Welcome to Empower October
This month is about taking up space and listening to what you need most, right now.
Ready for routine? Ready to speed up or slow down?
This month I encourage you to use your power, your intention and intuition to take care of yourself.
My intention is to put the steering wheel in your hands. For you to feel empowered to make clear, intentional decisions based on what you need, right now.
The style and intensity of the yoga will vary. This change offers you a valuable tool in learning how you react and listening on a deeper level to what you need.
I’m glad you’re here.
A quick intro into the theme of this month.
Week 1: Empowered Strength
This month will start off strong with yoga classes that focus on physical and energetic strength. Building strength empowers your physical movement and it shifts your energy off of the mat.
It is important to remember that we are never trying to change who we are by getting stronger or more limber. Rather, we are tapping into the deepest layers of inherent strength that are with us always. Uncovering and bringing the strength to the surface.
Strength-building yoga is slower and intense. And that’s where our energy comes in. We will use a combination of attention and breath to cool the body down and release tense energy that may arise.
This fitness-style yoga class is intended to help uncover your inherent strength, specifically at the core.
Week 2: Empowered Grace
This week we shift gears to moving, living and remembering grace in our body and in our life. Being graceful still requires strength. We are not giving up or giving in, rather taking time to step back from the steering wheel and see what happens when we do less.
The yoga this week is fluid, spacious and free. We’ll skip some alignment rules and instead follow the natural flow the body wants to move through the sequences. Enjoy the extra space you can gain from moving intuitively.
Some of us (me included) like yoga, and life, to have some rules and rigidity. If that’s you, use this week as an experiment to follow a softer route and see what your body learns in the process. Often when we back off the rigidity, we can tap into what our body and energy needs in each moment.
This fluid, flowing yoga class will help you find your center between surrender and control.
This week is about empowering yourself to take action. This is easier said than done. So rather I’d like to shift perspective towards what it takes to prepare to take action.
In context of the body, it is hard for a body at rest to become a body in action. Instead, we need to warm up and slowly start building heat and stoking our internal fire. Warming up and easing into a strong practice is not only the safe way to move. It also gives the body and mind a chance to acclimate to the process of being active. Similarly, once we are embodying action, we want to retain the ability to power ahead, not burn out. It is important to maintain a steady cadence to your movement.
Off the mat it is the same: it is hard to go from passive to active in a situation. Consider the action you want to take and look backwards from there to where you are. Use that end point to envision a clear path ahead. Now that you can see the path, what is the first step towards the action to take right now?
This fiery, core-centered yoga flow will shift your energetic landscape in just 30 minutes. Get ready to feel warm, energized and ready.
Week 4: Empowered Rest
This week is about giving yourself permission to slow down, listen and feel whatever you are navigating at this moment in time.
Some people have a great relationship to rest and self-care. They know how to schedule it in. These people often notice as soon as they’ve pushed themselves too hard, and back up. This is a wonderful place to be: balanced between rest and action, able to call on both when needed. Having the ability to monitor your energy, your input and output so that you can slow down and speed up when needed.
Not everyone has this balanced relationship with rest! As much as I LOVE to rest, I have to remind myself to make it a priority. My natural inclination is often to do more and fit it in. So I (and maybe you) need to give space and attention to the concept of simply resting. Being aware not to ‘do it all’. Leave tasks undone and read a book, practice restorative yoga, or get into bed earlier.
In preparation for this week, I’ve done all of the above in the past 48 hours, and I feel clear and balanced. But I had to be thoughtful and intentional, otherwise I would have skipped it altogether.
The yoga this week will still include some flow, but we will have a longer slower ending to both classes.
This class is about softening, stepping back and giving yourself permission to rest. You deserve it! We start with flowing, gentle yoga, and then move into yin poses. We end with a restorative rest. Enjoy!