Yesterday I was lucky to be able to attend Amanda’s Wednesday morning flow class at Yoga Birds. I practice at home alone quite a bit and always relish in the opportunity to practice with a group. And it was a ‘Full Circle Chakra’ class. The chakras are an energy system running along the central axis of the body laid out in Indian Tantric Philosophy. Essentially, practicing with the chakras as the forefront of class is inner-body energy work. And Amanda is FABULOUS at it. She has a great understanding of the chakras and the class systematically takes your awareness from the root chakra at the base of the tailbone to the crown chakra at the top of the head and then back down. She also organizes the room so that all of the mats are in a circle. Any of y’all who take my classes know that I am a stickler for straight lines and rows because it assists my observation of the classes’ alignment and foundation. And because I teach alignment based yoga asana, I have always understood the asana in straight lines. So, getting in a circle (which is out of my comfort zone) and going with the flow, trusting the Teacher, trusting my breath, and really going inside on a journey through the energy centers of my body…WHOA what an awesome experience!
Long before I opened Yoga Birds, I had the vision of what kind of yoga studio business I wanted to build in Fairhope. My first experiences of ‘yoga-studio’ yoga (and mind you there are lots of different ways and places to offer yoga to the community) were at Yoga Works in the late 90’s in Santa Monica, California. That is when and where the seeds of my vision for Yoga Birds were planted. Yoga Works is now a national yoga studio franchise and teacher training school. But back then, it was two studios–one on Santa Monica Blvd. and one on Montana Ave. Where at any time of day yogis had the choice of incredible classes in varied styles from highly trained teachers (Seane Corn, Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, Natasha Rizopolous, Erich Schiffman—just to name a few). The classes were always and without fail great learning and practicing opportunities and the studio setting was always of great comfort. Life in Los Angeles as a mid 20-something was hectic, and whirlwindy, and wonderful and challenging. Walking through the threshold of the clean, peaceful, nag-champa scented, sweet -people filled studio—which was dedicated solely for the purpose of yoga and community-was not just a comfort but an enormous help for maintaining sanity and peace of mind. The big empty space, the wood floor, the nice yoga props…it was all part of the experience. My 4 years spent in Los Angeles, I took as many yoga classes at as many different places as I could. I went to every studio in town, local school gyms, church basements, Tai Chi studios, fitness centers, outside at the beach, in people’s living rooms, and more. Some classes were free, some were donation based, but most were $10-$15 to compensate the teacher and pay the overhead for the space. My ‘home’ practice studios were Yoga Works and The Iyengar Institute. For me, the experiences in the studio settings were unparalleled to the others and I had choices. So, to be able to take classes I did work-study at the studios to ‘rack-up’ class hours, I swept floors, I cleaned houses, and worked hard at my day job to have the money to pay for the valuable experience of practicing at the studios.
My vision for Yoga Birds is to be a dedicated space in service to this community to gather for top quality experiences. I aim for the studio to offer classes by highly trained Registered Yoga Teachers (one of the reasons for the Yoga Alliance Teacher Trainings) so that students not only have a worthwhile learning and practice experience –to advance in their understanding and deepen their practices of yoga , but also to maintain the space as a sanctuary for meditation, asana practice, and keeping good company – always in service to the community.
I recognize that teaching and practicing yoga is a great privilege and I am beyond grateful to the teachers and students who sustain Yoga Birds as how I envisioned it 10 years ago. And, I am LOVING being a student in my home studio! Namaste friends!
And what a wonderful space you have created – filled with your playful, joyful spirit. It is also a space held for all to explore the wonders of yoga. I am grateful for your vision and generous heart.