A Kind of Hero

"Life is full of setbacks.  Success is determined by how you handle setbacks."- Lululemon Manifesto

 

BKS Iyengar

Two busted knees brought me to yoga. It was a pretty big set back for me. I was 20, a gymnast since I was three, an avid long distance runner and couldn’t bend down to the bottom shelf in the grocery store without hanging on for dear life. My doctor tells me I’m too young for knee problems and suggests I try yoga instead.

It was a scene right out of Karate Kid. I reluctantly go to my first yoga class where the teacher proceeds to tell me to sit on my shins making a sort of W with my legs and breathe for 10 minutes a day. In other words, sit in a way I never ever would for fear my knees might split in half, the way I used to sit when I was three and my joints naturally spun 360 degrees in every direction. 

“Are you Nutz?”, I hopefully said silently to myself.  But my teacher talked me down and explained not only the therapeutic benefits of the posture but the metaphysical changes that where happening as I sat there eyes closed, breathing deeply.


He told me a little story about this posture called Virasana. Vira means Hero in Sanskrit, which was the first thing that made any sense to me in this yoga class because you certainly needed to be some kind of hero to sit in such a excruciating challenging pose.  To this day, I can barely recall anything else he ever said or any other pose we ever did, but somehow, after about 6 months of sitting quietly and breathing deeply, my knees were healed. I could squat down and stand back up and sit in Hero’s pose for several minutes at a time with absolutely no pain.

It was my first yoga miracle.

So, my love for yoga began, as did my passion for inspiring the Hero in every student I meet -- especially in the face of setbacks. Today, owning my own business, being a mom, a wife, a teacher and an athlete presents me with all kinds of setbacks, upsets, failures and challenges everyday. Maybe you know what I mean?


It is through the practice of yoga; the artistic, scientific and spiritual alignment of our mind, body and heart; that I become more than ever present to what I learned that very first yoga class…  

Breathe and Remember, You Are a Hero.

Ps. 
I am super proud to announce the start of a beautiful partnership with Moore Physical Therapy & Fitness. Together we have created possibly the only physical therapist approved yoga class called, Therapeutic Yoga, in the area (maybe even in
the world!...a girl can dream!). 
We begin Tuesdays and Thursday, September 27^that 6:30pm in Moore's gorgeous facility; bring all your set backs and the reluctant hero inside you, and experience the transformational and healing power of yoga. Contact Moore if your interested, class size is limited ensure one-on-one attention.

The Universe Rocks!

Been learning a great lesson lately.
When things don't go your way, it's not a necessarily a bad thing.
Hm. Who Knew!?

Usually when things don't go my way or the way I planned I get very upset, defeated, angry at G*d and the world and you can hear me mumble "See!...things never work out for me..." and then I go into a few days or weeks of a poor Linda pity party until I finally get sick enough of myself and get back on the horse. Pretty dramatic huh?

I recently started looking at it all a bit differently......only because I realized I HAD to if I really wanted to get what I really wanted...crying over it suddenly seemed so futile and well, dumb...believe me, I would happily stay a drama queen if I thought that would help, but the drama well has officially run dry and well I supposed its time to grow up and take it like a man, as they say.

As you know, I have been working like crazy to get Blackbird off the ground. And At first everything was flying right along and then I hit a few hurdles, cried, whined, moaned and then jumped them and kept going, but then another hurdle and then recently a doozey! We had to back out of the lease for the space we wanted in Wilton. Ugh. I had worked for months on that deal, but as it came to fruition more and more details of the building were revealed and it became clear this was a bad deal. I was devastated for about an evening and a half. And then I remembered, this lesson that seems to keep being presented to me... each time I hit a barrier the resolution has been so much better than previous situation I can't help but feel blessed that my original plan didn't turn out. And this "obstacle" was no exception, we lost the Wilton space but we found Georgetown! Yay Georgetown! Wow, SO MUCH BETTER. Cheaper, Nicer, Perfecter than I could have even been willing to dream for.

It has become crystal clear to me...the universe has got your back. It purposely places obstacles in your way for two reasons...firstly, so you can learn something and secondly, to lead you in a different direction, the right direction. If you are willing to relax and trust and let it all be OK,
the universe will not let you down. Amen!

Blackbird's new home is 28 Main Street Georgetown, CT!
We are still aiming for our 9.9.09 Grand Opening.
We will keep you posted.

In the Universe we trust.
Linda