September is upon us!   Maddie and Jonathan are back in school and, as always, I find myself itching to go back to school myself.  That said, I’m always studying something, so I guess I never really stop being a student. But, there is something magical and inspiring about being in a class with other people - learning and sharing in that group experience. I miss that!

Learning keeps me excited, engaged, and fresh.

Actually, over the past year I’ve been taking an online course in functional yoga, which I’ve really enjoyed.  I’m listening again to all the modules so I can really digest the material, and little bits of the teachings have been weaving their way into my own practices and classes. 

“Functional yoga” is a really interesting term.  Through the lens of this course, we are looking at function as it serves the individual or the class. How can the yoga asana (pose) practice be adapted to serve your own personal goals or needs?  I think with the modifications I often offer, that I do have function in mind, but this course goes a step further by suggesting that if, for example, a client is having trouble kneeling down to get something off a low shelf or is challenged by shoveling snow, that we consider how we can adapt or tweak the yoga practice to help them meet those day-to-day challenges.  That’s a really interesting concept for me – from a movement point of view, but also from a yoga point of view. Using the yoga asana practice to really support us in our day-to-day activities is a marvelous idea. You may never do utkatasana (chair pose) or warrior II off your mat, but the strength that they help develop in your legs and hips would help with squatting to feed the dog or pick something off that low shelf.

Giving yourself permission to even play within the poses – tweak them slightly  - like how deep you might go into utkatasana or how wide your legs are in the shape will change not only your experience but the way you engage your muscles, and that of course, will impact your day-to-day movement as well.  If you come to my classes you’ll start to experience some of this kind of movement.  And be on the lookout as I plan to create a practice video for our video library that includes some of this work.

And of course, I’m never without a book – usually yoga related – to inspire me.  As always, the teachings of Judith Lasater and Thich Nhat Hanh are close by, as are those of Katy Bowman.  Their knowledge and work inspire me on a daily basis – both in my personal life and in my yoga teaching life.

So that’s my personal back-to-school story.  How has your September been so far?  What’s getting you excited and keeping you fresh and engaged?  Email me and let me know!

Check out my classes here and let's move together!