Partner Yoga Blog

Dear Partner Yoga Friends,

What a wild and wonderful ride it has been so far this Year of the Water Dragon, 2012. Traditional Chinese astrology tells us the qualities we can expect this year are:

Yang Energy: it has vigor, it moves and changes, like a storm

Water Energy: it cares, it has true feeling, relates to kidneys/bladder        

Dragon Energy: powerful potential, colossal expansion

2012 is a year of big change, (as if we did not know). Dragon energy is big and moves with a force that can feel overwhelming. For this reason, our simple daily practices become more important than ever. 

Take time, even if it is only a few minutes each day to connect with your body, your heart, your loved ones, Nature and the Divine with intent and gratitude. If you are lucky enough to practice Partner Yoga, you can experience all of these connections simultaneously!

Mayan astrology tells us that 2012 is the end of the world as we know it. Personally, I am thrilled to see all changes that are happening - within and without. Bring it on. Change, evolution, awakening is what our soul desires, and why we are here on the planet. I sense the tremendous support and momentum for us  to make conscious change - change that will empower us to live more joyfully and authentically. My simple intent for 2012 is more joy.

One of the most powerful practices I know for letting go of fear and opening to change is the ‘Surrendering into Life and Death Practice’, found in ‘The Pleasures and Principles of Partner Yoga.‘  Paradoxically, this practice brings great peace and joy - and renewed gratitude for you life. You can safely explore it with anyone- your partner, a friend or family member and each time you experience it, it will be a different journey.

Early this Spring I will be offering for the very first time, a full weekend to explore this practice at The Shambhala Mountain Center March 2 - 4. The weekend is entitled ‘Savasana: Exploring our Death to Liberate our Lives’. Consider giving this gift to yourself. Like birth, death is an ever present part of our lives.  It is a time when the veil between the worlds of matter and spirit are most transparent. This practice supports us to not only make peace with death, it empowers us to be fully alive now!

Love and gratitude,

Elysabeth

Bringing Light to the Dark

I was recently asked in an interview what my three favorite things were. My answer was Love, Partner Yoga and Nature.

I have been thinking about how these things are all the same to me. In Partner Yoga, we experience our true Nature as Love. Nature is experienced as Love when we open and connect with it. And Love, reveals its Nature when we let go of separation, as in the practice of Partner Yoga. It is inspiring to contemplate and celebrate how my favorite things are, in essence, the same thing.

This is the perfect time of year to both contemplate and celebrate. I just returned from a solo retreat contemplating how to bring myself and this practice to deeper levels of truth. And how to support Partner Yoga's growth both on the inner and outer levels so that it continues to expand in its ability to transform and touch lives. I am touched when I observe how my own journey is so intimately connected to Partner Yoga finding its way in the world.

I am also celebrating what I am witnessing in the world - how people all over the world are truly waking up to the reality that life is about sharing, not about taking. As humans we want to give of ourselves - and be received. We want to know that we have touched others. In Partner Yoga, we have a direct experience of the power of sharing, how we are empowered and made greater through it, while being released from the pain of our isolation. We relax in the realization that we are the same, while celebrating the uniqueness our beings - and how we all have an important gift to share.

As you prepare for the upcoming holiday, I invite you to stay attuned to your body, to rest and receive what the dark time has to give. I invite you to touch your friends and family with extra awareness of the love that you feel for them. The simplest gestures of compassionate touch remind us how we are all part of the same human family, whose Nature is Love.

In service to Love,

Elysabeth

Partner Yoga in Phuket

Bringing Light to the Dark

I was recently asked in an interview what my three favorite things were. My answer was Love, Partner Yoga and Nature.

I have been thinking about how these things are all the same to me. In Partner Yoga, we experience our true Nature as Love. Nature is experienced as Love when we open and connect with it. And Love, reveals its Nature when we let go of separation, as in the practice of Partner Yoga. It is inspiring to contemplate and celebrate how my favorite things are, in essence, the same thing.

This is the perfect time of year to both contemplate and celebrate. I just returned from a solo retreat contemplating how to bring myself and this practice to deeper levels of truth. And how to support Partner Yoga's growth both on the inner and outer levels so that it continues to expand in its ability to transform and touch lives. I am touched when I observe how my own journey is so intimately connected to Partner Yoga finding its way in the world.

I am also celebrating what I am witnessing in the world - how people all over the world are truly waking up to the reality that life is about sharing, not about taking. As humans we want to give of ourselves - and be received. We want to know that we have touched others. In Partner Yoga, we have a direct experience of the power of sharing, how we are empowered and made greater through it, while being released from the pain of our isolation. We relax in the realization that we are the same, while celebrating the uniqueness our beings - and how we all have an important gift to share.

As you prepare for the upcoming holiday, I invite you to stay attuned to your body, to rest and receive what the dark time has to give. I invite you to touch your friends and family with extra awareness of the love that you feel for them. The simplest gestures of compassionate touch remind us how we are all part of the same human family, whose Nature is Love.

In service to Love,

Elysabeth