Awakening

“Wake up, my love, you are walking asleep. Remember what you are, and let this knowing take you home to the Beloved with every breath. Hold tenderly who you are, and let a deeper knowing color the shape of your humanness. There is nowhere to go. What you are looking for is right here. Open the fist clenched in wanting and see what you already hold in your hand. There is no waiting for something to happen, no point in the future to get to. All you have ever longed for is here in this moment, right now...” -The Call by Oriah

I believe that everything that happens to you in your life is an opportunity for learning and growing. In February 2009, my aunt was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. In January 2010, I underwent an emergency surgery and in an unrelated experience I suffered from a third degree burn on my hand. In February 2010, I held my aunt’s hand as I watched her take her last breath. From this experience, I gained an unforgettable understanding of “awakening.” From one perspective, this progression of events may seem devastating or at the very least, labeled as a “bad experience.” I, however, believe that this was one of the best things that ever happened to me and I will be forever grateful. At some point during the year of my aunt’s illness, I experienced a mental shift into another realm of consciousness/awareness/being. For the first time, I awoke to a peace that surpasses all understanding. In the face of death, the only thing that seems to matter is “being,” and all other daily worries fade away. When you are only interested in being present enough to truly share a moment with someone you love, you find yourself truly alive and truly awake in this world. Most people live their lives half asleep, attached to the past, worried about the future and miss what is happening directly in front of their face.

While this experience was particularly extreme, the opportunity to awaken surrounds you always. Yoga is a great place to find access to an awakened state of being. It is an atmosphere in which you are able to be fully awake. By doing this you may find ways to open your heart, feel your body, listen to your breath and see into your soul. Instead of drifting away or going numb during the practice of yoga, I beg you to stay awake in every pose. Consciously choose in every moment to experience what is happening now. Yoga gives you an opportunity to practice this work and allows you to build your strength to stay awake, both on and off The Mat.

Awakening may mean recreating your life in a way that better suits your current circumstances. It can mean opening your eyes for the very first time to see the beauty of life that happens all around you. You are able to drop into this place of beauty with every single breath, in each individual moment. The key is to awaken to every moment as a new opportunity, new outlook, new perspective, but still realize that while your life takes place in each individual moment, your life is made up of the lump sum of all these moments. Knowing this is how you wake up to the eternal now, true bliss and complete peace.

My advice: awaken fully to every experience "good" or "bad," drink them in deeply, swallow experiences whole, look them directly in the eye, take them as a gift and learn what you can. Awaken fully to who you are, find every part of being, dive deep into the depths of your soul and bring it to life; wake yourself up from the inside out. Awaken to beauty that you can find in "ugliness." Open your eyes. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

I am continually grateful to be acting as the new Studio Director for The Mat. It is a pleasure to be surrounded by a group of people who are actively becoming better versions of themselves every single day. Please continue to introduce yourself, say hi, sip some tea, share your stories, or enjoy yoga with me when you drop in the studio!

Much Love,
Katie

Have a question for Katie? Email her at katie@thematyogastudio.com. You can find Katie at the Mat almost every day.

Upcoming Workshops!

Arm Balances & Inversions
Saturday, March 26th, 12:30pm-2:30pm

Arm balances test our physical strength, of course, but mostly they introduce us to that quiet, calm, confident center where we can move with an effortless strength. When we learn to navigate that place between balance and falling, between strength and surrender, between effort and ease we can feel like we’re flying. Come learn the mechanics of arm balances including crow, firefly, running man and others while you explore your own process of taking flight. We’ll also spend time exploring headstand and handstand for practitioners who would like to include these poses in their personal practice.

Pre-registration is required. This workshop is almost full, so we recommend registering as soon as possible. If we have a large enough waitlist, we will add a second workshop. Click here to register online now or call the studio directly.

Yoga for Foodies Weekend
Friday & Saturday, April 15 & 16

We are absolutely thrilled to welcome back David Romanelli and our all-time favorite workshops, his Yoga For Foodies series. We'll be hosting three amazing workshops this time:

Yoga + Wine... Makes You Smarter! Friday, 6:30pm
Fill Your Belly (and Soul) with Yoga + Chocolate Saturday, 1:00pm
Yoga + Chocolate... Makes You Happier! Saturday, 6:00pm

If you've never taken one of Yeah Dave's workshops, you won't want to miss this. Dave's humor and insight, combined with a great flow, incredible tunes, and chocolate (yes, chocolate!) make these workshops you'll remember for years to come.

As you know, our space at The Mat is limited and Dave's workshops always sell out quickly. We highly recommend you register online now. Be sure to note the cancellation policy, as it is different than our usual workshop policy at The Mat.

Yoga Teacher Training at The Mat!

Yoga with a Therapeutic Emphasis
200-hour and 300-hour RYT programs

The Mat is thrilled to announce that in 2011 we will be hosting Divine School of Yoga Therapy’s teacher training programs. The 200-hour RYT program will begin in May 2011 and the 300-hour RYT program will begin in March 2011. For dates, pricing and more details, please visit DSOYT’s website at http://www.dsoyt.com/ or call 682.325.YOGI(9644).

We will be hosting an Open House at The Mat on Saturday, March 5th from 1:30 to 2:30 for all those interested in finding out more about either program. Click here for more information. Don't miss this extremely informative session!

My Yoga Story - Reema Mustafa

Reema has been practicing at The Mat since April 2010. We are so grateful that she is sharing her Yoga story with us this month!

Why do you practice Yoga?
Reema Mustafa The short answer is Yoga makes my day better! It’s gotten to the point where a day without some Sun Salutations is as incomplete as a day without lunch! There is so much to love about yoga. There’s the non-competitive environment, the fact that you need absolutely nothing but a little space and the ability to breathe to do it, and there’s enough variety to keep you coming back. I also find it personally satisfying to have visual proof that I’m not the only person who sometimes has to think about which way is left vs. right!

How were you first introduced to Yoga? And, when did you begin your practice?
I was trying to start some sort of fitness routine and started doing fitness DVDs at home. The ones I kept going back to were the yoga DVDs, and then looking to add variety to that, I sought out a studio practice. I tried out 2 other yoga studios in the Dallas area before landing at The Mat. The first class at [Studio A] heavily embraced sound. Looking back, I simply may not have been as open to sound in my yoga practice as I would be now, but I still can’t help but think of that class as the class where people were Mooing during the whole class! After doing a trial at [Studio B], I found my place on The Mat in April 2010 and I haven’t looked back!

How often do you practice?
On a good week, I get to practice yoga 4-5 times. Weekends have a completely different rhythm for me, but any time I do make it to yoga on a Saturday or Sunday it’s always a treat. And if I don’t, it makes Monday’s practice that much sweeter.

What are a few of the benefits that you have experienced? How does your practice help you in your daily life?
Yoga has helped me adapt to what changes may come my way, accept myself when I don’t perform at my best, and to just breathe through the more challenging moments in daily life. I, like everyone these days, tend to multi-task a lot. The 23 hours during the day where I’m not practicing yoga may be filled with numerous simultaneous thoughts, but in my yoga practice, I’m focused on just one. I try to transfer that to my daily life as well. Yoga has greatly helped me deal with stress. Before I found yoga I was having panic attacks, and the reasons for which I couldn’t fall asleep at night were the same as those that kept me in bed the next morning. Yoga broke that cycle by making me active again. 2010 was full of transitions for me and it just happened to be the same year I started a dedicated yoga practice. I can’t imagine how I would have gotten through everything without it!

What is one tip you would give to a new practitioner of Yoga?
Don’t be afraid to fall or modify a pose. If fear of falling kept you out of a yoga class, come back and I’ll fall first. I fall anyway (its okay, we can say it was on purpose). You won’t interrupt anyone’s practice by falling or confuse them by taking a knee; we are all enveloped in our own practice, paying attention to our own breath. We’re not all Limber-Kimbers and Stretch Armstrongs. Listen to your instructors. Tucking the tailbone or aligning the knee a certain way may sound like minuscule adjustments to make, but it can completely change a pose and open up that space that much more (that holds true for remembering to breathe as well).

Why do you practice with us, at The Mat?
Between my research into other yoga studios and the fact that I’ve tried a handful, you can trust me when I say The Mat is the best in Dallas. It begins and ends with the people. You absolutely will not find a better set of instructors to lead you through your yoga practice. I tried 3 other yoga studios in Dallas through Groupon just looking to add variety to my practice, and I always consistently returned to The Mat. As often as I’ve come to The Mat, I’ve never left the studio without having smiled at least once. The philosophy of teaching is something you don’t get at other studios, and they throw in smiles for free. At other studios, you may leave class having done yoga at the same time as other people. At The Mat, you’re doing yoga *with* people. We share the energy in our studio, whether it’s a class of 4 or 40. When we were all iced-in our homes for a whole week, we gathered on the facebook page encouraging each other’s home practice. Between the times we laugh and the times we fall, we do it together in class. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to practice alongside you and to share my yoga story. I’ll see you very soon on The Mat! --namaste.

Visit us at www.thematyogastudio.com for studio information. We look forward to seeing you on The Mat!

The Mat Yoga Studio
670 N. Coit Road, Suite 2381
Richardson, Texas 75080