Water. It seems that some places are getting too much and other places aren’t getting enough. Statistics show that the Pacific Ocean temperature is rising, and, as a result, the jet stream is shifting. Places that used to be dry are now wet, and places that were wet are now becoming dry.

It is interesting that we use the properties of water in many of our idioms: “frozen in fear,” “go with the flow,” and “in a fog.” Water is the element of the second chakra, Svadhisthana. As a practice, it may be beneficial to contemplate the properties of water within yourself. What parts of you may be frozen? The melting snows in the mountains can become rushing, raging streams. To “go with the flow” requires surrender. When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

In your yoga practice, use the poses to get into your body to become aware of what in you is frozen. Pull the attention of the mind back from remembering, judging, and planning into the sensations of the body. Learn its language and listen. “The Body is the shore on the ocean of Being” — Sufi saying.

July updates:

• Usual schedule for holiday weekend: All classes will meet as regularly scheduled over the 4th of July weekend.
• New Sunday Basics class: For those of you who would enjoy a Basics practice on Sunday mornings, please join Carly for a new 9 a.m. class.
• Sunday Restorative class: If you seek a calming and restful practice, please join Susan Polk at 5:45 p.m. on Sundays for the Restorative class.
• Friday Gentle class: The Friday 9:30 a.m. Gentle class continues to complement the Tuesday and Thursday 9:30 a.m. Gentle classes. This month, Angie, Susan Polk, and Susan Webb will rotate as its teachers.
• Talk/meditation session: Juanita will offer this special session on Friday, July 17, immediately following the Yin class. Whether you have been curious about meditation or already have a meditation practice and would like to discuss meditation with others, please join Juanita for this session.

July teacher introductions:
We are pleased to welcome two new teachers in July, Carly Hennigar and Richard Denton.

• Carly fell in love with yoga in community college when she enrolled in a yoga class to fulfill her PE credits. At that time, she didn’t expect that she would one day complete a 200-hour yoga teacher training. However, in a management class, she wrote a paper about what she wanted from life and realized that she wanted to help people feel good. While bopping people on the head with a feel-good stick sounds great, it just doesn’t work that way. So, the next best thing that came to mind was yoga!! Carly is excited about teaching because of the new experiences it will bring.
• Richard began his yoga practice in 2010 after enduring a period of chronic illness and anxiety, when a wise yogini noted how stressful dis-ease was. He began his practice in Yin and Restorative styles, quickly adding Vinyasa flow and meditation. Richard received his 200-hour RYT in May from Shanda Packard at Harmony Therapeutic Yoga and hopes to bring a calming and intuitive approach to his classes uniting mind, body, and spirit.

For a full list of July classes, please see the the online calendar or a hard copy available at The Pots Place.