Calling All Yogi Cyclists

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Hi yogis! I hope your week is off to an awesome start.

So, I'm curious: do you ever bike to yoga class? Do you like to take cycling adventures on the weekend, so you can practice yoga in the park or take your mat with you on a hike?

Practicing outdoors is an amazing way to change up your practice, and connect inward without any distractions.


When Sponsored Yogini Kels and I heard about the new incredible invention called MyMogi, I was stoked. 'How has someone not created this yet?!' I thought, reflecting back on my days living in Chicago when I biked everywhere.

A perfect yoga mat carrying bag that connects effortlessly to your bike rack?!

YES. Yes. (Duh!)

I was excited for Kelsie to have the chance to try out the Mogi bag, and she absolutely loves it.


If you're a cyclist who loves yoga, or a yogi who wants to get more into cycling, this Mogi bag is definitely for you. I can think of several friends and fellow teachers who would adore this bag as much as any other yoga prop, so I'm setting my intention to share as many of these as I can!

Mogi is currently on Kickstarter and I encourage you to check out the brand and support a fellow entrepreneur who is out changing the world for the better.

A big heartfelt thanks from Alive in the Fire and the Sponsored Yogis team for sharing Mogi with the world, and cheers to all you cycling yogis out there who are going to love using Mogi!

Namaste.

PS Learn more about Mogi on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages.

Notice Each Moment

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It's all going to be OK. In fact, it already is. 

If you set your mind on peace, and keep it there, nothing can steal that from you. 


Not surprises or unexpected conversations, not heartache, not anger, not loss. 

Not shitty behavior from people you care about. 

Not feeling confused or lost, wondering what your purpose is, not even the days when you want to give up. 

You begin to see these as experiences as experiences. 


You have a chance to be human here in this lifetime, to ride the ups and downs and simply keep noticing. 

Notice discomfort. Notice your breath. Notice the way you can keep your heart open. Notice the moments when you want to close, and then stay open. 


Take up space. Take care of you. 

It's all OK.

Photos by Ken Johnson of CKCImage.

You're Invited to Join the Alive in the Fire Email Newsletter

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Happy Monday, yogis! Hope you had a beautiful weekend.

I wanted to take a moment to invite you to join my email newsletter! :) Exciting times... it only took me 5+ years to get my act together as a blogger and get an email list going. Ha!

In all honesty, I would love if you join the list... you guys are the reason I write and you make this community what it is. :) I'll be sharing updates with recent blog posts, ideas for kicking your yoga practice into gear, info about my upcoming coastal yoga retreat (!!!), and other fun updates. There's a signup form below, and a spot in the sidebar at the right where you can always sign up.


Alive in the Fire Newsletter

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Thanks, as always for being a part of Alive in the Fire! Namaste.

Photos in this post by Brynna Bryant and Tom Huynh.

Yogi Surprise April

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This month's Yogi Surprise box is themed around nature, which fits perfectly with my recent relocation to the north coast of California :)

 I'm living in the coastal town of Eureka, near beaches and really tall redwood trees. It's certainly a gorgeous area and I can't wait to do more exploring as I get settled in.
 

 I'm so grateful I had my Yogi Surprise box goodies to enjoy during these last few weeks, especially with all the chaos and stress of moving! I was also happy to use several of my old beautiful lavender boxes for packing small items, like my essential oils and some spices from the kitchen ;) Thanks, Yogi Surprise!

Here were my favorite items from the April box:
Organic tangerine ginger tea from Rishi
This yummy blend is perfect for rainy mornings, or in the evening with a spoonful of local honey mixed in. I love the vibrant color that the hibiscus brings out, too!


Go Raw Choco Crunch Sprouted Cookies
and
Stoneridge Orchards Montmorency Tart Cherries
Healthy snacks for on-the-go? Perfect for a long drive or a long day packing and unpacking boxes. Both of these were delicious!
Rescue Plus Stress Relief Lozenges 
Love the citrus-y taste and the way these instantly make me feel a little calmer. 

How has your April been going, yogis? Sending a heartfelt namaste your way...

Gratitude and Abundance

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This week, my heart feels full. I feel at peace.

I have been experiencing a big shift…


Settling in. Meditating. Eating healthier. Expressing my emotions more.

There is so much abundance in my life! And it feels really good to take time to notice it, and to be grateful.


How are you, dear reader? What do you have going on in your Yoga practice?

I hope you have a fun weekend, and I encourage you to start it off by taking the five deepest breaths you’ve taken all day :)


XO

Sacramento Free Day of Yoga

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Calling all Sactown yogis!

If you are around for Labor Day, I invite you to check out the day of free yoga going on in Sacramento on Monday, September 1st.

A lot of studios are offering free classes -- you can find them here. There's a little bit of something for everyone: vinyasa, yin, kundalini, even a workshop on Ayurveda and yogic eating!

Wherever you practice, I hope you enjoy trying something new :)

PS If you are a local who attends and you feel inspired to share about your experience, please email me at aliveinthefire at gmail dot com. I'd love to feature you on the blog!

Wanderlust 2014 at Squaw Valley (Yoga and Music in Tahoe)

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Last weekend I enjoyed some adventuring at

Wanderlust Squaw

. Were you guys at the festival?

I didn’t buy a ticket this year, which actually ended up being perfect. I was free to just enjoy the atmosphere, people watch, and catch up with friends… just take it all in

without being on a schedule

:)

Here are some of my favorite moments…

Seeing beautiful

Lake Tahoe

.

Yoga

 shenanigans… 

Acro yoga

, arm balances and inversions, hula hooping…

Live music, hugs with friends old and new, and 

good food

.

Wild mountain weather (it poured!).

Beautiful scenery at Squaw. Tahoe is truly a magical spot.

Rad vendors who sell handmade crafts like this lamp I bought:

Overall it was a lovely weekend, and I had a blast!

PS Last year’s 

Wanderlust

 was fantastic too – I met Dharma Mittra and took his asana class and meditation and pranayama workshop! Life changing.

Wanderlust Festival at Squaw Valley

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Photos by Ali Kaukas, via Wanderlust.

Are you Wanderlust-ing this year?

Wanderlust is my favorite yoga and music festival. I went to Squaw Valley last year and absolutely loved it.

I took classes with Dharma Mittra and MC Yogi, hula hooped with Shakti Sunfire, and had a blast wandering around seeing performers, eating delicious food, and listening to great music.


At night, the party came to life when Quixotic, Gramatik, and Moby played live.

This year’s lineup is amazing, too, and I’m really excited to go!


It’s crazy reflecting on the past year and how much has changed… and how much I’ve grown since I was at Wanderlust for my first time…


Since I took Dharma Mittra’s workshop last year, I’ve been eating vegetarian. (Well, pescetarian :)


Last year I attended the festival as a yoga student. Now, I’m a yoga teacher, too.

Then, I walked into the fest with one friend. I left for home with a handful of new friends from Tahoe who I’m still close to. This July, I’ll be attending among dozens of yogi friends, fellow teachers, and members of my local community. It is an amazing feeling to be so plugged in here in California!



I’m feeling very grateful and excited about Wanderlust this year. Will you be attending? XO


 PS You can read about my experience at Wanderlust 2013 to get an idea of how it was... amazing!

True Beauty

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Being beautiful means believing in yourself. Trusting your inner wisdom, even as you take risks. Beautiful is throwing convention to the wind, and doing it your own way.

This week, I chopped off a bunch of my hair—I went for it, even though I knew it would be different than any style I've had before. And I love it! I feel sexy and unique and playful.


Beautiful is saying YES to opportunities that come your way.

This week I said YES to the chance to teach yoga at my home studio, Leap Yoga in Folsom. I’ll be sharing an hour of asana with my wonderful community and I am thrilled! My intention for the class is to humble myself, to be willing to be seen, and to have fun.


Beautiful is being dedicated to the soulful practices that allow you to love others.

This week, I’m spending time on my mat, meditating, reading, and remembering to take time for myself, even as I serve. In all I do, I seek peace and balance.

In this moment, I feel beautiful. And I think you’re beautiful too!

Radiant

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I feel joyful today. I spent last night dancing, and it was just what I needed... releasing what does not serve me, laughing, watching people let loose, smiling at the way we all feel the same happiness.

Today I had a reiki/massage session with my healer. I hula hooped in the park. I took a restful nap. And now I'm sitting at the patio of my favorite cafe, enjoying a coffee and sandwich and the way the sunlight feels.

Days like today, I feel radiant with gratitude.


As I walked in to order my coffee, I had this vision of myself sitting on a patio somewhere in Europe, listening to the sea as it moves, the sound of Spanish being spoken. I could picture what it would feel like to open my laptop among strangers, sitting down to do the same thing I'm doing now in a place that is unfamiliar and beautiful.

Walking cobblestone streets, in and out of cathedrals. Being barefoot on the hardwood floor of a new yoga studio, bowing namaste to a teacher whose accent makes me smile. Eating food I've never tried, giving hugs to people I've never met, gathering experiences I will never forget.

Life is beautiful, and precious. On days like today, I love all of it. May I continue to be a blessing to those I meet, and may I continue to travel freely, riding the breeze that is this human experience.

Namaste.

Outdoor Adventures and Sports Gear for Yogis, Climbers and Hikers

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With spring just around the corner, I'm starting to get excited for some adventures in the mountains. It's been far too long since I went camping, went hiking, or rock climbed outdoors!

 I've always wanted to try mountain biking, too. Do you guys like going on outdoor adventures?

I recently discovered this awesome site called The Clymb, where you can find sports gear for a wide variety of activities -- everything from yoga clothes to cycling gear, camping supplies and running shoes. 

If I could pick any outfit for my next yoga in the park session, I'd have to go with this sexy top and sweet pair of leggings:
 

 And for hiking and biking:
 
The site carries a lot of high-quality brands like Patagonia, PrAna, Lucy, Columbia and Adidas, but with discounts of up to 70% off retail prices. Very helpful for someone like me who would rather spend a reasonable amount on gear, and have more of my budget for traveling to cool locations to enjoy nature! :)


I'm thinking a trip to Tahoe is in order in the near future... and eventually I'd like to plan to take a few vacation days for a trip down to Yosemite, Death Valley or the coast up near Mendocino. I haven't gone exploring in forever, and it would feel really good to be away from the city and in a place where it's quiet enough to hear the wind through the trees, and dark enough at night to see the stars :)

Since I was a little girl, I've always loved being outdoors and traveling. When I was a kid, my dad would always take my brother, sister and me camping. I loved having no set schedule, and the way we'd let our days be determined by the sunrise and sunset rather than any specific plans. We'd wander on the trails and listen to him tell stories. We'd search for animal tracks and unusual birds. We were always on the look out for bears and poison oak, and we didn't mind when the red dirt got on our shoes.

Nothing quite compares to being away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, and free from cars and noise and screen time :)



A few trips that are on my list for sure:

  • climb in Moab with my friend who's grown up in Utah
  • do a bicycle tour (1-2 weeks cycling and camping)
  • hike in Alaska
  • see the Grand Canyon
  • explore the beaches in Thailand
  • climb Half Dome
  • teach yoga abroad as a guest teacher (at a studio or retreat center)
What excursions do you want to take this year?

PS What's the coolest place you've practiced yoga outdoors?

Urban Flow with Rusty Wells (A Guest Post)

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Photo via Pinterest.

Have you ever practiced yoga in San Francisco?

One studio I’ve been meaning to try for a while is Urban Flow, where Rusty Wells teaches. He’s a favorite of several of my teachers.

Lindsay, one of my friends from teacher training, recently experienced a class at his studio. Here are some of her reflections on the experience…
Photo via Pinterest.

I visited Urban Flow for the first time, to experience a Rusty Wells Bhakti flow class.  I was inspired by Rick Anglemoyer and Cathy Connors, a couple of my favorite teachers. Despite all my good intentions, I was anxious about being in San Francisco and heading into the studio alone.  So after climbing a looong flight of stairs, I was grateful to receive a warm welcome and orientation from the front desk girl.

 I had been so nervous about this new adventure that I’d arrived twenty minutes early even after being warned that Rusty’s classes always run late, and I’d already done my paperwork online, so I had thirty minutes to sit, sip water, and try to calm down.  I sat down on one of the wide benches in the lobby area and as I waited, I could hear Chammak Challo playing!  It’s one of my favorite Bollywood songs, and so I relaxed and rocked my shoulders side to side remembering that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, and in this case, it was somewhere fun.
Photo by Daniel Rebert.

Finally I heard the closing chant and sweaty people started pouring out of both doors (good thing there are two hydration stations!).  When I got inside, I was grateful to see that there would be plenty of space for my extra-long mat.  In fact, attendance in the 11 am basics class was lighter than the 9am level 2/3.  I was a little disappointed that I wouldn’t be experiencing a 200-person mat-to-mat city yoga class – guess I just have to go back :)

 The studio itself has lots of natural light, with plenty of windows.  I set up in the middle and started a conversation with the woman next to me.  It had been a while since she had been in the studio, she said, but she considered it a great place and she welcomed me.  As class started, our first instructions were to meet the people next to us, so she and I exchanged names and I also met the woman on my left.  I love meeting the people I’m practicing next to.  We’re sharing the same air.  Often we’re sweating on each other, too. And it’s so great to create some familiarity in a new place.

Photo by Daniel Rebert.

When we settled in to our comfortable seated poses, I realized Neil Wadhawan was sitting at the front of the room, directly in front of me!  Even though I’ve only seen the guy twice, it was lovely to see a familiar face next to the legendary Rusty Wells.  It turned out that Neil assisted our class, along with a woman whose name I didn’t quite catch.  She gave me great directional assists for my foot, drishti gazing point, and shoulders, and she brought me deeper into a twisted lunge.

 Rusty himself can be kind of a cheese ball.  I love that because it reminds me to smile even when that cheese ball is guiding me into an uncomfortable pose.  He also offered great technical cues.  My favorite was creating a wave-like motion with the spine when transitioning from cat to cow to cat.  I particularly enjoyed that because I have a giant, heavy bun on top of my head that basically exaggerates the feeling of any spinal movement.  I didn’t notice any vinyasa flows or Chaturanga – which I know my teacher training cohort would appreciate!  That may have been less due to Bhakti flow than to the “basic” nature of the class, or I have simply done so many Chaturangas in teacher training that I no longer acknowledge them. 
Photo by Daniel Rebert.

Before attending Rusty’s class, I was told that he is a very present or tuned-in person. This is something I found to be true.  Every time I looked at him, I saw his bright eyes looking deeply at the other students, or at me.  Well, actually once I saw him swinging a little kid around at the back of the room, which was pretty adorable.  So he seemed to be paying attention to everyone.  At one point, we were in tree pose and he asked us what kind of tree we were.  I thought “oak” just as he said, “Oak?  Yes, I thought so.”  It was probably totally a coincidence, but I’d rather think he already knows how much I love the Folsom scrub oaks, haha.

 At the end of class, as we lay in a fetal position on our right side, he asked us to call to mind someone we love and repeat his words back to him for this person.  I had no idea what he was going to say, but I was along for the ride, so I repeated:  “May you be happy…  May you be healthy…  May you be free from suffering…  I’m sorry for those things I did…  Especially that one really big thing…  I love you very much…”  And then I think he said “baby poop,” which either I didn’t hear correctly or was intended to lighten the mood after such a beautifully intense moment.

 I walked out of the class feeling like I’d found a little piece of home in San Francisco. There were definitely similarities between Urban Flow and Leap Yoga, my home studio. Everyone I talked to was friendly and let their light shine.  And I am definitely ready to visit again!

Photo by Lucy Liu.

Thanks, Lindsay, for sharing your experience… hope we can head back down to San Francisco for another Bhakti class soon. Namaste!