Yogarosa Blog

My students teach me more than I teach them. And during my classes, I acquire knowledge. As my students learn, so do I. So it was last Tuesday. As I taught the 7pm class, I had a revelation. As children, we sing, dance and play continuously. Especially during the ages of three and four, children are in a magical world. Their world is beautiful, and the possibilities are endless. They can become anything, or anyone. They can go anywhere. The world is full of adventure, and they live in a world full of love. I remember hearing my three year old daughter, (now 20) singing a song from the show Barney, a purple dinosaur who had a heart of gold. The lyrics were "I love you, you love me, we're a happy family, with a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too." (sing to the tune of this old man.) Children are naturally full of love, and that love is displayed in the way they move, singing happily, dancing with abandon, and living each moment fully...

Once Upon a Time, there was a yoga studio called Boca Yoga. This studio offered all kind of workshops, which I very often attended. The owner, Marti Parker, grew to become my friend, as well as Fairy Godmother. She suggested the workshops that I needed to improve my practice, and shared with me much of her vast knowledge of the world of yoga. She encouraged me and gave me advice on opening my own studio. One sad day, she closed her studio, but not without sharing with me many props and equipment for yoga. My dream was her wall ropes. My constant visualization of her wall ropes hanging in my studio came true one day, after I took up a collection from our community. Her walls were transferred to my walls, and our community of yogis quickly learned to hang upside-down and to defy gravity in many unusual ways. During this time, the studio was growing, and I began to think about taking on a business partner, which I did.  I moved my students, my props, my wall ropes and my soul to th...

As a little girl, I used to love playing with my brother's toy cars. I would roll them on the marble floor, set up ramps for them, and I would create stories as I played. I remember many times seeing myself floating above myself, watching myself as I played for hours quietly with those beloved cars. As I got older, I would have those "weird" experiences, which I will call "out of body experiences". I am here, but my consciousness leaves my physical body and I can see myself from above. It only would happen when I was by myself in a quiet contemplative state. I was never scared, just surprised when I "returned". I would always think to myself, "I'm back." As a teenager, I was painfully shy, and learned how to make myself "invisible" to protect myself. I always felt I was different. I wasn't interested in a lot of what the other kids were doing, and as a recent immigrant who dressed differently, I was reserved, quiet, and ob...

I just got my first Ipod, and as I listen to the music, I am amazed at the memories that have surfaced and the feelings that have been provoked. Being swayed by Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, I recall my father's hands gently bringing alive a piano. I can see his body moving along with each note, and can feel the hypnotic power of the melody. I am transported to another time, where my life was simple, but I didn't know it. The comforting feelings of spending time with my father, seemingly doing nothing. Those are my most vivid memories. Seeing him in complete illumination as his fingers conquered any piano. The memories evoke my love for him and also the sadness of not spending enough time with him. My guilt wishes I gave him those hugs that he wanted, but as a bratty teenager, I rejected. The advice I didn't follow, and wish I had. The time I didn't have for him. The appreciation of classical music that I inherited from him. The work ethic. The values. The passion f...

The ocean is calm, the waves are smooth. The crow eats processed cheese. Another beautiful morning on Hollywood Beach....

So now I have been practicing Iyengar Yoga for almost 16 years. I feel so lucky! When I started, I thought it was all about alignment. In the beginning it was for me. I was stiff and I was weak. I used to suffer from back pain, and in this yoga I found relief. I also found myself. The postures were difficult in the beginning, but something kept me coming back again and again. When I decided to go to India in 1998, and saw Mr. Iyengar in action, I think I really started to understand this work. It was during his 80th Birthday Celebration in Pune, India, when he said that in Virabhadrasana 2 (Warrior 2) we had to feel our soul all the way to the fingertips. I felt somethingwarm vibrating from my chest into my arms, and ultimately into my fingertips. I had never experienced that before. It left me quiet, and at peace. (Even tough we were holding the pose for a while.) I continued on my path of learning, and along the way I found myself getting stronger, but I also found myself growing c...