There’s no ‘right’ way to meditate…

Although I’ve been practicing meditation for many years, I have found myself being drawn to it more and more, especially in the past 6 months.  When I start spiraling into negative thought patterns, I sit.  I breathe.  I notice. And things shift.  It is not a magical solution that makes everything better, but rather it is a cumulative practice that makes me better in my responses to what is happening around me.  It calms the negative thoughts and gives me focus which allows me to be more present in the here and now.  I often hear people say, “I am not Read the full article…

Steadiness and ease

Every day seems to be so different in some ways and yet the same in others. One day floats into the next and a whole new set of feelings, joys and challenges come along with each passing day.  As we ride the roller coaster of this life we find ourselves in, I hope you are doing ok and that you are finding ways to feel at ease in the chaos.  I hope you are experiencing love and laughter every day. I hope that you are able to find strength when you need it and softness when you don’t.  I hope Read the full article…

The Time is Now…

What a time we are living in right now. I hope you are doing well, staying healthy and finding ways to experience joy regularly. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind with all that is happening in the world. There is so much to say and yet I have been having a hard time finding the words.  The uncertainty around Covid 19 is palpable. The injustices that have been happening and continue to happen to our black brothers and sisters on a regular basis are outrageous. I have been listening, reflecting, learning and meditating on ways that I can Read the full article…

The Future of Yoga Blend

Dear Yoga Blend Community, I hope this message finds you doing well, staying healthy, and finding some joy in this unforeseen era. As founder and owner of Yoga Blend, I am writing to share some important updates about the studio in response to the global health and economic crisis in which we find ourselves.  As a small business owner and a devoted yoga teacher and practitioner, I have a responsibility to our teachers, staff, students, and greater communities to support mind, body, and spirit wellness practices while ensuring the wellness and viability of Yoga Blend itself. I imagine at this time the Read the full article…

Letting go…

Lately I have been coming up against a big lesson in letting go, or as Yoga calls it, Ishvara Pranidhana, surrender to the ultimate teacher.   Surrender does not mean giving up or being passive in fact, it’s quite the opposite.  When we are best able to let go it is because of conscious action.  If we are always trying to control the outcome, then suffering ensues because as we all know, not everything works out the way we want or plan.  What Yoga offers is the three step process of Kriya Yoga.  First, we focus on the action, doing Read the full article…

small sustainable steps to lasting change

As I dive into my intentions and goals for the year, I have being thinking of the concept in Yoga called vinyasa krama or appropriate steps to get to where we want to be. When we really want something, it can be very tempting to try and jump from point A to point Z and skip all the steps in between. However, when approached this way, we are much less likely to reach our desired state. In our physical practice, the poses are arranged in a special way to open the body up slowly and intelligently in order to prepare Read the full article…

How bad do you want it?

I have just arrived back from almost a month in India and Bali and experienced so much that I have barely started to process it all.  However, the one thing that kept showing up for me (and continues to do so) was that the journey to getting anywhere worthwhile can be a challenge.  In fact, it is usually is.  Of course, there are times when things come easily and effortlessly and for those times, I am very grateful. But more often than not, when something is worth it to us, when it has meaning, it requires consistency of effort.  It Read the full article…

Yoga is meant for you…

Yoga is so many things to so many people. We all come to the practice for different reasons and whatever the reason, it belongs to you. Your practice should be just as unique as you are.  I feel strongly about the important of practicing together in a group which is why I opened Yoga Blend! It brings like minded people, together. It reminds us that were are not alone on our path. Practicing in a group can inspire, encourage, uplift and support us. Being in community is a necessary component for a happier and healthier life.  The downfall of group Read the full article…

The ups and downs of life…

Life can be such a roller coaster of highs and lows. One minute something wonderful and joyful happens and then the next, something extremely challenging comes along.  We have a positive encounter with someone and shortly after a negative encounter with someone else. It can feel so deflating when we are on a high to get knocked down into the low. When this happens, it can be hard to not take it personal, asking, “what did I do to deserve this?” But this is just part of what it means to be human.  We experience ALL the things; good, bad Read the full article…

Where your attention goes, energy flows…

You might have heard the saying, where your attention goes, energy flows.  This is the premise of a Yoga practice: focusing your mind on one thing at a time.  With continued focus, that thing grows.   What we choose to do every day should indicate what is valuable to us but how often do we do things and then wonder why we are doing it and where our time went?   Just to be clear, I am not talking about the challenges of life that come our way that we have to focus on even when we would rather not. Read the full article…

Yoga gives time

When I find myself feeling overwhelmed and like I am not doing enough it is usually the result of neglecting my practice and therefore myself. This was definitely the case the past couple of weeks.  In a world that values bigger, better and more, it is easy to focus on all that we are not doing, accomplishing or achieving. I sometimes feel as though I am running on a treadmill trying to do so much but then look up and find that I seem to be running in place, not actually completing anything.  When we are unable to do all Read the full article…

withdrawing the senses…

One of the primary tools that Yoga offers for cultivating more discernment is the 8 limbs.  The 5th of those limbs is pratyahara, or withdrawal of the senses. Yoga at its best is experiential. We can read and understand a teaching or idea but it is through having a direct experience of something that creates the most comprehension.  I certainly had a profound experience of pratyahara the past 11 days while on a cleanse.  I became hyper-aware of my tendency to reach for things on auto-pilot.  I would then stop and remember that what I was reaching for was not Read the full article…

It’s all about balance

Having ended up in urgent care this past weekend due to a crazy knee infection from a cut got me thinking about Eastern and Western medicine and the idea of balance.  I was raised in a world where doctors knew best and I was a powerless victim of life’s inevitable disease and injuries.  Because of what I was taught, I felt I wasn’t educated or capable enough to take my health into my own hands.  Combine that with years of bad habits and being told just how weak my immune system was, I consistently turned my power over to other Read the full article…

Adapting to life as it unfolds

I hope your month is off to a great start.  I started the month off with an injury that totally got in the way of the plans I had for several days of hiking which got me thinking as life often does 🙂 So much of life is about making plans and moving toward them but then what if it doesn’t turn out the way we intended? It is easy to fall into feeling as if these disappointments along the way are personal or maybe a sign.  Who knows why things turn out the way they do.  We can make Read the full article…

Open Your Heart

Hello and happy middle-ish of the month! I meant to send this out last week for Valentine’s Day but, well…life happened.  So I am sending now as I figured it is always a good time to talk about love and the heart! With all that is happening in the world, it can be easy to drift away from love into despair; away from love into fear, judgement, criticism, anger, etc.  There are many things that hurt us and make us want to close our hearts, both emotionally and physically. As we know, what happens in our emotions affects our physical Read the full article…

The Power of Your Attention

I hope you are doing well and focusing on the things that bring you joy. As I look back on the past year and look forward to the one ahead, I have been thinking a lot about the value of my attention and what I want to create. One of the greatest things we can give is the power of our attention.  I have always heard the phrase, ‘where our attention goes, energy flows’ and have totally seen how this plays out in my life and the lives of others. Just last week, I read a re-phrasing of this concept Read the full article…

Visualize to become…

Hello and Happy New Year! I hope your 2019 is off to a great start! The beginning of a new year is a great time to envision what it is we want for our lives, set intentions and take actions in order to move towards that vision.   Visualization in Yoga is the ability to see what it is that we want to call into existence.  It is also a feeling, an attitude, a way of being.  It is not about putting off happiness into the future when all the circumstances are different, but rather seeing a future we love so Read the full article…

Look inside…

I hope you are doing well and able to give attention to the things that are going good in the world, the things that are working, especially at time when there seems to be so much that is not. Recently, I was talking with a friend and we were talking about how easy it is to pass judgment, criticize or be upset at everything that is not going well outside of ourselves, even down to the people we are closest to or the most simple of things, like driving in LA. Well, maybe that is not so simple but regardless, Read the full article…

Expressing your truth

I hope you are having a great month so far! As Bekah and I prepare for our Chakra Yoga Retreat next month and a weekly Chakra Yoga class we are adding in November, the Chakras have been ever present in my mind and as such, I have been reflecting on when I first learned about the Chakras and just how important this work has been in my life. Over 16 years ago when I was dealing with an extremely overactive thyroid and was really sick, I discovered the subtle anatomy of the Chakra System. I was sitting in my office Read the full article…

Conscious Rituals

I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend and are settling into the flow of Fall.    As the energy shifts away from the more carefree vibe of Summer with its pervasive lightness and moves toward the more structured darkness of Fall, establishing a daily routine can really help with the transition and ground us in the present moment.   Ritual has been around since the beginning of time. We are ritualistic beings by nature. You are likely doing rituals every day and may or may not realize it.  Waking up every morning and going for a walk, having Read the full article…

Focus on what you love…

Hello! I hope you are doing wonderful and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. Over the past few weeks I have been really thinking about the things I love the most and how to focus most of my energy on those things. It is easy to get caught in the cycle of worrying about or dealing with all the things that are challenging and difficult; the things that are not going well; the things we don’t like.  When instead, we would be much better off putting more energy and time into the things we are really good at, the Read the full article…

It’s all about balance!

I love summer.  It has always been the time of year when I feel most alive, excited and full of inspiration and creativity.  The downside to this is that I tend to over schedule myself, saying yes way too often and as a result find myself no longer feeling excited but overwhelmed and burned out instead. I am learning that just because I can do something and want to do it, doesn’t always mean I should.  The lesson is not an easy one. We are drawn to what we are like. There is nothing inherently wrong with that.  That is, Read the full article…

Freedom through practice

During this time of year around the 4th of July, I always reflect on what freedom means to me.  I think back to when I first started yoga and how much I was controlled by the negative, worrisome thoughts of my mind.  Even after finding yoga, my journey was quite a tumultuous one, but the practice was like a road map guiding me in the right direction.  According to the philosophy of yoga, consistent practice over time with dedication, enthusiasm and conviction will ultimately lead us to freedom from suffering.  It doesn’t mean we don’t experience hardship or pain but Read the full article…

The reason we do asana or yoga poses…

I hope are having a great month so far!  Summer is upon us and the heat is rising! Next week is the Summer Solstice, when day and night are equal and the earth will sit in perfect balance. A yoga practice is designed to help us create balance in the ever changing tides of life.   In the Yoga Sutras of Patanajali, which is the manual for the philosophy of yoga and is comprised of 195 sutras, there are only 3 dedicated to asana (or the poses) and why and how they should be done.  It all comes down to Read the full article…

Immediacy

Yoga Blend, Burbank, Christy Marsden

Happy May! I hope your month is off to a great start. This week I found myself getting lost in all the things I have to do and feeling like I will never get caught up. Noticing my anxiousness around the overwhelm, I paused to take a few deep breaths and decided to focus on what I could do right now rather than than what I couldn’t get to. There is a principle in the Burning Man culture of immediacy that I have been incorporating into my daily life. How many times have you found yourself saying…”one day I will Read the full article…