When is the last time that you cranked up the volume of a favorite song, let your body ignite into dance and your voice explode into song as your untethered soul soared into pure joy?  How about the last time you were awestruck by the beauty of the sky, a flower, or another natural phenomenon?  For that fleeting moment, did you notice a feeling of great expansion through the portal of beauty?  The intense joy is usually followed by a calmer, quieter inner space of peace. Those are qualities of love that are experienced as joy, peace, and expansion into the space created in the heart and mind. There is no judgement and condemnation. There is no fear. 

Love is what is left when you let go of everything that you love. Imagine being surrounded by everything you love:  people, tastes, sounds, smells, and comforts. Now, begin to let go of them one by one. You may find yourself in a void of total darkness and silence. Don’t freak out and run. Just sit. What happens next, when you realize that this can’t be the goal of practicing non-attachment (a foundational practice of yoga)?  You burst through the darkness and silence into the light—and everything is there…not just what you loved, but everything. In this sense, love is the pure awareness and acceptance of everything just as it is. This is true freedom:  to be in that space.  

In February, the month celebrating love, seek to cultivate positive emotions in yourself. From that place of higher vibration that is love, all things are possible.

February updates and special events:

• Introduction to Yoga on Sat., 2/2, 1 p.m.  This 90-minute class, taught by Leslie Weigel, will introduce new students to our studio, basic yoga etiquette, basic postures, and the overall structure of a class.  If someone you know has been looking for an accessible way to learn more about and begin practicing yoga, please encourage them to join us.  Read more hereand register here.
  
• Yoga@the Museum on Sat., 2/9, 10:30 a.m.  This 70-minute Basics-level class, offered on the second Saturday of each month, meets at The Downing Museum, and Leslie Weigel teaches it in February.  Find out more here and register here.
  
• Mindfulness Meditation series, beginning on Sat., 2/9 at 2 p.m.  Although this series is full, we have started a wait list in case we receive cancellations.  To join the wait list, send Angie an email at 4yoga.me@gmail.com
  
• Yin@the Museum on Sat., 2/16, 4:30 p.m.  If you have been looking for an afternoon practice at The Downing Museum, Chie Tanaka provides that opportunity with a 70-minute Yin class in February.  Read more here and register here.
  
• Meditation@the Museum on Sat., 2/23, 10:30 a.m.  Join Alice Simpson for the monthly meditation class held at The Downing Museum.  No prior meditation experience is required—beginners are always welcome.  Register here.
  
• Opening the Heart, a Backbending Workshop with Debbie Marquette on Sat., 2/23, noon.  Although this workshop is already full, please send Angie an email if you’d like to be added to the wait list.
  
• Sunday-afternoon rotating classes.  February brings a diverse line-up, both of class styles and teachers, on Sundays at 2 p.m.  Join Tori, Frances, Chie, and Leslie for these special classes; read more about each of the class offerings here.
• Saturday 7 a.m. class on hiatus.  In February, we are putting the 7 a.m. Saturday class on hiatus; however, if you would be interested in taking this class in late spring or early summer, please let us know so that we can gauge interest about possibly returning it then.

For a full list of February classes, please see the calendar page—or pick up a hard copy at The Pots Place.  We also post the day’s class(es) each morning on our Facebook page, should you find it convenient to keep up with us there.  

Inclement weather policy:  during inclement weather, we decide whether or not to cancel classes independently of area school districts’ decisions.  If we do cancel a class, we publicize that information at least one hour before it begins, and we announce it in these two ways:

• an update to the online schedule of classes
• an update on our Facebook page