Hey all! This week I’m blogging at Inkspot (the blog for the writers of Midnight Ink) about some simple ways you can show your favorite authors some love. Check it out and let me know what you’d add to the list!
http://midnightwriters.blogspot.com/2016/03/ten-ways-to-show-your-favorite-author.html
See you there!
Tracy Weber
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I borrowed the title of today’s blog from the Facebook post of one of my favorite yogis, Jillian Cobo. She attended yesterday’s fundraiser for the Greenwood Neighborhood, which was devastated less than two weeks ago by a natural gas explosion.
In spite of the devastation, there are always blessings. Over 50 businesses and homes were damaged, several completely destroyed. But there were no severe injuries or deaths. That’s probably the most important miracle we could have hoped for. The most beautiful miracle is how people in the neighborhood have come together to support the individuals impacted by the explosion.
Reconstruction is already beginning. Windows are being replaced. The stark brown plywood panels of those still missing have been decorated by murals, most of which (like the three below) are wonderfully appropriate for the businesses they decorate. The community will rebuild. Of that I have no doubt.
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The yoga teachings have a concept called sangha–community. The drawing together of people with united intentions. Sangha has been wonderfully present in my neighborhood these last two weeks. Many businesses, including mine, have pulled together to raise funds. Whole Life Yoga’s fundraiser today reunited me with yogis I hadn’t seen in a very long time and introduced me to new friends. In three short classes we raised over $1500. As always, my students make me proud.![12419261_10154265207043268_8936778293896193307_o[1]](https://tracyweberblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/12419261_10154265207043268_8936778293896193307_o1-480x318.jpg)
I know many of my friends and students have donated via the Phinney Center’s donation link, and those donations aren’t included in the $1500 total. But all of the money goes to the same fund and will be distributed to those who need it most. If you haven’t yet donated and would like to, you can still do so at this link.
Thank you all!
Tracy Weber
Hi all! Today is the first of what I hope will be monthly interviews with some of my favorite yogis! Roy Holman is a fabulous yoga teacher as well as a graduate of Whole Life Yoga’s 200 hour and 500 hour yoga teacher trainings. I understand his retreats are to die for! Please join me in welcoming him, and ask him any questions you have in the comments!
Tracy Weber
Roy, thanks so much for joining me on the Whole Life Yoga blog today! Let’s dive right into the questions.
Why and when did you start practicing yoga?
1996, during a dark night of the soul, depressed, with an eating disorder. I felt so good and grounded from yoga, I knew if it could help me, it could help anyone!
What do you specifically appreciate about Viniyoga?
The breath connection and presence, and the look in people’s eyes after class. A spark!
Any yoga horror stories?
Too many to list! Farting when I was adjusting someone’s head in Savasana comes to mind. Another time while teaching, during a stretch, I split the back of my pants.
Oh my. I hesitate to ask after that, but what is one of your most humbling moments as a teacher?
I usually share a few thoughts before we begin the asana. A woman would always come to my YMCA class 10 minutes late. I finally gently, kindly asked her if it was difficult to arrive on time, and she said “I purposely show up late to avoid listening to your psychobabble!”
At least she was honest! Tell me, what would you tell people interested in trying yoga for the first time?
If you don’t like it, don’t quit. Try another teacher or style until your body purrrs … I’m biased, but I feel there is a yoga for every body.
I totally agree. And there is a yoga TEACHER for every student. What do you think are the most important qualities of a great yoga teacher?
Authenticity, humility, kindness, and one who is doing the inner work and has a spiritual practice (not just asana).
Kate (the yoga teacher/sleuth in my series) has anger management issues, but she uses yoga to mitigate them. What challenges do you face, and how does yoga help you overcome them?
I have no issues–except denial! Truthfully, I feel like it may take several lifetimes before I truly love myself, sigh. Practice, practice, practice…
Who is your yoga hero?
Krishnamacharya. Talk about devoted and committed! Not too many yogis like that these days.
Agree. He’s my hero, too. I often wonder what he would think about yoga as we practice it in America today. What would you change about the American yoga scene, if you could?
I’m trying to stop controlling everything so I think I’ll just let it be! I’m thrilled that 36 million Americans are now doing yoga, including 10 million men, according to a recent study. It has to start somewhere, but again, I wish there was more breath connected, gentle, slow, traditional yoga aimed less at developing six pack abs and more on ahimsa, satya and isvara pranidhana.
I totally agree. No wonder I think you are so awesome! How can people learn more about you and your classes?
www.holmanhealthconnections.com … or my Blog at http://holmanhealthconnections.com/blog/
Roy Holman has run Holman Health Connections in Everett, Washington since 2000. Roy is a 500 hour certified Yoga, Meditation, and Healing Instructor, a Oneness Blessing giver and trainer, and leads retreats to Costa Rica, Mexico, Guatemala, Hawaii, Bali, Sedona, and in his home state of Washington. Roy Holman is author of two books: Healing Self, Healing Earth: Awakening Presence, Power, and Passion, and Poems from the Passionate Heart: Reflections on Healing and Awakening. Roy does a health and healing radio commentary every week on KSER 90.7 FM. Roy also lived several years abroad, mostly doing human rights work in Central America. Roy has a passion for assisting the healing of our Earth and evolution / shift of humanity. He teaches with humor and joy.
Contact Roy at 425-303-8150 — Holmanhealth@gmail.com
Come visit Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, learn about our Yoga Alliance Registered yoga teacher training program, and check out Tracy Weber’s author page for information about the Downward Dog Mysteries series.
I met my dog-mom doppleganger today. A woman about my age with long dark hair who was crying outside of my vet clinic. She was very upset about her 12-year-old German shepherd, who has many of the same neurological symptoms as my German shepherd, Tasha.
I told her to wait for me, put Tasha in the car, and chatted with her for about 30 minutes. I described the therapies we’ve been doing with Tasha. I confided my own fears for the future. I explained as best I could what the neurologist had just told her, which is basically the same thing they told me. “We don’t know.” She said I used the same words the vet had just used in describing the potential diagnoses, but she felt like she could hear them from me. Frankly, I think she simply felt heard.
Why am I writing about this? I worry about our world lately, especially now that the political rhetoric keeps getting louder. We spend much more time talking at each other than communicating with each other. Listening has become a lost art. I’m not taking sides here. I see the same problem on all sides of the political spectrum—and there are way more than two. Our political candidates are simply a reflection of the rest of our world. None of us is innocent.
I don’t know how we change it, but perhaps opportunities like the one I had today are a start. Rather than walk past someone who is a struggling, why not walk toward them? Human connection comes in so many forms, and it has infinite benefits. We’re just out of practice.
Remember what the yoga teachings say about communication:
As for the stranger I met today, I don’t know what the future holds for either of us, and the end is inevitable for both of our dogs. (For all of us, really.) But I feel like talking to me helped her. At least I hope it did.
May we all find a kind ear when we need it the most. More importantly, may we be willing to offer that same kindness to others.
Tracy Weber
