words of encouragement, maybe a moment to laugh, a blog to maybe inspire, I won't keep you long, my hope is that you feel love, peace and security at our little Hot Yoga House! Come on in...

Community not business.......

This blog wasn't started to be about "business" and those of you who know me well, know I am SO NOT about business.......this blog was started to build a community...a place may be to go and laugh, grow, get information or maybe to start your own post....this is OUR blog!

When Melanie Martin and I started dreaming of opening our own hot yoga studio the ONLY things we truly wanted was to build a community of people. To bring people together who may only begin with one thing in common..."hot yoga" but in return become like family. A place where someone can enter and immediately feel connected and a part of something bigger, I think somewhere deep inside we all want to belong to something.

Well, what I've seen was bigger than I even imagined. I knew that people would eventually feel welcome and feel that sense of "home" but never did I imagine that it would be the instant they started their practice with us. This week I've been blessed to be a part of something much bigger than what Melanie and I dreamed of......

This week as many lost their hot yoga home, even if it's a temporary loss, I saw our community at Hot Yoga House welcome these people as if they'd known them for years. I witnessed you introduce yourself to new people, show them warmth and hospitality and it didn't go un-noticed by many. I have had the most wonderful phone calls, emails and tender conversations after class about how comfortable and wonderful THIS community of people is!

YES....community...being part of something bigger....changing lives....yoga....that seems to be what we all need right now. Things are tough, we've all been touched somehow by this economy and that is why I truly believe time spent ON YOUR MAT can help you thru.

I asked the other day when we were in the final Savasana (coffin pose named by Paul) what did that moment feel like....what did it sound like....what did it taste like....what did it smell like...and would those senses be something that you could take off the mat and into your life to allow you to be calm and peaceful during the storm? I think it was 100% yes! Learn to take your savasana with you!

SO I invite you to come and experience YOUR savasana....experience time on YOUR mat....see what a difference this community and YOUR yoga practice can make in EVERY aspect of your life!

I'd love to hear from you, what do YOU find in your yoga practice that helps you in your day to day routine, others want to know too, after all we ARE a Hot Yoga House community!

I have loved getting to know you this week and I have LOVED seeing those familiar faces. I look forward to future times spent together!

Misty

Just say NO to multi-tasking...YES to patience!

I began teaching our Friday Vinyasa class because I wanted you to embrace patience, to enjoy the challenge, and to learn to laugh at yourself.

Patience isn't something anyone can teach you it has to come from within. I have to say that before I started studying and practicing yoga I didn't "get it"! David would throw a thimble at my sometimes and say "use this to hold your patience"! But I soon learned patience from MY MAT........YES I learned patience from my yoga mat.

I learned from tortoise and many other asanas. I learned to cultivate patience to move forward steadily, no matter how slow my progress was. It's great to be motivated to do hot yoga by all the wonderful physcial things hot yoga can do for you, but if that is your only thought you will eventually be disappointed, there's so much more. For long term tranformation you have to be patient.

Sometimes our main culprit is thinking that we should be able to accomplish something without making a consistent effort. That hurts us by diverting our attention to what the work IS and what we believe we are entitled to. It also makes it impossible to learn and appreciate what is taking place this very minute!

So resolve to live in the moment, this very minute of this very day, live in the moments of your practice, enjoy it NO matter where it is and let go of expecations!

Workshop....Wine....Way Fun!

We had a great time on Friday night for our Foundations Workshop....didn't we??

SO who says yoga can't be fun!

They laughed, shared, grew deeper and walked a little farther down their yoga path....

NOW that being said I didn't know that this yoga path had a detour to the liqour store? What you ask!?

YES as friends brought together by yoga, they went thru their "workbooks" studied postures found a perfect foundation for each to begin and they had wine and fruit along the way!

Now I know you are saying, "Misty, I think all that makes sense isn't it you that always says, hot yoga, STRAPS and a name like Misty gives hot yoga house a bad name?" so what's a little wine!?

NOTHING it was a great 1st Foundations Class at our new "House"!

SO the next one is scheduled make your plans to attend, I can't promise wine you'd have to talk to Robin and Holly about that! But I can promise that you will learn a lot and know YOUR FOUNDATION to begin your hot yoga practice!

Thank you all for coming, I had a blast!

Hot Yoga House Thank You.....

So today I took a little teasing when I opened the studio this a.m.! Paul and Georgia said there were report of some flurries so didn't know if I would be there...HA HA!

I have to tell you that I REALLY missed seeing all of you and leading you in your practice. This isn't just a "job" to me, I don't have to do this, but I really feel called to lead you in yoga and when we don't see each other for a few days I really miss it and YOU!

Why do I love it so much?

ONE of the many reasons happened today......when everyone was in VIRABHADRASANA TRIKANASANA (warrior two with traingle) I saw Georgia, who upon attending her 1st class wasn't so sure of this hot yoga thing...but she stuck to it and her triangle was spectacular this morning, I actually got a little teary eyed!

To get the opportunity to watch each of you change and transform literaly right in front of me is something that I do not take for granite, I find it a privilege!

Thank you for letting me be a small part of your life, I truly enjoy each moment with you!