It is deep summer here on the Cape, where I’m hanging out with a raft of relatives and 7 beautiful and dynamic teens — my kids, nieces and nephews. With a lawn mower droning in the distance, the kids brown as berries and lean as greyhoundss and the biggest decision of the day is whether to have fresh tomatoes and corn from the garden AGAIN for dinner, September feels really, really far away. It is, of course a good practice — yogic or otherwise — to be here in the moment as much as possible. But with some concession to practicality, yoga teachers and studios have been conferring over the last few weeks to put together fall yoga schedules. Here’s mine:

Tuesdays starting September 11th 2011
8:15-9:15 AM Vinyasa at The Yoga Loft in Marblehead
Tuesdays starting August 30th 2011
7:30-9 PM Vinyasa at Yoga Sakti in Salem

Looking forward to seeing you all on the mat . . . but not before we have drained every drop from that elusive, ephemeral and delicious summer cocktail of time, sun, sudden thunder storms and a strong southwest breeze coming up the bay.

Back from a couple of weeks in sunny, vibrant, crazy-in-a-way-that-works Italy and ready to share la dolce vita – - – and a few good stories – - –  on the mat.  I’ll be guest teaching for Anne at Yoga Loft/Marblehead on Wednesday, July 20th 9:30-11 AM.

Ciao, ragazze. Vediamo allora.

Just as we are all easing into summer, I’ll be teaching ONE MORE class, Tuesday, June 28 7:30-9 PM at Yoga Sakti in Salem. This is our old Tuesday night class time from back in the day and it would be lovely to see the old sangha gather for a summer salute. We had a ball last Thursday; I’ll look forward to seeing you on the mat!

Beginner Basics at 9:30 AM Saturday at Yoga Sakti. Come on in out of the rain, warm up and dry out with some Anusara-esque alignment and a cheerful dharma message to ease your weekend.

See you on the mat!

Starting this week, I am taking a summer hiatus.  My class at Marblehead ended this week and my private schedule will rap up at the end of June, with some of those classes winding down even now.  I will be back teaching publicly sometime in mid-September.

The plans for the yoga barn continue apace.  My husband, Timothy, is an architect and he has designed a beautiful building with siting on our property that makes the barn feel like a warm embrace.  We are in the permitting phase now and expect to break ground mid-summer, with a completion date sometime in the fall.

At the end of July, I will be attending The Radiance Sutras Meditation Weekend in Essex and I hope to see many of you there.  It will be an incredible two days and I am really looking forward to it.

I hope to see you next to me on the mat somewhere as we practice together. Happy summer!

If you do one thing for yourself this summer, let this be it.  Many of you attended a special Thanksgiving Day class last fall where we practiced to the beautiful recitation of Lorin Roche’s Radiance Sutras.  It was, in a word, sublime.

Here’s your chance to immerse yourself in that bliss for a two day retreat, in lovely natural surroundings with the teachers who embody the work of the Radiance Sutras. I cannot urge you strongly enough to attend, particularly if you have an interest in bringing your meditation practice to the same level many of you have achieved in asana practice. Aiming for an intimate-sized group so that Lorin, Camille and Chanel can facilitate the teaching in an optimum way, this event is nearly sold out.  Please register immediately to participate in this extraordinary teaching.

https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=6216

For the past couple of years, I have taught a science unit at Shore Country Day School in Beverly focusing on the respiratory system. Working with asana first to get quiet, then meditation and pranayama to get to the breathwork, the kids experience breathing consciously through the entire respiratory system – nasal passages, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, bronchus, bronchioles, alveoli.  About 90% report that they can actually feel their tiny alveoli expanding and about half of them report that they can feel the oxygen move into their blood stream.  Who knows if that’s the case — but it is incredible to see them so still, so quiet and so awake to the beauty of their own breath.  I teach this unit concurrent with drug education on the dangers of inhalants, a common choice of substance abuse in kids this age. Once they are aware of the intricacy of their breath, they can’t imagine huffing glue into their system. It’s a great day of discovery all around, especially for me. Here are some photos, taken in several locations as we accommodated 3 class sections. When we were all done, the second group wanted to “do a really hard pose.”  Here’s a little clip of 17 yoginis, aged 12, learning crow pose for the first time.

Giving Jen a night of rest tonight. Come join me at lovely Yoga Sakti in Salem for some powerful vinyasa. Tuesday, May 31 7:30-8:45 PM. www.yogasakti.com for deets. See you there!

Kara Mears just got back from Kripalu, having completed her prenatal yoga certification after assisting and apprenticing with me for the last year. Added to her doula certification, Kara is now a dynamic force for good for women in their natal year.

We have just started a prenatal yoga class in Essex, at a lovely studio on Conomo point. Kara and I are co-teaching the class as a pilot program for classes all around the North Shore and Merrimac Valley.  If you are pregnant–or know anyone who is — please be in touch with me. We are inviting up to 8 women to participate in this 4 week series that emphasizes health, comfort, community and anxiety reduction.