Maybe you got the email already or saw the Facebook post, but if you didn't, let me fill you in.  The Spring Equinox is fast approaching. You know that day when, even if the ground is still blanketed in snow, we New Englanders begin to see the end of this frozen world in sight. The eve of spring.  The official date I'm referring to is March 20th.  This year we've had a particularly long and cold winter in Maine, so when a friend, and fellow teacher, suggested this idea I jumped on board.  108 Sun Salutations to welcome spring. 

So far when I have brought this up to my students (the adults) and friends and family I have been greeted with faces of disbelief and abject horror. "Why on earth would you do that?", they ask me. "Why 108?"

Well, in ancient yogi times 108 was considered to be the number of wholeness of existence. It is the average distance of the sun and the moon to earth (multiplication is involved here and I am no math whiz, so I'm going to trust the info given to me on this one). 108 is also the number of 'Upanishads' (ancient Indian texts). 108 is the number of beads on a mala (and a catholic rosary) so essentially, if a person completes 108 Sun Salutations that person becomes the mala.

Now that you have the reason for the number let me tell you why you should come and give a go with me.

1. I have never done this before so I am a beginner in this respect.  My sources tell me that training for this is not necessary. It isn't like running a 5K. I am putting a lot of trust into those sources. I'm letting go of any fear that I can't do this. I know I can, and I know you can too. 
2. We are breaking those 108 Sun Salutes into 4 sets of 27 with a break between each set to drink water, rest and use the facilities.
3. Yogis around the world are doing this on the same day, how cool is that! My husband referred to it as The Great Guinness Toast of the yoga world. Even cooler.
4. What else are you going to do to welcome spring? Clean your house? This is a great excuse to procrastinate cleaning. This is spring cleaning of the body, mind and soul.
5. Impress your friends and family. Ok, granted that is not a very yogic reason but I couldn't resist.  :)
6. Practicing Sun Salutations is very meditative.  We connect each pose in the vinyasa to our breath. Meditation has been proven very effective in reducing stress. If you are not someone who can sit still to meditate this might just be the ticket for you.
7. Think of the physical workout involved. What a great way to kickstart a healthy spring.
8. Completing this as part of a group has its benefits. A sense of community.  We will do the counting so you won't lose your place, we will support each other when it starts to feel like it will not end, and we will all celebrate together when we finish.
9. It is a valid reason to escape your kids for an afternoon.
10. It is a challenge. Challenging yourself is an important way to grow as an individual. The sense of accomplishment after a real challenge is a blissful thing.
So, come salute the sun and welcome in spring with us. Be part of the global mala on March 20th. For details, give a call or email. Now, who's with me?

This week has come with defining moments. Opportunities for me to grow as a person, a teacher and a business owner. Light bulb moments, when if you were a cartoon character, a light bulb would suddenly appear over your head when you hit upon a brilliant idea. I believe that it is what you do with such moments that make or break you.

In the time since I began my journey through yoga until now I have been pretty focused on the physical side of yoga. I have spent my yoga time practicing asanas (poses), preparing class plans and teaching my small classes. I have studied the yamas and niyamas and worked to put them to good use in my life and practice. I have experienced energy moving through my body. I have understood, although not made much time for the spirituality of yoga. The piece that had escaped me was meditation. A few months ago a friend asked me to teach her how to meditate, and I laughed. Can’t teach something I hadn’t successfully learned to do. Recent events in my life have begun to shift my yoga practice from a purely physical one into something entirely different.

I have begun to find the benefits in meditation. It happened quite unintentionally. I didn’t decide to sit and meditate, one of those light bulbs I mentioned suddenly went off and I found myself sitting on a bolster, breathing into the quiet of the room around me. Things suddenly became very clear to me. And then after the first time, it has come to be easier and easier. When faced with a decision to make, instead of frantically rushing head-long into a choice (a choice I will most likely come to regret), I have been able to sit and breathe. I have successfully turned off my brain and surrendered myself to trusting that an answer will come to me when I am ready to receive it. Thus the light bulbs. Answers to my dilemmas are falling into my lap. That’s not to say that the solutions are easy. Some will take quite a lot of work. Some answers bring more choices. Choices about how hard I want to work to solve the problems.

Not solving your problems is quite easy. Sometimes we have the answers and know what we need to do to achieve our goals but the work involved scares us away. For some of us the concept of success in our lives causes anxiety. We sabotage ourselves so that success slips from our grasp. Or, the opposite happens. We grasp at what we want so intensely that we can’t see when things are no longer working. Practicing meditation can provide an opportunity to step back from whatever issue we might be facing so that we might see it from a different perspective. I’m not suggesting that meditation can solve everything. We know that we can’t expect a light bulb moment every time we meditate. But at the very least, we stop, we breathe. Sometimes that’s all we really need is a chance to breathe.

The journey continues through yoga and through life. Finding time to sit with the stillness is now a priority in my life. Making room for meditation defines me. What defines you?