What are you Practicing?
I have been in a season of both losing and deepening personal practices. I used to journal every morning, moving slowly and intentionally. Now my morning routine looks like trying to make coffee with my eyes half closed while my toddler looks up at me with her big brown eyes and demands that I “come!” wherever it is she would like to go, and no she does not have time to wait for the water to boil. There is no journaling; I am just grateful when the coffee is ready and if I get a few sips before it turns cold.
I know I am not alone, and that many seasons of life shift both what we are able to do and what we need. Our circumstances change, our lives throw us wildcards, and the world keeps moving with all the good and the bad.
So, what am I practicing? Moving my body, usually with others, as many times a week as I can. It has become crucial as a way to return back to myself and my own commitments, and to be in a space of joy and play. I am sleep deprived, horrified by the state of the world, often in a state of minor to major existential dread, frequently caught trying to use my mind to try to fix myself and my surroundings. Movement, especially with music to anchor me, brings me back to the here and now and allows me to be more curious, resourceful, and bold in my life and work.
In a time of so much stress and overwhelm, I am even more committed to the work I have been dedicated to for years: building classes and programs based on the belief that the more grounded and resourced we are, the more we are able to meet the challenges of the world. I am ever more resolved to provide spaces that use movement to ground us, not as a way to escape our political and cultural realities, but as a way to gain space and new perspective. We often have more answers and more capacity when we integrate our whole selves, and thus more of our wisdom, into our longings and work towards change.
I am thrilled to be offering two Movement Sustainability classes starting in a couple of weeks! One is in person in New Orleans at the new St Claude Yoga center and one will meet over zoom.
In Person: Mondays at 8:30 am at the new St Claude Yoga Center, starting September 29th. Register here.
Online: Tuesdays at 8 am PT/10 am CT, starting September 30th for 10 weeks. Register here.
As we enter Fall, these classes will be a sweet opportunity to ground and connect to the earth, your body, and a community of practice as a source of nourishment and stability.
A little bit more about the class:
Movement Sustainability is a somatic movement practice that focuses on building awareness and cultivating joy through improvisational tasks. Drawing on the lineages of 5 Rhythms, Movement for Trauma, Fighting Monkey, and other somatic practices, this class offers invitations to reconnect to your senses, body, and environment. Movement Sustainability is a place of building agency, finding play and discovering new possibilities.
Sessions use music and guided movement tasks to explore our physical bodies and our inner landscapes. Throughout the session there will be space made to verbally share any insights, questions, or feelings that may arise, allowing the learnings to integrate more fully into not just our practice but our lives. These one hour sessions will balance moving gently and vigorously, so come dressed to move and build some heat.
I hope you join me! Reach out with any questions, I’d love to hear from you.
Willa
