When I told friends I was going to China it seemed most would share their own experience or inform me of what they had been told by a friend. I heard the whole spectrum of opinions from the food, to the pollution, to the people. One friend even asked if I could get arrested for teaching yoga there. Not wanting the judgment of others to color my experience, I tried to stay spacious and open. I had been to Asia before but never a developed country, and China was not really a place at the top of my list for visits. Being in Beijing was not at all like I could have ever imagined, in fact it wasn't too different from being in any other big city in the world. It felt, dare I say, pretty normal--of course with a few exceptions!

Anusara Yoga is all about making a heart connection, how could I teach an Anusara Immersion if our hearts did not have a rapport? In hindsight I can see how my teaching got very spacious in the weeks prior to leaving in preparation for this experience. From the first day, I took a seat in my heart and modeled speaking from this place. I was blessed to have an amazing translator who was enthusiastic about the teachings and mirrored my own passion. Though the students were a bit shy, they quickly caught on and began to unfold and share their hearts fully.


Day by day the immersion students were opening in their bodies, minds and hearts.
They loved the Anusara philosophy, a few even said, "This is exactly what I have been looking for."  The Universal Principles of Alignment helped them to connect to their back bodies and find more stability and grounding while creating more freedom. They were grateful to find relief from injuries and balance within themselves. It was beautiful to watch the students embody the principles and each day their inner light shone through with more resplendence.  They were literally transforming before my eyes! There were moments that even though I did not speak Chinese it seemed I could feel what they were saying before the translator could get the words out. My assistant Ben would joke with me that I was learning to understand Chinese quite quickly.

The forth day of the immersion was Anusara's thirteenth birthday. The students were excited to have the opportunity to celebrate their newfound practice. We opened the class to other students at the studio, and I led a class for about 50 people. It was wonderful to see the immersion students putting what they learned into practice while sharing their joy with the others. We finished the day with chocolate cake and a round of the happy birthday song in Chinese.


By the end of the training, the community that formed was unlike what any of them had experienced in the past. We all felt the camaraderie of sisters and brothers, or Kula.  On the last day I asked the students what they will do with what they have received. Many talked about how they had been selfish with their family, especially their husbands or wives.  They were excited to go home and share the Anusara philosophy with their families and put what they had learned into practice both on and off the mat.

As I prepared for my journey back home I felt a profound shift in myself. This experience fulfilled one of my deepest desires; which is to share the teachings of Anusara Yoga with people who don't have access to it. I feel certain that each one of us is better for our time spent together, and that the teachings will extend far beyond those who were in attendance.  What a beautiful blessing! In addition my calf muscles have never been so sore as they were after climbing up The Great Wall - check out those stairs!


With love and gratitude to John Friend and all of my teachers.  Namaste.

Stacey Rosenberg is a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher in San Francisco and around the globe.  Her classes are dynamic and playful and provide a fun, safe, and nurturing environment that invites students to move deeply into their own hearts and transform their lives. 

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I was honored when my friend Benjamin Finnerty who is living and teaching yoga in Shanghai, China invited me to come teach the Anusara Immersion at Fine Yoga in Beijing. I must admit a feeling of unease came over me because this would be my first time teaching to students of another language and culture and working with a translator, but I knew it was a great opportunity for me to grow as a teacher.  

Over the next several months, as we made the plans the idea became more comfortable. During that time a friend said that "life begins at the edge of your comfort zone"!  This is so true; it is the experiences where we have to dig deep inside our self and find the courage that expands us the most. My yoga practice and years of teaching had prepared me for this endeavor.

On my first day, though I was quite jet-lagged from the journey, I was taken on a whirlwind tour of Beijing. First we visited the Temple of Heaven, which is located behind one of the biggest and most famous parks in Beijing.  Like most Chinese parks in the morning, it was full of people practicing Tai Chi, dancing, playing games, stretching and enjoying themselves. 



This particular park had a section with equipment like a gym in the USA!  At 9:30 on a Wednesday morning people were playing together, both men and women young and old, were getting exercise, socializing and enjoying life. It was beautiful.



Thursday was the first day of the immersion. Though I felt at ease about teaching and comfortable with the material there was still this question in my mind about how to connect to the students.  We spent the whole first day on the First Principle of Anusara Yoga, which is opening to grace.

Though the students wanted to learn the alignment very much we kept our focus on cultivating sensitivity, connecting to their breath and their hearts and taking a more expansive view.  In Chinese, just like Sanskrit, the word for heart and mind is the same, and both cultures are very connected to the idea of living from their hearts.  There is a Taoist expression that says, "See every thing from the light of heaven," so the concept of first principle was not new. As the day went on they were beginning to soften their effort and embody it in their poses on the mat.



Though we began worlds apart, by the end of the first day each member of the group shared their experiences, and the boundaries between us dissolved with their shyness. I saw the reflection of my own trust that we would connect reflected back through them, and it was more apparent to me than ever that our hearts' know no boundary of language and culture.  We connected on the most fundamental level, and I will be forever transformed.

When have you had to find courage to do something out of your norm?  How are you better for the experience?

Stacey Rosenberg is a Certified Anusara Yoga teacher in San Francisco and around the globe.  Her classes are dynamic and playful and provide a fun, safe, and nurturing environment that invites students to move deeply into their own hearts and transform their lives.  www.namastacey.com

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Robin, a local therapist in Haines, Alaska invited me to her home for a private yoga session. She said she had to check the tide schedule to see when it would work. Check the tide? Yes, she lives across Mud Bay where part of the day you can walk across the mud flats, and then when the tide comes in (Haines has the third most changing tide in the world) and you have to canoe across.

There are a dozen or so families across the bay that all live by the tide, completely off the grid. I was up for the adventure, so I biked over to meet her. After loaning me a pair of extra tough rubber boots we took the 10-minute walk across the seaweed-strewn mud flats together.  As we walked, I was struck by the color of the seaweed and also at the realization that this was her commute to and from her home in any weather: rain, sleet, snow, hail, wind....this is Alaska after all.


On this July day I was still wearing a hat and coat! As I stopped to examine the seaweed she told me about how she had prepared our dinner for the evening. The propane for the stove had run out that morning and her partner had tried to bring the propane tank over in the canoe earlier, but it had been too windy and he had to turn back. Needing to use the stove to boil water she got creative and cooked on the wood burning stove. When we arrived at their home, a three-story cabin perched over the bay, she gave me a tour of her prolific garden. I am continually amazed at the abundance of Alaskan gardens and what vegetables and flowers can do in a short growing season with long, long days.

We had a lovely yoga session and delicious dinner with vegetables from the garden and wood stove cooked pasta. After dinner and some greatly enjoyed conversation (Robin's partner, Dan, is writing a book on the history of the Native Alaskan people) I was informed that we had five minutes left to make it across the bay before the tide came in. We had to leave NOW!

Back into the rubber boots I went, and tromp across the bay we did as the tide quickly crept in. Robin told me she thinks about her yoga practice and the support her abdominal muscles give her as she makes the pilgrimage across the bay.  She says she keeps her low belly drawn in and her spine in elongation as she confidently and gratefully makes the journey across.


I tried to do the same as I sloshed through the mud and sea weed trying not to fall, my heart pounding in my chest, wind blowing across my cheeks. I was silently hoping I would make it across before the tide came in and that I would not have to strip and wade as I did a previous year when another Mud Bay resident invited me to dinner! Actually, that was great fun as well and its all part of the adventure and life in Haines, Alaska.

How can you use your yoga practice during the day? How can you stay connected to the cycles of mother nature?

Sarana Miller lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarana is trained in the Iyengar and Forrest Yoga traditions and is a graduate of the Piedmont Yoga Advanced Studies Program and the Forrest Yoga Teacher training program and is currently studying the Sarah Powers method. She also sings and studies kirtan with Jai Uttal.

 

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During my visits to Haines, Alaska these past several years I have had the good fortune to attend the Southeast Alaska State Fair. It is a sweet fair organized primarily by volunteers that has a wonderful homey feel and also displays a great deal of talent and creativity. The fair has everything from a petting zoo with goats and llamas to a vegetable and pie contest. There is also a world-class puppet show (in its own log cabin) and a line up of incredible musical acts from around the country.

This year, I decided I wanted to contribute as well. I have been receiving the benefits of the hard work of the community and I decided a little seva, selfless service, on my part was in order. So, I signed up to work the Hospice of Haines Pie Booth and registered myself to teach a yoga class that included kirtan. Both turned out to be special in different ways.
 
At the pie booth, I got to receive and sell the dozens of pies as they came in from the woman of Haines. A freshly baked wild blueberry pie is a beautiful site. I knew the woman who made it spent hours picking berries and lovingly making that pie. I was so touched by the love and care that went into each pie, all going to raise money for Hospice. This is yoga in action.


I was a little nervous about my yoga class, it being my first time teaching at a fair. I asked my good friend, Bruce Blake, if he had any advice for me. He said, "Just pretend you are at Burning Man."
 
Yes, then I got it. Offering a respite from all the activity of the fair and a chance for students to connect in with their breath and their sense of center and home was all I had to do. We were fortunate to have a small dome for the class, and I opened with a short kirtan which dropped us all in.

From there, I had students connect in with their breath as I lead them through a slow supine hip opening sequence. Little by little I could feel them letting go, and the sounds of the fair (like the train that honked every 15 minutes) around us became just like little bells to remind us to connect back with our ever present friend of the breath.
 
As my dear friend and mentor Thomas Fortel says of the breath, " In times of challenge we breathe deeply and come into the moment. In times of joy, we also breathe deeply and come into the moment."

So there, in that little white dome, amidst the frenzy of the fair, we all joined each other in connecting with our breath and coming home into our bodies.
 


I give thanks for all the people that made the fair possible and to the practice of yoga, my friend and companion on this journey of life.

Sarana Miller lives and teaches in the San Francisco Bay Area. Sarana is trained in the Iyengar and Forrest Yoga traditions and is a graduate of the Piedmont Yoga Advanced Studies Program and the Forrest Yoga Teacher training program and is currently studying the Sarah Powers method. She also sings and studies kirtan with Jai Uttal.

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This is the first of a series of blogs by yoga teachers on tour. Join them as they find inspiration to practice all over the world!

Seven years ago a friend invited me to his hometown of Haines in Southeast Alaska. I had never considered visiting Alaska and didn't give it much consideration; however, he didn't give up easily and started sending me pictures of the river and mountains that persuaded me to visit  the little borough of Haines (pop. 2,400) for a week.

 

I fell in love with Haines at first sight and have returned every summer since. The people are friendly and generous and the natural beauty unparalleled. I started teaching a yoga class or two at the local community center that also houses the public radio and theater, and now have expanded into leading a full weekend workshop and evening kirtan. An incredible family (Beth MacCready and Greg Bigsby) who practice yoga and meditation host me at their unique 15-acre waterfront property where the river meets the ocean. I stay in a yurt, pictured above.


Eagles fly overhead, seals and whales swim by, an occasional moose or bear wander in, and  snow-capped mountains rise out of water as far as the eye can see. It is here, by the sea in southeast Alaska that I have precious time to recharge my battery that gets worn down from living in an urban environment the rest of the year.

My month here is a time for me to remember the practice of slowing down, the importance of rest and the healing power of mother nature. My singing, mediation and asana practice have plenty of space to unfold in this unique natural setting.

 

I plan my workshop with nature as a theme: trees rooting down to grow up toward the sun.  We practice rooting down into the earth with our feet and drawing energy up from the earth through the spine and out the crown of the head, allowing it to open and expand from the sky. We practiced this in Tadasana and through the standing poses. I gave the students a "home play" assignment to practice this extension as they stand and walk throughout the day.  I invite you to join us in this practice as well!

Where do you go to recharge your battery? And what makes you feel connected to nature?

Sarana Miller is trained in the Iyengar and Forrest Yoga traditions and is currently studying the Sarah Powers style. A student of Jai Uttal, she teaches yoga and leads kirtan in San Francisco. 

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