Making Things Sacred

I hope your Labor Day Weekend was just what you wanted. I had a fabulous time teaching at the Free Day of Yoga down at Waterloo Park. It was fun to reconnect with familiar faces and meet some new students as well. It's one of my favorite Austin traditions, so definitely mark your calendar for next year! 

For my class I taught a Chakra Flow class, drawing energy from the crown down to the root. We experienced ourselves as funnels, bringing light, consciousness, ideas, divine, universal flow from out in the ethers to our very earth-bound, material bodies. This is working with the manifesting current of our energetic selves. So often we think of the liberating current, going from physical to spiritual, as the "better" way to go. But I promise, the conscious anchoring of spirit into our bodies in the here and now, just as they are, is a completely necessary and worthwhile journey as well.

That's why everything this fall season is about embodiment. Being here, present, accepting of what is, and embracing the moment and our physical selves will help us finish the year full of gratitude for where we are now, and ready for the Season of Light to draw us back up again.

This week's Jess on the Mountain podcast episode is all about the embodiment of the divine up at the crown chakra, Sahasrara. But it's not just me talkin'! I have the immense pleasure of speaking with Ana Pilar Cruz about all things embodying divine.  A little about Ana Pilar:

• Ana Pilar Cruz has been teaching yoga since 2001 and, in the modalities of Hatha, Hatha Flow, and Ashtanga Yoga, has been training yoga teachers since 2006 at both 200 and 500-hour levels in the United States and abroad. As the current Director of Yoga Therapy at My Vinyasa Practice, she excels in teaching pranayama, mantra, and yogic philosophy & literature. Ana Pilar expands her teaching beyond the mat by bringing the history, philosophy, and mythology of yoga to communities and conferences across the United States.

When you want some deep yoga philosophy, you go to Ana P! I had so many takeaways from our conversation.

One that stands out to me is about what makes something sacred. Things, places, and situations become holy, set aside, or sacred when there are boundaries around them. These boundaries can be described as

• This, not that.
• Here, not there.
• Now, not then.

When you have a certain cup for your morning tea and meditation, it becomes part of sacred ritual. The cup becomes a sacred object. It's this cup, not that cup.

When you have a place in your space for prayer, meditation, altar, or puja, it has a boundary around it. It's sacred. You don't scroll Instagram in that space! 

When you set aside time and put a boundary around it with a beginning and an end, it becomes sacred time. Probably not in the middle of your son's baseball game though.

There is so much to glean from this conversation, I hope you go listen! 

In the spirit of setting time aside, it's that sacred September time for Back to the Mat Boot Camp! Registration is NOW OPEN for this one-week daily yoga challenge in my Online Yoga Membership (OYM). From September 11-17, get the boost you need to transition from the unstructured days of summer to the regular routine of practicing yoga and meditation, because you know that’s what makes you feel good and show up better in your life. For only $10, you’ll have a full week to experience all that OYM has to offer, including 2 live Hatha classes week plus a full library of pre-recorded classes, courses and more! 

Everyone who completes the challenge gets a FREE month of OYM when they commit continuing their practice for three months. (Imagine yourself heading into Thanksgiving weekend after three months of consistent yoga and meditation--you'll be able to handle anything that comes your way!)

Here's how it works: Every morning at 5am Central, you'll receive an email with a link to your class that day. I have curated these classes to give you what I believe is a great progression through the week, keeping things challenging, interesting, and well-rounded for body, mind, and spirit.  (Check out the website for the week's lineup of classes.)

Then each day take a class and leave a comment. I will be keeping a daily tally of everyone who participates. At the end of the week, everyone who checks in daily will receive a one-time offer of one FREE month of OYM with membership purchase, and other incentives just for campers.  (Current OYM members can participate for the free month as well! Check your inbox for the email 👉 For OYM members only).

Even if joining the membership doesn't tantalize you right now, do the boot camp anyway! Come in, take some classes, shake off the summer, and get happier and healthier one practice at a time. (That's the OYM promise!)

May you create sacred boundaries to make holy times and places, and may you consider your yoga mat and classes a perfect place to encounter and embody the divine. 

Much love,