Inner Light Outer Peace Yoga Blog

Yogini Virginia shined some light on NPR for me last week. She mentioned a radio program called “Speaking of Faith” that airs on Sunday mornings 7-8am.

Check out their page to listen to interviews with Matt Sanford and Seane Corn.

Click here to listen to NPR, Speaking of Faith, Yoga with Seane Corn as well as read and watch more in-depth.

Thanks Virginia for sharing this goodie with us!

HUNGER IS REAL PEOPLE! and alive and thriving in Lower Fairfield County CT

I would like to speak to a subject very close to my heart and that is FOOD.

Many of you know that I LOVE food an LOVE to eat. I am a Taurus and that is one of our vices…Eat, Drink and Be Merry is not only a phrase often associated with a Taurus but one of my many mantras.

This being said, there is a real problem in our country and even more importantly, right here in Lower Fairfield County, CT. If you don’t know what lower Fairfield County is, let me tell you…it’s Darien, Stamford, New Canaan, Greenwich, Norwalk, and Wilton! One of the richest counties in our Nation!!!

Hunger is real, people! Alive and sadly, well! Continue reading “Elysa Blogs - Hunger is Real”

Meet Les!

In whatever studio or space - indoor and out - Les brings his Yoga communities a ready and warm smile. Sometimes attending class along with sister, Christine, their Yoga can be a beautiful family affair. He usually has interesting stories to share whether focused on family, work or fun adventures fishing or doing Yoga on the beach - one trip he practiced seven days in a row!

All around he adds color and depth to our community and we are glad to have him! He is the Dew Yogi of the month for September. I asked him the usual questions about Yoga…

Q: How long have you been practicing Yoga?

A: I have been practicing yoga for about 8 years.

Q: What fills your time off the mat?

A: Off the mat I am a master carpenter, co-developed, and run the service department for a high end custom builder in Greenwich and Manhattan. Continue reading “Dew Yogi of the Month - Les Melich”

Observing the visual beauty of a skunk Mary Oliver wrote and reminds us…

“…for it’s true, isn’t it,
in our world,
that the petals pooled with nectar, and the polished thorns
are a single thing –
that even the purest light, lacking the robe of darkness,
would be without expression –
that love itself, without it’s pain, would be
no more than a shruggable comfort.”

It’s a beautiful poem, you can read the whole thing here.

Yoga literally means union. Being a part of something larger than ourselves but also finding unity in ourselves; body, mind and spirit.

Of course that means on the mat, we are more than our physical posture. Our Warrior pose is more than a lunge that tones the butt and stretches the hamstrings. Our Warrior becomes an opportunity to be in our power, to bring our inner strength and determination into physical play. Warrior brings us the chance to connect our inner power with the divine power of our community and our planet. A yogi would be hard pressed to lovingly hold virabhadrasana eka (warrior 1) and not feel a sense of inner strength being nurtured as much as their calves and quads working hard.

But what happens when we have a bad day? Continue reading “Why Yoga Studios Invest in Tissues”

Fellow Kripalu Yoga teacher, Ronnie Oster-Falkenburg will be a presenter at Kripalu this summer in the Anita McFarlane program, Kid’s Summer Fun, July 20 - 25th! Yay Ronnie!

Ronnie has been a volunteer assistant in Kid’s programs at Kripalu for quite some time. It seems to be the perfect fit for her. In her own words,

“We will do yoga, art, theatre games, swimming, dress up and have lots of fun-
maybe some guided fantasy with art combos (I like to do those - yoga
nidras for kids with art following).”

Ronnie also shared with me that she has been hired by the Friendship Circle to teach yoga to
children who have challenges and their average buddies for next year.

How exciting - way to go, Ronnie!

You can read more about Ronnie here.

This is Carlo. He has been a great supporter of Dew Yoga through it’s first incarnations, at the Dojo and now at BVSA. He also happens to be a truly kind and bright soul. When you read his answers to my questions, both of the above statements are quite evident. Thanks Carlo for being a part of the Dew Yoga community.

I asked him a few questions about Yoga. Here is what he has to share with us.

Q: How long have you been practicing Yoga?

A: About 15 years - 14 of them with the same yoga mat. I even forgot it in Nashville once and got it mailed back. When you find the thing you love, why part with it?

Q: What fills your time off the mat?

A: I’ve been immersed in my new profession as a psychotherapist. This career change was influenced by my yoga, as have many of my choices in recent years. Like yoga, therapy aims to raise awareness and shift perception about ourselves, especially about our inner pain. It asks us to accept ourselves with compassion, without judgment, and to find the teacher within. I teach my clients meditation, which I also learned through yoga. There is a natural complementarity and synergy between yoga and therapy that I hope to explore with the yoga community once I open my private practice - hopefully next year. Stay tuned.

Q: How has your yoga practice affected your life off the mat?

A: Yoga has changed my life by subtle steps so that I did not recognize for a while how the changes day-by-day have mounted to a crescendo, a driving wave that propels my vessel into new and unfathomed waters. The primary change has been a shift and heightening of awareness - awareness of the subtleties of my physical body, my emotions, my thoughts, my social interactions, and the choices I make about each of them. They have been better choices. Financially, yoga’s been a good investment too as I haven’t been to the chiropractor in years. Oh, and I’m happier too. Maybe my yoga mat is more like a magic carpet sweeping me off to a different sort of Mecca? No wonder I’ve held onto that old mat for 14 years!

Q: What would you like to share with others about Yoga?

A: Yoga is also about the people you connect with. Most of the yogis I’ve met haven’t told me about their jobs, their families, their histories or their struggles. Yet when we breath together, when we chant together, when we stretch our bodies and our souls together, I find I have met them at a deeper and more intimate level. I have been inspired by many fellow students, but especially by dedicated teachers. The word inspire also means to breath in. I like the thought that I have breathed in and been enriched by them all - by all of you.

If anyone would like to connect with Carlo professionally, let us know, we will put you in touch!

“We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind….” The Redemption Song Bob Marley

Redemption. A wonderful word meaning among other things: salvation, rescue, deliverance, atonement, pay back, recover, convert, to make amends, and last , but not least, to deliver for sin and it’s consequence by means of sacrifice offered for the sinner.

My spiritual mother often talks about the power of redemption and her belief in it. Many movies are about redemption. Dead give away: The Shawshank Redemption.

Redemption, it’s a good thing but do we really know what it is and when we are in it’s presence?
Continue reading “Elysa Pondering Redemption”

I am not a big fan of partner Yoga and while I do not desire to learn Acro Yoga or Flying Yoga I can appreciate the synergy and beauty of these Yogi’s from Charleston.

Did it wake your inner child who pretended to be Superman or aspired to join the circus? Here is why you shouldn’t try this at home without a qualified AcroYoga Instructor to guide you on your flight. Don’t be fooled by the grace with which they fall, I am sure they have had instruction on falling before actually flying!

Learn more about the Charleston Yogis here.

And about AcroYoga here.

Just Do It!

Thank you Nike for inspiring so many!

Never have truer words been spoken. I have recently seen the application of this simple phrase in my life, time and time again.

This has been a year of “Just Do It” for me and so many. And it hit me very clearly as I have begun a new workout regimen.

Talk about just doing it! My trainer is part drill sergeant and part big sister. Lovingly she is known as the devil and she is amazing! When I started, I had to overcome a lot of fears. When I say I can’t do it, she tells me “Yes you can” and proceeds to kick my ass.

What I realized is something that many of you know. If you think you can, you can and the reverse is true as well. We have got to turn off the negative speak people! This is not a new concept to me, but hey, I’m always learning. Aren’t we all? It’s all in our mind.
Kindergarten lesson: You all remember The Little Engine That Could? Same principal.

Inspiration. It’s a beautiful thing! We need need it to keep our spirit afloat just as we need the air to breathe.

We need to constantly affirm our inherent wholeness and life’s goodness. When we are open our mind to new possibilities, we are able to see the world through new eyes. We have flashes of inspiration all the time, we just need to open our eyes and see.

Take a moment and think about what inspires you. Feel it. Breathe it. Really take it into you soul. Notice how you feel. Let it into all you do. Notice how many times a day you are inspired, how it changes your mindset, how you can be a inspiration to another. Make a game out of it with yourself or another. Allow inspiration to pay it forward. Dedicate a day to inspiration. What can you come up with?

In these words from Eminem (song is Till I Collapse): “Cause sometimes you just feel tired, feel weak/ And when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up/ But you gotta search within you/ you gotta find that inner strength.”

Remember to stay inspired and to be an inspiration! You know you can, you know you can, you know you can……..

Elysa DeMartini is a Dew Yoga Teacher and you can read more about her here.