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The Blog

The Marble Angel - Seeing Potential in What's Not There

6/14/2017

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This is a "Wednesday's Wisdom" post previously sent to MD Community members before being posted here on the blog. If you want to receive these the moment they come out, subscribe to the newsletter!
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​​"I saw the angel in the marble, and carved until I set him free."
- Michelangelo

Another one of my favorite quotes, because it facilitates deep thought (and I had to read it twice to understand it). It almost sounds like a backwards story, doesn't it? Usually things do not exist until they exist, but in Michelangelo's case, the angel in the marble existed before it existed. Know what I'm saying?

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Stand Inside Yourself

6/14/2017

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This is a "Wednesday's Wisdom" post previously sent to MD Community members before being posted here on the blog. If you want to receive these the moment they come out, subscribe to the newsletter!
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​"For an impenetrable shield, stand inside yourself."

- Henry David Thoreau

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the boundaries or "fences" we build over time around the life we choose to live every day. These fences protect us from fear, pain, discomfort or anything we want to avoid. We all have some kind of shield in front of us. It's okay to have these shields because it's natural to want to protect ourselves, but I think it's important to recognize they exist. Are there things you don't talk about, places you won't go back to, situations you avoid on a daily basis, experiences you are afraid to try (...right?).

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What's Leading You?

6/14/2017

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This is a "Wednesday's Wisdom" post previously sent to MD Community members before being posted here on the blog. If you want to receive these the moment they come out, subscribe to the newsletter!
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I saw this quote the other day...

"As we begin to get more connected to our soul, we spontaneously begin to find ourselves in a different place in the world, and in our lives...because we are being led by a deeper field of Intelligence than just the doubting mind. What's leading you?"
- Rod Stryker
 
...and it struck a chord with me...

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Yoga. Not sure where to start? Follow the breath.

4/20/2017

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Beginning a yoga practice can be daunting. The idea that flexibility is a pre-requisite often stops many people from stepping into a yoga class. It is difficult in general to start any new practice, whether it's yoga, a new sport or hobby. We all start from a relative place of inexperience and inability. Like anything else, if we push into something too fast, we succumb to a higher risk of injury, frustration and failure. These same principles apply to yoga. By starting out slow and easy, progression and change will happen faster, and it will be safer for your body! 

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Of Fences, Yoga and Horses: A Realization

4/4/2017

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Fences. We see them a lot...surrounding houses, along edges of roads and highways, keeping boundaries and protecting property and land from intruders. Often times, fences are built to keep something or someone from coming in. "Do not enter." Then there are fences that contain something. Fences that do not let you out. "Do not leave." 

​I was recently inspired by one of Seth Godin's daily posts called, "The Invisible Fence".  In his blog, he alluded that fences can be obsolete, and rarely do they keep us confined. If we care enough, if we are determined enough, it is as though there is no fence. 

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The Complexity of Extended Side Angle Pose (Utthita Parsvakonasana) & My Personal Experience

3/21/2017

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Extended Side Angle Pose, ("Utthita Parsvakonasana" in Sanskrit) is a pose commonly taught in yoga classes. It is a pose I often include in many of my vinyasa classes at the studio. Instructors generally guide students into this pose from Warrior II, instructing to prop the lower arm on top of the bent leg and extend into side angle pose from there. To move into a deeper expression of the pose, the student can release the arm from the leg and lower that hand toward the ground, while keeping the upper body lifted and long. Extended Side Angle Pose requires quite a bit of side-body flexibility (to lower the torso and lengthen the arm), core strength (to keep from the body lifted) and hip mobility (to bend low into the leg with a wide stance).

But there is something else the body needs to do in the pose that I only just discovered......and it is the main reason I struggle with it.....

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    Julie Mats Down

    ​Hello, I'm Julie.

    One of the many things yoga taught me was empowerment...and I hope to share that with you here.
    Bring wisdom, nourishment and a deeper connection to all aspects of your life.

    *​breathe on purpose*
    Achieve anything on your yoga mat
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    Create a home yoga practice
    Warming up to back bends

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