During this Summer I've been teaching a Sunday a.m. yoga class in our neighborhood green space. It has been such an amazing place to share yoga with my neighbors and fellow yogis. This morning the sky was a rich blue (as is often the case in Colorado), and the trees were just beginning to change colors with a few leaves showing some yellow and orange, the grass was wet enough that we could feel the moisture between our toes, and the temperature was a crisp 59 degrees. It was a blissful morning yoga class. The richest part of this class, and all classes, is the practice that students bring to their mats. I've always felt a sense of bliss when I step on my mat ready to focus my mind and engage my breath and body, and I observe this in my students. This morning, one of my students who has practiced with me for several years came to class, and while her dedication to her yoga practice is always observable, today, it was palpable. She has been working on her Pigeon pose, a pose that is intended to deeply open the hips (known as the King of Hip Openers), and this morning she perfected the pose - and even added an advanced modification. This is the bliss that is experienced in yoga, for students, and for teachers!

This morning, while preparing for a yoga class, I was looking for some inspirational thoughts on finding beauty in our world. Reflecting on this past 18 months and the pandemic, I felt like sometimes, beauty may have been masked behind the hardships and the ambiguity of the times, but only momentarily. Beauty never truly leaves us. It is always present for those whose eyes are open. I see it in people, in animals, in nature, in life generally, but for me, it is sometimes difficult to find the right words to express it. While searching for words to help convey this beauty that I see and feel so intensely, I thought of Mary Oliver, whose words have long moved me and have helped me to see life in new ways through her poems and quotes. Today, I am paying more attention, enjoying a sense of astonishment, and finding myself filled with gratitude to experience the beauty around me!

Thank you, Mary Oliver!

Dancer Pose (Lord of the Dance Pose, Natarajasana, for the Sanskrit name). It is among my favorite yoga poses (I also love Half-Moon, Camel, and Up-Dog poses).  Dancer is a powerful pose and forces me to focus and connect my mind with my breath and body. I have to connect all three to find balance and this is essential because the Dancer requires me to balance on one leg while lifting my heart. I encourage students to lift their hearts up and forward to lengthen the spine and this helps them to balance. I always feel like I've explored my inner world a little deeper after I transition out of Dancer.

Peggy is dedicated to her yoga practice and to finding balance in yoga through balance poses and heart openers. Her Dancer Pose is powerful and her focus (Drishti) observable. I am filled with gratitude to practice yoga with her.