Autumn is Compressed, and Cave-Like

On Saturday I held my first seasonally-inspired restorative yoga workshop (“Rest and Restore”) at Studio 34 Yoga. It was an amazing culmination, and marriage, of my Chinese Medicine background and my yoga training.

While I thrive in one-on-one connection (my acupuncture practice), I also love that teaching yoga allows me to reach more people at once, and to create a loving container for deeper embodiment and shared connection.

During the workshop we collectively rested, we breathed, and we all received a beautiful download about the energy of autumn-time.

The entire workshop felt like a transmission, a gift, and the group I shared it with was so open and special.

One of the concepts we talked about was that autumn is cave-like. It can feel so compressed but also eerily open and vast.

That’s the magic of this time of year. When we connect with the deepest container of ourselves we find that we’re actually unlimited spirit and potential. The places that feel tight actually hold a lot of potential for healing and integration.

When I walked into Studio 34 to teach “Rest and Restore” I was scheduled to teach in the smaller of the two studio spaces there. I arrived early and put my ear to the door and heard that that space was occupied.

I later learned that the teacher I overlapped with didn’t want to teach in the larger studio space because it was lined with lush strands of golden lights in preparation for a wedding at the studio the next day.

The lights made the workshop extra special. It was dark but golden. Just like the dawn, just like the cavity of the lungs and the heart.

Each of us has the opportunity, maybe even the calling, to reconnect with our hearts and our deepest desires this autumn. Autumn is a great time to journal, to pray, to assess and reflect. To really turn inwards and to take stock. What can you cut out? What can you cull? What do you no longer need that might better serve someone else?

If you’re intrigued by the combination of my restorative yoga training (resting in simple and accessible shapes close to the ground) and my Chinese Medicine training, the next seasonal restorative yoga session will be January 5th or 12th, 2024 (I’m holding it twice) at Studio 34 Yoga. Register early! The autumn restorative session filled three weeks ahead of the date.

A Happy Autumn To You.