Luna Love and Yoga Nidra

When I read Luna's writing, it was like a lifeline from a kindred spirit. She describes her experience with such vivid detail and intent reflection- it shows how she is a being of such great depth.

I told her that her writing was like that of war stories. Incredibly visceral and crucially contemplative in a way that recalls stories of WWII or Vietnam. Luna's is a very intense peace, and it is one I resonate with.

She held a yoga nidra workshop at Bhakti Yoga Shala. Yoga nidra is difficult to comment on- although I'll try- because one falls into a dreamlike state that isn't really accessible through language. Luna started us with a meditation, but quickly we found ourselves on our backs. At that point, she brought our awareness to each and every part of our bodies, one very slow step at a time. It's that practice of no escape- of having to focus on the left pinky toe relaxing, and then the next one, and so on....the idea being that there is nothing left behind.

And then you drift. For me, I travel into this ethereal zone where I occasionally visit a past or present experience, but mostly I drift off into what I'm very sorry to say is an indescribable state. Perhaps "wavering, black noise travel".

Luna, at this moment, perfectly embodied the yin aspect of selves, that desire to dive deep into our psyche, which a tremendously joyous and mysterious part of our existence. She led her workshop with grace, preparation and reverence for the process. Overall, much love.

"Soul Power Yoga"

When I walked into Andres' class, I warned him, "you might see a lot of child's pose action".

Andres' class is called "Soul Power Yoga". I assumed it would be somewhat like my other power yoga classes. Turns out, I've got a lot to learn.

His class is partially a lecture, although rarely formally. He speaks authentic truth, words of love and forgiveness, inspiration and positivity, through each pose. I recall one of my favorite actions, in Warrior 1, when we took our love into our hearts, then pushed it away from us. There is something so powerful in that action. Infusing an action with meaning always lights me up, but I think, experimentally, when a human being reaches out and pulls out from their heart, it truly awakens something. Place one's hand on one's heart, then extend it out, palms face up- perhaps that is a gesture of giving in every culture, I wonder...

The class was surprisingly calm, and I learned that a lot of the soul power was in mindfulness. How Andres asked us to be fully integrated with our beings, mindful of the world around us. He spoke especially about age, and how yoga can begin to reverse the aging process, physically and psychologically. The poses flowed in and out, strongly vinyasa, and I was really appreciative of how I was able to fuse my intention to be loving, or aware, actively into asana.

I loved how there wasn't a rushed note in Andres' tone (nothing important is ever said quickly), and there was so much one-breath-one-movement type of flow. His devotion to Kirtan is contagious, and the singing magnificent. Andres mentioned that frequently people come to his class expecting one thing and leaving with the other....and much the same for me..

Maitri: Bhakti Yoga with Govindas

Govindas has shining eyes and a pure presence through his teachings. I've taken two classes and I'm hooked. Recently, I've been resonating with a slower paced, devotional practice, finding a more interesting type of challenge there.

In the beginning of class, Govindas had everyone come over and meet each other, saying their names and engaging in a bit of conversation. Really underlines how everyone is sharing an element of their experience, interactive in it....

Afterwards, we placed a great deal of emphasis in ujjayi breathing, and moved into a slow and deliberate flow, every motion had more space and time. And this, perhaps, is what made it so difficult.

Counter-intuitive as it sounds, a slow flow class is much harder than a fast-paced class. There's so much more space for the self to witness the mind's chatter. And for an ego-driven kid like me, this is annoying to watch. I want to become frustrated, why so noisy?

And yet Govindas held the space with so much love, and the space resonated with so much devotion, that I wanted to fully face myself with love in my practice. I wanted to maintain calm, maintain compassion and dedication in my practice, as a way of matching the space somehow.

I'm trying to recall particular poses- a few stand out to me, malasana moving to tadasana about ten times, deep lunges, and in the past class, the chanting- My life is full of beauty and love (so true). I am scintillating with positive energy. Scintillating.

Heart-openers. So intense. I kept thinking about maitri, unconditional love and compassion. In my second class, we did partner work. Supported wide-legged forward fold, holding on to our partner's forearms. And I could honestly rest my eyes on my partner's. It amazed me. how in this culture, such a thing is possible. Beautiful.

Savasanah seemed to last forever in every class, I loved each beat of it. Slow flow definitely rendered a different, and perhaps admittedly deeper, meditation than I've experienced in a post-class high in a while. Definitely a good sign.

Bhakti Yoga Shala is a space filled with true love, noble and radical acceptance. They are a donation based studio between 2nd and 3rd on Arizona Ave in Santa Monica. I love how this noble, donation based studio can keep their classes unique, their intentions pure and attract a community of loving, knowledgeable and dedicated instructors and students..