Practicing Karuna: Strengthening Your Compassion Muscle

By admin | May 27, 2010 - 7:42 pm | Meditation, Wisdom

Standing Forward Bend

By admin | May 27, 2010 - 7:40 pm | Poses, Standing Poses

Uttanasana

One of the best ways to decompress your low back and feel a great stretch through your hamstrings is Uttanasana, Standing Forward Bend. It’s a great beginner pose and very user-friendly! To begin, start standing up with your feet hips width apart. Bend you knees slightly to protect your hamstrings from over-stretching and to use your core muscles throughout the duration of your hold in this pose. Inhale and bring the arms up in a wide circle until you are reaching towards the sky, spreading all of your fingers so that you can feel the webbing between your fingers stretch! This is great hand therapy, especially for all of us who spend time at a computer.

Next, as you exhale, you can bring your arms down to your waist for more stability or let them lead the way to the floor.

Four things to keep in mind here:

Always descend on an exhale. This allows you to fold more easily.
Keep your knees just a tad bent to keep integrity and strength in this pose. Awareness in the back of the legs will help prevent any injury from bending too far, too fast.
Let your heart lead the way – this is another way to bring awareness into your core muscles, which are doing most of the work here.
Relax your neck and head. Let your bigger torso muscles do all the work!

If folding all the way over is not possible for you, rest your elbows on your legs, just above your knees. You may need to bend the legs more here, but that is okay. Take your time practicing this foundational pose – once you extend your flexibility, don’t forget the integrity and strength of your core muscles. You need both do to this pose safely and well!

Once you’ve reached the full expression of the pose for you in this moment, take a good bit of time here. It’s a really easy inversion for your heart to be above your head. Just 10 breaths like this in the middle of a busy day can help you reset your nervous system and feel like you have more energy to deal with life in this modern world!

Other variations that are fun:

Let your arms hang down to the floor, and sway back and forth like a rag doll. This can help the spine decompress.
Before going down to the floor, grab elbows behind your back and keep them there as you fold forward.
After you fold over, hold your elbows or gently hold the back of your neck – you could even give yourself a little neck massage!

Take you time coming up from this pose, and do it on the inhale. Do a couple of shoulder rolls or neck rolls to readjust to standing up.

Thanks for reading!

Popularity: 11% [?]

Yoga Irony

By admin | May 27, 2010 - 5:41 pm | Wisdom

2 Comments

A common refrain heard, not just in the yoga studio but in many spiritually themed teachings, is “be in the present moment.” The implication, that if you can let thoughts of the past and future fade away, thoughts that commonly distress your peace of mind, you’ll find contentment in the here and now. Simple and attractive as the advice may sound, however, is it experientially possible? Can you deliberately choose to experience thoughts and feelings confined to the immediate moment? If the answer is no, then we have an interesting irony.

What are our thoughts, feelings, perceptions? According to the wisdom teachings of Patanjali, Buddha and others, they are mental events ripening out of imprints recorded in the mind from previous thoughts, words and physical acts. These movements of the mind, together with the words and conduct these movements motivate, create each and every detail of your life. Your body, your mind, all the people and every object in your world. All a creation of the karmic seeds you’ve collected throughout the infinite string of your lifetimes. Furthermore, and very importantly, the complex of karma we call a life, or an experience, is forced on us. We don’t choose our feelings; they are forced on us by karma. You don’t think your thoughts; your thoughts think you.

Perhaps the irony is coming into view.

In the “present” moment, you cannot but be experiencing the past. Were it not for the mental images ripening out of your collected karma, you and your world would simply blink out of existence. It doesn’t appear this way, and this is the crux of the problem. All the things that appear to exist apart from your mind are, according to realized yogis, entirely dependent on the mind, i.e., on karma. That you and your world appear otherwise is a deception. La grande illusion. Therefore, the injunction to “be present” is actually directing us to attend carefully to the images ripening out of our collected karma. By looking at our present thoughts, we actually look at our past. We look at the result of what we thought, said and did.

Be There Now, anyone?

Now, this is not to say that the advice to “be present” is misguided. We just want to understand what’s actually occurring if you can pull it off. If you’re genuinely capable of attending to the naked immediacy of the present moment, with direct yogic perception perceiving mental imprints ripening into thoughts, it’s because you have cultivated this ability. Abhyasa—sustained, consistent practice over a long period; the seeds of your virtuous yoga practice ripening in the ability to concentrate single pointedly on the object of one mental image, without distraction to other objects. In other words, if you experience undistracted clarity and awareness in the present moment, it’s because you set up the causes for this in your past practice.

What, then, are the benefits of achieving undistracted concentration on the present moment? According to the program of dhyana-yoga outlined by Patanjali: stopping the causes of suffering and the realization of samadhi. Ripening out of the methodical practice of non-reaction to distracting thoughts (vairagya) and the subsequent settling of the ordinarily scattered movements of the mind (nirodha), the luminosity of the mind increases as it’s sattvic quality grows in proportion to the diminishing qualities of turbulence (rajas) and dullness (tamas). Should this single-pointedness then become conjoined with an unprecedented experience of pliancy and bliss, the yogi finds her or himself in the rarified position from which the light of the mind dissolves the deceptive form of the object upon which it is directed and knows the object’s true nature. Once this occurs, the concepts and labels by which these objects are conventionally known are revealed to have no natural connection to the deeper reality of our lives.

For example, placing this intense, concentrated light on my own mind and body, it’s revealed that “I” understood as in conflict with others and as a being necessarily subject to birth, aging and death are merely assents to concepts originating out of benighted karmic imprints. The yogi sees that concepts originating out of their unique karmic imprints and the reality upon which these concepts are draped are different. That these two–the mental constructs unique to our karmic imprints and our ultimate reality as pure awareness–are apparently indivisible is the common predicament called samyoga, an unfortunate connection that Patanjali identifies as the root of all our problems. That they are actually divisible to a discriminating mind (viveka) that scales the heights of samadhi is liberation (kaivalya). How does this vision of what we call the true self of pure awareness actually spring the yogi out of suffering?

Yogis are liberated from suffering because they see directly, not conceptually, that all the appearances they thought had reality, truth, substance to them are, in the naked display of advanced level samadhi, revealed to be completely empty of any of these. At this near consummate stage of the yogic path, yogis perceive the granular level of reality and recognize that none of it’s appearances correspond by nature to the mental constructs they had been assuming are true. Perception at this level allows us to see that the essential nature of appearances is composed of momentary flashes of karmic imprints (samskaras), arising and blinking out of existence in virtually countless numbers. When illumined in this light of wisdom, appearances lose the power of illusion and their grip over how we understand our lives and what will happen to us. It’s only our concepts of the appearances that bind us to suffering, concepts that tie momentary appearances together into a compelling story line that is, in reality, complete fiction, an illusion.

Hence, one irony of our yoga practice: that by practiced concentration on our present moment of awareness, we can break free of the merciless hold that mental afflictions and collected karma have bound us to for countless lifetimes. Interesting as this irony may be, it is subsidiary to the greater irony of our lives to which it resonates: that to all but the highly realized, reality is not as it appears.

The author, John Muecke, is a student and teacher of the worldviews of Buddhism and Yoga. He enjoys connecting with fellow psychonauts in the study and practice of classical lineage masters’ teachings. You can find more about John here.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Get Happy in just 3 short steps! And other empty promises of pop-culture yoga.

By admin | May 24, 2010 - 5:59 pm | In and Of The Moment, Wisdom

8 Comments

This article has been a long time coming. I’ve been grappling with my distaste for yoga and spirituality magazines for some time. Being a bit of a glass house and not wanting to throw stones, I’ve kept quiet. But you know that I could only stay quiet for so long. You’ve been expecting this and have probably buried a bus in your backyard to hide in at the moment of my venomous blast – but I’m going to surprise you.

This superficial pop culture of yoga is good for one thing - it can (if you’re willing to do the work) lead you away from itself and toward a space that is big enough to hold all of your suffering and your happiness.

It is sooooooo easy to find fodder for this topic, it’s almost unfair. I just open my mailbox and find shiny, happy, expensively-clothed and impossibly twisted ladies on the cover of yoga magazines, proudly displaying their “advanced” yoga postures for all to admire. I can go down the street and spend $80 on a pair of too-cool yoga pants and then douse my thirst with designer water from my trendy stainless steel bottle with an OM on it. I can turn on any cable channel and I will find commercials on how to “zen-out my makeup counter” with this new Ronco product (just $15.99 plus s/h allow 4-6 weeks for the delivery of your vehicle to happiness). I can go to many yoga studios and gyms in the country and pay a few dollars to experience hot, sweaty, aggressive posturing – all packaged up as the path toward a perfect body and the perfect life. I can also hit the internet and find a bob-zillion products and books, promising brief, easy to follow instructions on how to get happy fast and stay there.

I’d like to rail against all of it and expose it for the lie that it is, but the fact is, none of the above is really as poisonous as I’d like to make it out to be. I admit that I am turning into somewhat of a crotchety idealist these days as I struggle at the roots of my life’s major questions: Who am I, Why am I here, What will fill the emptiness when all the old shit doesn’t work anymore? But I am just like the majority of western yoginis in the west – middle aged white women. We have the time and the resources to spend on ourselves, and we find, in spite of what we feel we should be, that we’re strangely not really that satisfied with our lives. So why not pop-culture yoga? What if that Ronco product did bring happiness, however temporary? And if that works for you (as it did me) to get you closer to asking the real questions of your life then I support you. At this point in my life, however, I’m interested in more. I want something more: and it is not to be found in easily marketed promises.

THERE IS SO MUCH MORE PROFOUND and VERY REAL SUFFERING IN THIS WORLD. Read the papers. Take a drive into the inner city. Visit a nursing home. Talk to a survivor of abuse. Will those new yoga pants stand up to that suffering? Will your perfectly flat abdominals and size 1 ass benefit the children orphaned by the earthquake in Chile? Will your ass even make YOU happy for very long? What happens when you loose it due to pregnancy, injury, age or tragedy? And who gives a flip about my big ass, or yours, or how many chaturangas you can do when children are being perverted for profit. No. I’m not interested in that yoga anymore.

I want to go deeper. I want to plunge my hand deep into my own chest and dig past my suffering and also past my happiness to that same deep timeless, unchanging wellspring that the great Gurus drank from. This timeless place is big enough to wrap it’s wings around all the suffering and it begins with finding the witness consciousness.

Finding it is a little like archeology. We have to fearlessly dig out all the dirt of our lives that’s packed in around it and bring it to the surface. But we can’t just go in with our shovels and our whips and force it out. The process is really an act of surrender to the circumstances of life. Here’s how it goes: Learn to sit with yourself and your world quietly just as you are. Don’t try to fix anything or do anything. Just observe. Allow the crap from your life to bubble up and surface. Experience it and watch it pass. And find a qualified meditation guru who will not color your inner experience, but will give you a tool to guide you deeper within: a mantra. Then just keep sitting at the same time every day twice per day. Recite your mantra and allow it to be your transportation toward that deep, timeless wellspring. When you are ready, take your centered, purposeful self into a nursing home, into the inner cities, into your children’s schools, and friends lives and make a difference.

I do see my own hypocrisy in this last paragraph. I’ve offered what appears to be a few short steps toward the solution for your unhappiness. Well, these may be steps, but they are not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Sitting with the self in meditation is the most challenging posture in yoga, contrary to what you see on the cover of magazines. All other asanas were created to open the body and calm the mind for sitting. It is work at first, and the results can be common or rare, pleasant, mystical, painful or just boring. No matter what the results, welcome each and every moment as your teacher. See for yourself what happens next. Have faith that the wellspring is there.

Yoga is not exercise. It doesn’t automatically make you a better person, more desirable, intelligent, beautiful or worthy of love.

It’s not a road map to happiness and it is surprisingly not even “union” – at least not at first. It is at it’s very roots a process of separating seeker from sought, the seer from the seen, the permanent from the impermanent. We can use all that commercial crap above as trial-and-error: we can try them all until we realize that having more (food, friends, lovers, fans, money) or less (ass, stress, suffering) does not feed our god-hole.

Meditation can become your open door to a new yoga and (I’m trying very hard here to sound like a magazine cover) a new you!

Samantha L. Noto, RYT understands yoga to be a science of physical, emotional and energetic transformation. It began with her earliest experiences on the mat, feeling for the first time that she fully occupied her own body and the world around her. She has studied Subtle Yoga, Para Yoga, Vini Yoga, Vinyasa and Anusara. She is currently working toward her 500 hour certification in Subtle Yoga with an emphasis on the therapeutic application of yogic science to deal with many physical and emotional human conditions safely, and effectively. Her classes are laced with physiological facts, archetypal imagery and cosmic/geological data, in the hope that students will leave with a more intimate knowledge of how they feel, a deeper understanding of why yoga works on their bodies and an inkling of how vast this universe is in comparison to what we all deem to be our very important problems. Visit Samatha elsewhere on the web at www.samanthanoto.com and www.communityoga.com.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Credit for the clever cover art to Yogadawg: http://www.yogadawg.com/yoga%20magazines.htm

Popularity: 28% [?]

You Can Be Self Realized

By admin | May 15, 2010 - 3:40 am | Meditation, Wisdom

4 Comments

You can be Self-realized. All it takes is a choice. Rather than identifying with and defending your limited personality concept, chose to let go of your tenacious attachment to that little you, that seems so important right now. What is the alternative? You can continue to live as you have been. If it is relatively pleasant and enjoyable, there is no harm in that, although one day, you will get tired of that too. If it is stressful and tiresome and full of weariness and toil, then Self-realization can help.

What is the difference between someone who is Self-realized and someone who is not? One notable difference is the degree and quality of peace and joy that a Self-realized person feels. Life happens to them, just as it happens to all of us. They experience good fortune, and they experience not so good fortune. Sometimes life goes there way, and sometimes it doesn’t. Why do they experience such peace? One, because they know and accept the fact of life, that nothing which comes into manifestation is eternal. Two, they know what is eternal.

In all of your experiences there is something that exists throughout each and every circumstance of your life. Remember when you were a little child. That ‘thing’ which experienced that smaller body and the greater sense of wonder, is it any different than what is experiencing your older body and current life experiences? Do you really feel much different way down deep inside?

That which witnesses all of your experiences is your Self. It is eternal. No matter what happens to your spouse, to your career, to your children, to the paint job on your car, it will remain as it ever has been. No matter how smart or how stupid you become, no matter how much information you have, no matter how much money is in your bank account, the you that is eternal, never changes. It never dies, and it is never born.

“But why do I get so upset when I lose something dear to me, or why do I get happy when I achieve my heart’s yearning?” you may ask. I would answer: Does the grief last forever? Does the elation eventually fade and then you yearn for something else? What is that witnesses the yearning or feels the grief? Discover that, and neither will grief touch you, nor will you yearn for anything else.

For so long we have been dreaming. We imagine that we are limited beings striving and doing in this life. Once, many ages and lifetimes ago, we knew we were actors in the divine drama. But as the years rolled by, acting got to be boring. We thought to ourselves, if we really want to have some fun, we have to totally forget that we are actors and really get down into the mess of things. One day, we lost the ability to recall our true nature. Things got messier. Our dreams were covered in darkness. Hope was lost.

Luckily, not everyone forgot the light that shines in the soul’s heart. Some kept the lamp burning as a beacon, for when the time came to remember who and what we are truly. Those shining beings have passed on this light from teacher to student since time began. The way is freely lit for those who will but turn their attention to the light, and away from the mire of the dreaming.

“Then why is it so hard to do?” you say. When we have been in a place or a relationship as long as we have been dreaming, it can be painful to let go of that which no longer serves us. Think of the people who know they are being taken advantage or abused, but do not make an effort to leave. Or think of the person who has been told they have heart disease and if they don’t change their lifestyle they will die, and then never try. The comfort of the familiar surroundings wins out.

The light of the Self is brilliant. It is ecstatic and like nothing else. Faith is required to take the first steps towards knowing our Self. The dream has been so long and dark that we cannot remember the complete unexcelled levity of the Self. It seems as a legend, or a ghost, or a shadow of a thought. Yet when that light dawns, there is no mistaking the sheer joy and freedom that it awakens. This is why, any words to describe Self-realization or enlightenment can only point in the direction of the experience, and cannot describe it. Just as teachers cannot make you believe or feel what it is like, but they can show you the way to get there.

And then one day, behold, you wake up completely! Wiping the sweat from your brow, you say to your Self, “Now that was something! What a ride. Maybe we’ll try again tomorrow.”

Ryan Kurczak is a Vedic Astrologer and ordained teacher in the Kriya Yoga tradition of Mahavatar Babaji, Lahiri Mahasaya, Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda, and Roy Eugene Davis. He has a thriving astrological consultation and teaching practice, and is the director of Center for Spiritual Awareness in Asheville, NC. CSA is a learning center for meditation, raja yoga philosophy and holistic living. To learn more, please visit www.ashevillevedicastrology.com and www.csa-asheville.org. Or contact Ryan directly at Ryan.kurczak@gmail.com.

Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Popularity: 12% [?]

Yo’ Yantra

By admin | May 12, 2010 - 11:15 pm | Meditation

3 Comments

“Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.” -Buddha

Let’s face it, most of us have trouble staying present. I always think of it as just putting my mind to it – no pun intended. There are all kinds of strategies we can practice to help us stay present in our meditation practice.

Just a few of many ways to try to stay present in your meditation practice are:

Focusing on the breath – counting it, practicing Pranayama to stay present while meditating (there are tons of Pranayama techniques to do too)
Listening to a guided meditation (There are some great ones of all types, on Itunes – like Meditation Oasis)
Even candle gazing is an awesome way to stay present, clean out the tear ducts and open the Ajna Chakra. (I love this one.)

But, another great way that seems to have dwindled down the meditation practice list (at least in a yoga class is) is Yantra Meditation.

Yantra Meditation is done by using a mandala (a universal symbol) or a yantra (a geometric design). A person would preferably place the yantra or mandala in front of them equal to their eye level and sit upright, (not stiff or wood like of course) and gaze at the symbol seeing whatever they could see inside the shape. I really enjoy doing this type of meditation because I learn more about myself than I do from some of the other meditations I do. I watch and see whatever it is that I see in that shape on that day, at that present moment.

Meditation practitioners can get cd’s with mandalas and yantras on them to use to gaze at, they can use a design of their own that they have created or my absolute favorite are mandalas made by Susan Bloom in Asheville, NC.

I originally found out about the mandalas in a Mindfulness Training with Shala Worsley at the Asheville Yoga Center. She used them as we practiced yantra meditation and then we got to journal after viewing several different ones. We searched for patterns in our lives from our journals. It was so fun to see what we saw, to learn and to reflect on it.

Then of course, I had to find out where Shala got the beautiful mandalas and she revealed the secret and yes – now I am sharing it with you.

I purchased a notebook full of mandalas from Susan to use when I teach yoga, for my own meditation practice and also for fun gifts for friends – they look awesome in frames too. Take a look!

I have no idea how she makes them, but boy oh boy aren’t they beautiful?

And these pictures don’t even do her work justice!

Each and every time you can see something different inside them.

Try it out, see what you see, see what you learn about yourself and you life.
Susan even has some posted on You Tube too (see below), so that you can watch and do a Yantra meditation.

Do you have a regular meditation practice, a pranayama practice that you incorporate into your meditations?

How do you take/find the time to meditate?

The author, Tiffany Cantrell, is a a computer teacher, yoga teacher and ambassador for Yoga Vibes. She is originally from Boone, NC and currently residing in Florida. Tiffany completed her yoga teacher training at The Asheville Yoga Center and is currently working on her 500 hour training (also at AYC). “It is my favorite place to go in the world!” she says. Visit Tiffany’s blog at http://tiffanytheyogini.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

Yoga, Healing & Community with Steve Emmerman and Talya Ring

By admin | May 10, 2010 - 5:20 pm | In and Of The Moment

3 Comments

Forrest Yoga teachers, Steve Emmerman and Talya Ring’s mission is “ to commit to helping heal the individual by creating a strong and vibrant community; helping heal the immediate community through yoga and spiritual practice; and helping strengthen the larger community through volunteer and charitable activity.”

For more information about Steve and Talya read this wonderful article by Sharon Steffensen:

We first met Steve Emmerman in 1999 at Moksha Yoga, where YOGA Chicago was covering a workshop led by Ana Forrest. Steve went on to complete Ana’s teacher training held shortly after the workshop. Last September he opened a nonprofit yoga studio on Chicago’s near-west side with Talya Ring, his wife and teaching partner. It’s called Turbodog Spirit Center-A Forrest Yoga Community, a place they describe as one part yoga studio, one part community center, and one part spiritual community. The name comes from Ana’s unique way of performing downward facing dog pose, which she calls “turbodog.” But first some background on Steve and Talya. Read more

They’re Coming to The Asheville Yoga Center!

March 4-6, 2011 Forrest Yoga Teacher Intensive and Practice with Steve Emmerman and Talya Ring

You can attend the entire training or just the practice sessions. More info at youryoga.com. Reserve your spot now by Registering and Paying Online!

“If you want to use yoga to heal emotional pain, you must find out where it resides in your body and learn to take your breath there. I don’t teach yoga to help people to transcend. I want people’s spirits to reside in their body. I literally want to help people embody their spirit. Not go through life fragmented.” – Ana Forrest

Visit Ana Forrest’s website.

Popularity: 9% [?]

How I Learned Yoga from a Puppy (in 5 Days or less!)

By admin | May 5, 2010 - 9:40 pm | In and Of The Moment

4 Comments

So, Day 1 has me headed to a fellow dog rescuer’s house to pick up Toby, a gorgeous but rail-thin, young Border Collie. We know very little about this boy, other than his family just ditched him at a shelter with no explanation. I am eager with anticipation but nervous as this is my first foster. Pranayama practice all the way through town is helping me to stay/be calm so that when I get there I have the right energy.

Day 2 Toby has changed names to alternating between sweet boy and relentless holy terror! I find myself yelling and tapping him on the nose for hiking everywhere (frustration got the best of me for sure on this day). And they want me to keep him calm. Seriously? What the hell are they thinking – like that is even possible? But even in all of the the craziness and pure chaos the small gesture of a dog’s version of a hug (leaning on you and then curling his face back into you), a lick from the most gelatinous tongue ever (think gooey), and a roll over into a belly rub struck me as similar to a lotus blooming up from the muck that it can grow in. One moment of calm, in the midst of a storm–that is what meditation has been trying to teach me for years and I finally got it today during fur fest 2010!

Day 3 Toby had to deal with the crate A LOT this day. Apparently the neighbor who came to let him out had little success getting him back in, but managed. Meanwhile, I kept finding little destruction points in various places as apparently, under boredom, Toby is an Olympian caliber chewer! From this I got the point of not being attached to material items.

Day 4 Split shift working caused all sorts of havoc to Toby’s schedule and me being on the phone missed his warning signs of impending bathroom doom. My bad! I was the one not staying in the moment. I was on the phone listening to someone go on and on about something that is so important (a day later I can’t even remember what it was). Guess priorities need to make a bit of a shift after all, and nothing like the smell of a pile of dog stuff to bring you back to reality. What I noticed most today was one of my dogs, who has had puppies before, has actually taken Toby under her wing. The last couple days I thought she was really tough on Toby, but I realize now that what she was doing was really being a Mom and telling him what was expected and what wasn’t. How amazing a shift was that? I can actually see the different personalities shining through this young dog’s visit.

Day 5 What a great day. Toby has been a sweet boy today and his tail is being carried high in the air. So it looks like he actually likes it here at Casa de Fur. We learned to ride in the truck today. We learned that when Mom says it is nap time she is seriously, not kidding. Now tonight will be the challenge as we are going to try to not crate at bedtime.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below and stay tuned for more puppy yoga …

The author, Michele Mathiesen has spent 1/2 her life becoming a yogini & vegan and has been a body/energy-worker for the last 8 years. She is an avid cook, traveler, and does dog rescue in her spare time. For more about Michele, visit her website Wildflower Path Yoga.

The above photo is from the 2010 Yoga Dogs Calendar. Click here to see more Yoga Dogs!

Popularity: 7% [?]

Building Update – The Design Process

By admin | May 3, 2010 - 5:23 pm | New Studio

2 Comments

plans for building We are in the process of building a yoga studio. The Asheville Yoga Center has been growing since its inception in 1997. We’d been looking, unsuccessfully, for a new space to expand into for several years now, especially after our rent unexpectedly doubled two years ago (thank you, landlord). When a lot came up for sale just a few doors down from our current studio location, we took the jump and purchased it with plans to build our dream studio. The process from the first call to closing, took five months. I’m hoping the process picks up momentum, though, I’m beginning to seriously doubt that.

Lately, lots of people have been asking how the building is going, have I broken ground yet and am I excited. I think I can sum up how it’s going in two words, scope creep. Scope creep is when, after you’ve started a project, you add to it and add to it and add to it. That seems to be what we are doing right now. And it’s no surprise really; I think it is our modus operandi.

As I was just updating our yoga center newsletter I realized just how far the scope of our teacher training has creeped up over the years. It’s more like a scope sprint or high jump really. We started our teacher training program, over a decade ago, as a single 230-hour, nine-month program offered once a year. This year, we have 6 of the 230-hour programs running in different formats and locations. And what really blows me away is the fact that our 500-hour teacher training program has grown to 13 different modules offered, with a total of 25 advanced studies events currently scheduled. This is not even getting into all the workshops we offer now. Neither my wife, Stephanie, nor I saw that coming when we set up shop in the aerobics studio of Training Partners Gym so many years ago. I’m so thankful for all the people that have helped us grow over the years.

OK, back to the building. The short of it is, it will probably be a couple months before we break ground and the building has nearly doubled from what we were originally planning. If you want to know how that happened, read on.

There are so many factors involved in the whole design phase. The biggest seem to be city zoning and building codes and budget. As we got deeper into the city code, we realized that we could move some of our parking off-site. Hopefully, we’ll be able to put in parking on Merrimon Place, adjacent to the building. So, the original plan, which was pretty much all building and parking lot, which I didn’t love anyway, opened up significantly.

With that change and the news that more funding was available than at first, we started playing with the idea of adding a second smaller studio room. Then, there was a one-floor plan and a two-floor plan on the table. After confirming with the city building code department and our funding, we settled on a nice one-floor plan with two yoga rooms, a generous waiting room, plenty of outdoor gather space, sheltered waiting space, a meditation garden and room for outdoor yoga. This was all very exciting to me.

With this new plan on the table, the thought arose of not renting out a second facility (the current studio) for teacher trainings and workshops, but folding everything back under one roof again and into one mortgage. Most of what I loved about the plan immediately preceding this one was left intact. We moved back to a two-story building, which enabled us to shrink the footprint and have a second waiting room. We lost the interior space the stairwell takes up and we will have to go to a more stringent fire code with this plan. I’m hoping we can avoid a sprinklered building, which may be a deal breaker. There will still be plenty of room on site for outdoor gathering, waiting for classes, having a spot to put your shoes on or off, quiet reflection and the possibility of outdoor yoga classes.

So, that is where we are at the moment – planning on a meeting this week with the city to make sure all of our current assumptions about fire code, parking, bathrooms, occupancy, assembly and business classification types and such are true and we can move ahead with the details of it all. Nothing is really set in stone as of yet, but there are certainly a lot of wonderful options we have to work with.

Update: Between the time I wrote this and posted it, we are now looking at a single-floor, two-yoga-room option again as well. Ahh, decisions, decisions.

I’ll keep you informed. My next post will be about green building and decision making.

Cheers,

Sunny Keach