For thousands of years, humans have been celebrating the return of the light at the winter solstice, when the days get longer and spring is on its way. This ancient ritual signifies rebirth, new beginnings, and invigorating our minds and bodies by feasting, dancing, singing, praising, and communion with loved ones.
The flip side of the winter solstice is that it is indeed the longest and darkest night of the entire year. This time of the year can literally shed LIGHT on the dark aspects of our lives, something that is not always looked upon with joy. But wait. This is a visionary time! Winter solstice represents not only this darker part of our life and psyche, but also the possibility of something growing, sprouting, and unfolding in the coming year. This is a time to celebrate that you can always count on the light to come back, even on the darkest night.

The posture I have chosen for this auspicious time is Trikonasana, or Triangle pose. This is a posture that extends our energy into mother earth and then sends it back up and out through our radiating heart, hands, legs, and into the world. Legs are wide open, powerful, and grounded. Breath and blood circulates through all the organs, tight spots, and spins the heart up towards the light. Arms expand out, fingers spread like rays of the sun, and the gaze is up towards the infinite possibilities that exist for us if we have faith and believe in the light that is in us, around us and through us. Try this posture up against a wall, on your sticky mat, or next time you are in class, and imagine yourself as a luminous expression of this pivotal time of year!

This weekend we celebrated the solstice with a party on Friday night, Acro Yoga on Saturday, and a Yoga Mala (108 sun salutations) on Sunday.  It was wonderful to get the teachers, local students, a few brand new people to the studio, and several part time residents come in for these events. The party Friday night was an intimate group, and began with the teachers gathering for a re-gifting exchange. It was wonderful to see the way they brought such wonderful gifts to share from their hearts, and to have our community of teachers gather to laugh, eat, and get to know each other. The Acro Yoga with Tess and Joan was so much fun! Learning partner postures and getting to “fly” was inspirational and we are hoping to do that workshop once a month because everyone loved it so much! The Yoga Mala was a beautiful ritual to invoke all the 9 directions to inspire and illuminate us on the official earths New Year on Monday. I felt cleansed and inspired for the year up ahead. What’s nice about celebrating the solstice is that it comes before Christmas and New Years, and during Hanukah, so it gives us the opportunity to get clear and present without becoming overwhelmed with the holiday flurry. It is easy to get caught up in it all, but I feel all of us that celebrated together will have a little more presence and peace of mind to offer all those we come in contact with. 
I offer you all the magic and light of the solstice to fill you with all the divine illumination to know your path and stick to it, to clean out old habits, unnecessary worries, doubts, and fears, and to uncover and release dark areas and let the light transform and fill you with the radiance of all your wildest dreams for the new year. In these next weeks of holidays, may you step into the vibration of your answered prayers, and spread your gifts and love in selfless service to your loved ones, community, and global family! 
Om Happy Holidays! 

Please join Sarah for this transformational workshop on December 5th!

Learn multiple meditation techniques that you can do at home to help you de-stress and quiet the mind! Begin to understand the philosophy of Buddhism and how it compares to your personal spiritual philosophy. We will spend the day learning about the history and teachings of the Buddha and how we can apply them to our lives today. This workshop is for anyone who is interested in learning more about the philosophy of Buddhism and looking to begin or deepen their meditation practice. We will explore the worldview of Buddhism and how it may relate to our lives through learning the story of the Buddha and his teachings. We will explore the Theravada lineage found in Thailand today, the Mahayana lineage found in Japan, and the Vajrayana lineage found in the mountains of Tibet.

When: Saturday, December 5
Time: 10:30 am - 2:30 pm
Cost: $ 18 Where: Yoga for the Peaceful Studio

Please bring a vegetarian potluck item to share

Sarah was introduced to yoga by Mary Beth Nehl in 1999 and thus began her journey. She had a transformational experience in college that caused her to move to the desert of Arizona and begin her study of Religion and Philosophy at Prescott College. While there, she spent much of her time looking deeply at the philosophy and practice of Buddhism. Since graduating, she has spent three years teaching Buddhism courses to students at Western State College and leading meditation groups at Yoga for the Peaceful in Crested Butte, CO. She will always be grateful to Mary Beth for challenging her to look deeper.

Please join us from November 16-20 for Yoga Bootcamp at Yoga for the Peaceful!

For more information or to RSVP, please see us on Facebook!

Ginny is a dear student and friend of mine and Jay is her awesome husband who doesn’t do yoga (yet), but supports the studio any way he can.

Lauret is also a student, mentee, and a volunteer for the studio that does so many things it’s hard to list it all. One thing she does is all our graphic design, including the recent brochure for the Sustaining Membership Kula Program. Bobby is her race car driver husband who wants to run for president next time…

They live in Crested Butte part time and suck the marrow out of every moment they spend here. Before Lauret even finished the brochure, she sent me an email telling me to sign her up right away. Ginny walked into the studio last week with her Sustaining Kula membership form and check all filled out and handed it to me.

I wanted to thank Ginny and Jay, and Lauret and Bobby, for being the first Kula members!

If you don’t know what I am talking about, please see the info on the website. This is a plan I have been percolating for a long time now that I am hoping will enable the studio to cover its monthly recurring costs so we can continue to serve the community of locals and visitors. It’s a great deal for some who live here all year round, and for those that don’t, it’s a way to support our community and family business so the studio will be here when you come back. I hope you will all consider joining and supporting our studio so it’s here for years to come!