Om Bhur Bhuvaḥ Swaḥ
Tat-savitur Vareñyaṃ
Bhargo Devasya Dhīmahi
Dhiyo Yo Nah Prachodayāt
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात्
Gratefully dilating open to allow the all pervasive radiant light beyond individual form to shine through.
Dissipating the veils, pixelating the solidity of the forms, clearing the lenses that block us from wisdom, from experiencing the continuum of the infinite.
(current transliteration and experience of the moment)
I am generally not into slogans, although there is a Buddhist one I have heard that I think of a lot – just enough and not too much. It is kind of a Goldilocks approach to life 🙂
Practicing yoga helps me experiment with this balance on a physical, experiential level, balancing how much weight forward, how much back, where do I lift from, where do I contract, when I shift one aspect of the posture how does that affect the rest, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Some of it is mental, I remember the ways I have played with the posture before and cues other teachers and students have suggested to me, yet it is not only a mental thinking it out. It includes body memory and develops an awareness beyond just the thinking of the mind, beyond just the discursive thought or continuous defining of the mind, it becomes a direct felt experience of the balance that integrates and grows with me.
I am also finding this true with my experience of the continuous learning curve of skiing and snowboarding, dynamic practices of the subtleties of the shifts of weight and posture responding to the shape of the skis or board, the texture of the snow and the contours of the mountain. The practice of yoga does help support the sport in that it can be cross training to warm up and bring awareness into the body and center the mind before going on the mountain and decompressing to unwind tension, reduce soreness and recovery time and prepare the body for the next day. Yet there is also potential for utilizing yoga to refine sensitivity to the effects of stance and the subtle shift of weight in any posture and especially in ones that directly inform the body of movements used in skiing and riding, teaching our bodies how to efficiently perform these movements and giving ourself practice both on and off the hill. Perhaps beginning with mental inquiry and developing into experiential wisdom.
When I ski and ride it is very much a physical yoga practice in that I start with a variety of cues in myself that gradually build – just enough and not too much, a little bit of this and a little bit of that – until it all flows together and I am not thinking out the skiing, all my awarenesses are coming together and the skiing is happening right through me. It is kind of a sahaja approach to life, the sahaja the purely spontaneous being who has trained their body and mind to instead of compulsively react to phenomena, appropriately respond to the specifics of each situation. In the case of your sport or your art this plays out as learning and practicing the form first so then the creativity can unfold and grow through that structure. If you never learned some of the building blocks, through a teacher and/or your own mindful practice, in snowsports you’d likely just fall down the hill. Yet with practice and experiential awareness of your posture, how to read the terrain and the conditions and how subtle shifts of weight drive the edges of your equipment, the falling down the hill can become a graceful and efficient dance of balance. Just enough and not too much.
This is what I am currently into 🙂 If you’d like to play with me with it come to The Mountain Club on Loon at Loon Mountain Resort on Sunday March 13, 2016 for Yoga and Snowsports as Movement Meditation 3/13/16 or be in touch and we can do a private with snowsports or just physical yoga – and develop a practice to support whatever sport or art you are currently into.
Love
When I become aware that I am chasing something, often because either I’m not getting what I think I want and/or I am exhausting myself by trying so hard, if I am able to let go and soften back into myself, making space for what I was chasing to come to me or not, I feel a sense of peace and release that can be more sustaining than when I get what I think I want by grasping for it.
Sometimes in this place of calm and openness I get what I thought I wanted anyway. And even if I don’t, I’m okay. Because I became willing to let it go.
Mindful dynamic vinyasa yoga and core awakening postures inside at The Mountain Club on Loon before a half day on the mountain at Loon Mountain Resort followed by indoor targeted stretching and decompression to reduce soreness and as a sort of savasana for the day. In the past we have incorporated partner, acro and Thai yoga into both sides of this, which we can do again as interest allows.
You are welcome to ride the mountain with me where we can utilize snowsports as a movement meditation in itself AND practice postures right in our boots or equipment that release tension, build strength and increase effortless balance, and/or take some time to ski or ride on your own as much as you like.
Everything is optional 🙂
I know its cold. Come play outside, it makes winter more fun ❤
One of my favorite physical aspects of practicing yoga is that there is nowhere on my back I cannot scratch (I am not suggesting this is true for everyone who practices yoga :-) ). One of my favorite mental aspects is the possibility that even when I feel an itch, I can feel it and not have to scratch.
I can, but I don’t have to.
This becomes more true all the time.
Balance upsidedown
March 3 The River School House Yarmouth, ME
April 1 Insight Therapeutic Massage Concord, NH
6-8:30pm
$30
Buy tickets for Maine
Buy tickets for New Hampshire
Don’t let the image intimidate you. It is meant to be visual art 🙂
The art of balance is something that can be learned, cultivated, honed ~ by becoming familiar with the subtlety of the balance point, the place where the pairs of opposites come into alignment and effort can relax as the posture supports itself. We do this effortlessly all the time standing on our feet, the trick is to be able to access that awareness and find the balance when things get turned upsidedown.
In this workshop we will warm-up with fluid vinyasa (flow yoga in rhythm with the breath), standing balance postures to access the balance point in stillness and movement and utilize various held postures to prepare the body for inversions and then experiment with:
~ standing forward bends as inversions (as well as access points to lift into inversions)
~ setting up a stable base for a shoulder stand (including the use of props and variations)
~ setting up the base for headstand along with many variations and methods for lifting into the full pose
~ forearm stands and variations
~ partner, group, wall and freestanding handstand warmups, practice and variations
You can try as much or as little as you like and there will be possibilities for everyone, beginner to advanced. Great for teachers too – learn new ways to teach these often challenging postures in a way that makes them more accessible as well as get to play with how you engage with balance in your own practice.
Denise Porter Kemp has been teaching yoga since 2005 and has studied with many teachers and students along the way. She brings her traveling yoga school ~ Turiya Yoga ~ to private homes, ski mountains, music festivals and yoga studios along the east coast. Her strength is making the practice accessible to the uniqueness of every body while expressing the deeper teachings of yoga through the experiential practice of the physical form.
~ body geometry, pure aware consciousness ~
The Sacred geometry of Asana:
Finding the Balance Point
Beginner/Intermediate Partner, Acro and Thai Yoga Workshop
Feb. 3 River School House Yarmouth, ME
Feb. 11 Insight Therapeutic Massage Concord, NH
6-8:30pm
$30
Tickets for Maine
Tickets for New Hampshire
In this workshop we will utilize asana/postural yoga to explore the balance point between opposing forces ~ right and left, front and back, leverage and lifting, expansion and compression, inhale and exhale, self and “other” ~ to find the place of suspension that holds both extremes, balanced at the center.
We will warm-up with individual postures and flowing vinyasa (movement linked to the rhythm of breath), bringing subtle awareness into the intersecting planes of the grid of our own body geometry and activating an intuitive alignment where the posture supports itself and active effort can relax. We will then expand into partner and group postures, respectfully articulating self-supporting, counterbalanced geometric shapes with each other. Each of us part of the whole, and whole and complete in ourselves.
Attuning to the balance point, the stillness in the movement, silence behind the sound, turiya ~ the underlying pure aware consciousness at peace in the midst of everything ~ cultivates our capacity to find this space, to remember this potential, anytime we want it, or need it. And pass it on.
Come with or without a partner. Nothing is required, and there are many very simple variations to suit everyone. Yoga is all inclusive.
January 11, February 8 and March 15 9am – 5:30pm
The Mountain Club on Loon and Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, NH
for more information 603-568-5977 or deniseporterkemp@gmail.com
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Buy tickets for Yoga and Snowsports as Movement Meditation
Physical yoga is a mindfulness movement meditation, helping develop the capacity to recall effortless presence at will. On these one-day retreats we will utilize yoga both as a physical tune-up for snowsports and as a way to recognize the potential of mindfulness meditation in all our activities. Physical yoga is one way of experiencing the teachings of yoga, so that we can bring these teachings into the rest of our lives.
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We will begin with a morning pre-snowsports specific yoga practice to bring mobility to the joints and warm the muscles, activate effortless core strength and find our center of gravity and balance. By becoming present in the body, we also become aware with the body.
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After lunch, we head onto the mountain for a half day of snowsports, utilizing the physical practice of skiing or riding in the same way we could utilize the physical yoga practice – to intentionally and sometimes even methodically bring awareness into what we are doing while we are doing it. Once we have trained our mind and body to be focused and conscious, we can let go of some of the active effort, riding the mountain by responding to gravity and the contours of the land.
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I also have many possibilities for yoga in boots and right in skis and snowboards which I am happy to share with anyone interested, although no one is required to practice the yoga on snow! You are also welcome to ski or ride on your own at any time.
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After the lifts close, we return to the sanctuary of The Mountain Club to decompress with apres-ski specific yoga, holding longer postures to release tension and prepare the body for the next day with less soreness and fatigue.
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I will not be teaching snowsports per-se, participants need to be able to comfortably ski or ride blue runs. On each run I will offer subtle cues as focus points, and we can share our own tricks and methods with each other. You are welcome to ski with the group, and at any point, take some time on your own. I will share the way I utilize the practice of yoga to enhance my snowsports experience, to assist you in finding a practice that supports your own.
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There are three separate retreats ~ January 11, February 8 and March 15 ~ come to one or as many as time and interest allows. Space is limited and you need to pre-register to hold your spot.
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$100 each retreat, includes half-day lift ticket
$75 each, with your own lift ticket
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posts about snowsports and yoga…
Basic Snow Yoga
Sun Salutation On a Snowboard
Sun Salutation in Skis
One Foot Strapped in Snowboard Yoga
Dynamic Lunge Sequence for Before Snowsports
Meditative Hip Opening Apres-ski Video
…poems and other writings about snowsports…
The sahaja is the embodiment of spontaneity,
one who fine tunes the instrument of the body and mind to go beyond habit and compulsion and be fully present to the subtleties of each moment, consciously and effortlessly responding appropriately to each unique circumstance as it arises.
In this workshop we will experiment with physical yoga, breath work, dance and meditation practices, observing and experiencing the nuances of our own body, mind and behavioral tendencies to cultivate awareness both of and with our whole beings. Noticing as this mindful presence slows compulsive thought, impulse and emotion so that we can connect with stillness even in the movement, the silence ever-present behind the sound, the spaciousness within the matter, with turiya – pure raw awareness, underlying all other states of consciousness, accessible all the time.
Tuning our bodies and minds as a musician trains on an instrument to effortlessly and precisely let the music flow through, both allowing ourselves to be played by the “music” and staying conscious and making choice in the flow.
Practicing this together so that we may recall this quality of fluid presence
in everything that we do.
We will practice in the sanctuary of The Mountain Club on Loon overlooking Loon Mountain and as weather and interest permits outside along the rivers and in the forests of the White Mountains.
For more information and to register go to http://findingflow.bpt.me/
or contact me at
deniseporterkemp@gmail.com
~body geometry accessing aware consciousness~
deniseporterkemp.com
603 568 5977
turiya yoga
~
turiya
is pure raw awareness
underlying all other states of consciousness
always accessible
all of the time
~
yoga is the continuum
and the practice
yoking all polarities
as parts of the same whole
balanced at the center
~
turiya yoga is a playful exploration
uncovering the spontaneous, embodied, direct experience
of our interconnected consciousness
manifesting uniquely
through each of us
~
body geometry
aware consciousness
deniseporterkemp 