The Shakti Shine - November 10th, 2020
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.
Yoga begins now.
Saturday finally felt like a tiny bit of pressure was able to be released. Like this year has been building, building, building, and for a moment a pressure-release valve was opened.
It feels like a giant sigh.
For the first time in a long time I felt like myself in my practice. It was during Maggie's Sunday 4:30. I had a moment, sweaty and smiling, where things felt right in place. Do you know what I mean?
It's a feeling I used to get a lot when I could roll out my mat right next to yours.
It's a feeling that comes when a song comes on that moves me and sun a's feel like a dance.
It's a feeling I get in savasana after a full, sweaty class and I open my eyes, softy look at the ceiling, and land fully supported in my body.
In that moment on Sunday, Shakti felt like magic again.
...
I was always taught to shy away from political talk growing up.
I don't live by that rule anymore.
It's a really big deal that we have the first female, first Black, first South Asian Vice President Elect. It's a really big deal that so many of my friends and loved ones feel like they will be able to breathe a little better again. It's a really big deal that so many Americans exercised their right to vote in this Presidential election.
It's a really big deal that we pay attention.
And it's a really big deal that we talk about it.
...
Did you know that the physical practice of yoga was used in India as a tool of the resistance during colonization?
We practice asana as a way to fortify, clarify, awaken.
Yoga, at its core, is a practice of liberation.
Liberation for all.
This practice gives us access to vitality, power, and FREEDOM.
The very first sutra (rule or verse) in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, an ancient text on the theory and practice of yoga is Atha yoga anushasanam. Now, the teachings of yoga begin.
...
As I laid on my mat in savasana on Sunday I thought, you know, now more than ever it's time to show up.
And then I thought, isn't that always true?
Isn't that the power of now?
That we keep showing up?
Isn't that where the magic happens?
That we don't quit, give in, or give up.
That we take one breath at a time...
and eventually...
we get somewhere...
we get somewhere brand new...
Eventually we tap into the magic again.
Here's to doing the work.
Yoga begins now.
xx
Ruby
The Weekly Work
This is where we bring yoga off the mat together
1. Write a Thank You note of gratitude to someone every day this week
2. (Georgians!) Make a plan to vote in the runoff election January 5th. (Read why it's important here)
3. Celebrate America's first female, first Black and first South Asian Vice President Elect - Listen to her speech, read about her outfit choice, and talk to the children in your life about this monumental moment in history
Have suggestions for The Weekly Work? Send them our way!
GRATITUDE MONTH IS HERE
November is Gratitude Month at Shakti!
- Join us for 30 days of THANK YOU -
follow along on instagram, order a journal, & practice gratefulness every day
ORDER NOW
use code FREESHIP at checkout for in-studio pickup!
ORDER NOW - IN THE PRACTICE OF GRATITUDE/ HARDCOPY
Gratitude Journals are BACK!
We’ll send you the revamped, full color & UPDATED 2020 journal written and designed by Ruby.
Join us daily for November in discovering and sharing our gratitudes.
You can use this journal for any 30 day period- no excuse to not dive in!
use code FREESHIP at checkout for in-studio pickup!
PRE-ORDER GRATITUDE MERCH NOW!
Tees, Tanks & Sweatshirts to spread gratitude and share the Shakti Love - Thank you for your support!
Inquiry Corner w Emily on IGTV!
Emily takes a dive into the Yoga Sutras and how to live yoga off the mat!
Stay tuned!!!
SHAKTI TEAM LOVE NOTE <3
A Note on Malleability by Jensen Toney
Lately I’ve been thinking about change, when it happens, and how it happens. One specific characteristic of change is one’s ability to be malleable and to receive or to actively help along the change occurring. Their receptivity to change can be a factor on the change itself. Some approach change with resistance, some with impartialness, and others with total acceptance. The group of people closer to the accepting side seems, to me, to be of a spongier demeanor. More impressionable. More open, and less resistant.
Why is that? What makes someone more agreeable, more ready, and more open to transformation? Personality? Childhood? Life experience?
Then, while searching for such an answer, I do what I usually do. I dropped into my body and asked myself, where is change in my body? What does it feel like? What sensations arise when I’m experiencing change? When do I feel as though a change has been brought to completion? How does that moment feel in my body?
I know for me, change can feel icky. Scary. Stuck. Mysterious. Cold. Cloudy. Change can also feel hopeful. Bright. Exciting. Warm. Tingly. No matter the feel or sensation change is inevitable. It is going to happen whether I am ready or not. It is here now, and always far away in the past and in the future.
After digging deeper, I realized that the answer to my overarching question really doesn’t matter. We may not have all the answers, especially when we ask the big questions. But small steps and small questions could eventually lead to real change, real transformation, and real solutions. May we embrace the change we seek and may we seek the change we need.
PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK
ANNOUNCEMENTS
We're not very good at Facebook... But we love Slack!
So we'd like to invite you to join our member community on Slack
- Here you can connect with each other, we'll post journaling & inquiry prompts, and you'll have easier access to reach us