Retreat To The Mountains

A few weeks ago, seventeen of us packed into our cars and headed west. Although it was just a few hours’ drive from Raleigh, it felt like worlds away from the day-to-day hustle and bustle of life.

We drove out to the Prama Institute, located in Marshall, NC, about twenty minutes north of Asheville. Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, it’s nestled among 150 acres of rolling hills and forest lands strewn with hiking trails, with the French Broad River just five minutes away. Its scenic and peaceful surroundings created the perfect place for us to recharge body, mind and spirit.… Read the rest

Opportunity For Service!

Labor Day is generally a day of rest; a day off from the usual grind, and a chance to relax and enjoy what is usually a workday. Everybody looks forward to a day off, right? But even knowing this, I had no doubt when I got a call from Regina at the Wake County Women’s Shelter that she really wanted to have their reception area painted ASAP that I’d have no problem finding enough willing hands to get the project done.

I sent out the all-call, and sure enough, about a dozen enthusiastic “Yes!” responses came back. The folks at the shelter were thrilled, and in a few short hours, we transformed the entire reception area, hall and bathrooms to look like new.… Read the rest

Yoga Mala!

Four times each year we set up four rows of mats, crank up the stereo and count 108 rounds of Surya Namaskar A to mark the change of seasons. It’s an odd practice, I suppose, but it has become a tradition. And it’s my feeling that tradition is a good thing; rituals infuse meaning into the motions of everyday life.

Our Summer Solstice mala was a packed and sweaty celebration! Whether you were there for the fun or not, you might enjoy the playlist.

Peace!… Read the rest

Service

Service in the form of dana (generosity; the practice of giving) is nothing new to our community. This year we raised $6500 for MercyCorps efforts in Haiti. The year before we collected over $5000 for Nepal House. The list of organizations that we have supported since opening in 2007 is long: Raleigh Jaycees, Prevent Child Abuse NC, Interact, Save Darfur Coalition, just to name a few. And rallying this generous community to put some money where their hearts are is something we feel very good about, and we will continue to share opportunities to contribute in meaningful ways.… Read the rest

Did you know your yoga was GREEN?

We all love the blue.
There’s so very much to love!
But maybe you didn’t know that we are also green?

In case you missed it, here’s the link to a recent feature article
from Yoga Journal magazine about the trend towards “green” yoga. It even includes a few little tidbits about Raleigh’s favorite yoga studio.

Happy Reading!… Read the rest

Last night in Vinyasa ~ L2…

I get these great messages from you all on a daily basis. And this
one I just had to share. Anyone who was in class last night will
surely appreciate:

Wanna hear something funny? This week in my home practice I
wanted to see what would happen if I practiced a most-hated pose,
which is Vira III. Hate it especially when the arms are stretched out.
Any balance pose is hard for me since I gave up contacts and practice
half-blind, add the ridiculously anti-gravity arm position, the foot that
wants to sickle, tight hamstrings….the… Read the rest

Third Birthday Fundraiser

Namaste!

Time flies when you’re having fun, right? This weekend we will celebrate the end of our third year of yoga in downtown Raleigh. And it has been a lot of fun! But more on that, later.

Last year, our fund raising efforts were directed to the Nepal House Society. During our “Blue Turns Two” fund raising weekend, the blue lotus yoga community raised over $5000 to support a therapy center for abused, abandoned and traumatized children in Nepal. In addition, we donated a percentage of 2009 Wee Boo-tique sales to Nepal House, and recently got this exciting news from Ashwin Sharma, the organization’s Chairperson:

Dear Jill
What a wonderful surprise in our mail box today!… Read the rest

My first posting on Blue’s Blog

My first posting on Blue’s Blog ;o) — as promised, below is the link to yesterday morning’s playlist. I also wanted to recommend an amazing book, & Christie McNally. The authors creatively intertwine the yoga sutras (“threads” on yoga) within quite an amusing story, all done in layman’s terms. Happy reading!

Thanks for making the Blue community a special place to BE.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=352237936

Love,
Michele… Read the rest