The Shakti Shine - November 25th, 2019

Shakti Love Notes

We are always growing. I love that! And the more I grow, the more I recognize how important it is for us all to share what we're going through-- even (and especially) me.

So these Love Notes are a space for me to share with you each week-- about the studio, my life, how our community is growing.

Gather yourself.

Thanksgiving is just a few days away, and the week of family, friends, and food is underway. A time of celebration and gratitude... and travel and family debates and naps. I don't know about you but heading into this week often feels like a mix of excitement and anxiety for me. I'm ready for it. I love my family. I love gratitude. I love food.... AND IT'S A LOT. It's a lot of people, a lot of conversation, a lot of time in the car, a lot of highlighted differences, a lot of pie, a lot of effort.

For a long time the days leading up to a family holiday felt like preparing for the worst. I'd protect myself with pep-talks, meditations, layers of impenetrable self-defense. In the moment of connection, I'd be unavailable and unhurtable. I got to be the enlightened one; I thought I was kind of above it all. I took myself out of the experience. If I could just show up physically but remove my mind and heart, I'd be safe. I thought it was working great. Until it would be over and I would feel totally unsatisfied. I felt alone, unseen, frustrated, and discontented.

Thankfully, it doesn't have to be that way anymore.

I've realized that all my day-to-day work to take care of myself and get centered doesn't need to be active armor. I've realized that it can be safe to bring my heart to the table. I've realized that I'm ready now.

The tools and resources of growth aren't meant to take us out.

The tools and resources of growth are meant to empower us to show up fully.

Gather yourself. Call your energy back into the moment. Reel in your concerns, your cares, your thoughts. Breathe. Imagine a glowing bright light in the center of your chest. Bring all of your attention, all of your energy, there. Breathe. See the light glow and grow. You are centered. You are grounded. You are here.

You have the tools you need.

Presence is the key to gratitude. I've learned to gather myself as an access to presence. This automatically shines light on gratitude, and it gives me two feet to stand on mentally and emotionally.

From the glowing light, widen. Widen your breath. Widen the space between your thoughts. Widen the context of your thoughts. Widen your attention into your senses. Notice what you see, what you taste, what you smell, what you feel, what you hear. Widen your attention until you sense silence, stillness. Widen. Experience. See what's really here.

Let it be and you will see.

A teacher once told me "acceptance is the deepest form of love." When I come to my family from this I get the chance to see what's good, generate gratitude, and get what I need. Quality time can happen because I am centered and present enough to make myself available to that.

Gather to widen.

I've been practicing this gather to widen for the last week or so in preparation for the holiday. I know it's something I can start my day with, come back to, or get present to in the moment. When I'm here and gathered, I can trust myself to widen into the experience of now from a softer space, one that's not worried about losing myself.

I expect this week to feel like a lot for most of us.

I hope that between a lot of people, a lot of pie, and a lot of effort that there's also a lot of connection, a lot of care, a lot of gratitude, and a lot of love for you.

xx
Ruby

*Let it be noted that my personal family experience has its own pains and traumas, but that I feel physically safe with the people who come around for the holidays. I've been able to work through a lot of the emotional hurt and actively see a therapist, and it feels right for me to be with my family for this holiday. Protect yourself this week. And give yourself the chance to experience what's present. This may look like not having Thanksgiving with your family. It may look like spending extra time outside. It may look like staying in bed. Accepting and loving more fully could look like setting more clear boundaries, and that's a kind of Gather to Widen, too.

Beyond the mat...

We love Athens.
And we love you.
So let's have more of that-- together.

Here's where you can see what we're up to outside of the studio.

Have ideas about where we should be / what we should check out / how we can show up?
Reply to this email to let us know.

Gratitude Month is happening!

~ Here are 3 things we are so grateful for this week ~

Last weekend Sonja led yoga with the local group
SheSpeaks Academy!
SheSpeaks is women helping young women ages 9-12 recognize their potential, power, voice and to increase self-esteem, self-awareness, and self-confidence.

We are grateful for the time and resources to share the tools of yoga with the younger generation in our community.

Emily wrapped up her 3 part workshop series,
Intuitive Eating & Yoga, on Thursday!
Emily is a registered dietician, and this workshop was designed to bring the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating to life. We talked about diet culture & its detrimental effects from the viewpoint of Thinking, Physiology, & Feeling. You can check out more of Emily's work to dismantle diet culture in her 6 part blog series, 19 voices.

We are grateful that we have a space to hold real & meaningful conversations and that together we can do the work to dismantle diet culture!

The Duality Project hosted their 11th Heartfelt retreat this weekend!
tDP is a collaborative project with Ruby & Kate Moore, GetFit615. The purpose of tDP is to create space where courageous self-work, movement, & connection takes place.
See more about them here.

We are grateful for the opportunity to get away before the holidays-- for nourishing food, brave spaces, open conversations, self-awareness, growth, & warm socks!

sign up for class

sign up for yoga & coffee

~ WORKSHOPS with Leadership Team ~

sign up to support LT

Put us in your GCal!
Come by on Dec 5 to hang and meet our building! Stop by Shakti for a free power hour, Journey Juice samples, cupcakes, & an opportunity to get some local holiday gifts from Absynia jewelry, Flourish Fibers macrame, Maggie Scruggs art, Lori Demosthenes pottery, and more!

save your spot in the free class

~ Inquiry Corner ~

Emily's bringing back yoga philosophy for a
6-part series on the koshas!

Koshas are the energetic layers of being that surround our soul. When we align (or clearly see) all the layers of our being, our truest self is able to shine out.

* Pranamaya kosha is this week's IGTV!*

Learn more about how breath impacts and informs a yoga practice. Breath can teach us so much about what we need and who we are!

> Check it out on instagram <

Meet the Shakti Team!

Emily Unwin
Why do you teach at Shakti?

I teach yoga at Shakti because it's the place where I feel seen, loved, and understood exactly as I am. Shakti has pushed me to grow and be a better human being, and I couldn't imagine my life without this place.

How do you honor the roots of a yoga practice in your every day life?

Daily meditation and journaling are essentials for increasing my self-awareness and decreasing myself and others harm. My thought is, the more in tune I am with myself, the more love I have to offer daily.
What kind of teacher do you strive to be?
Generous, open, honest, and energizing. I want my students to feel challenged, like they can do anything they set their eyes on, and they can be and feel anything within a class I teach.