Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Teaching Yoga in Recovery, Safe Space

Today I taught a class of 16 women in substance abuse recovery. We begin the class with a check-in; physical, emotional, spiritual. The ladies were all over the map. People shared themselves and I, as I often am, was moved. I was moved by the openness, the resistance, the heaviness, the power of the practice. The teaching theme was to choose a spot to focus of for the entire practice, bringing safe, healing energy to the spot and moving out the shit that needs to go in order to heal. There was a lot of chaos and resistance when I got there. They have made the yoga class mandatory at the center. I asked the ladies to tune in to a hell spot that keeps them into their disease and really feel into what it does to their body and spirit. Then I asked them to use deep breaths and exhales to move that shit right out as it is ready to go. I shared that my intention was to create a safe space for them in recovery to begin to feel and be in their bodies. In order for energy (prana) to move, it needs to feel safe. This is THE priority. The energy shifted so dramatically, it blew me away.

Forrest Yoga with Karuna O'Donnell

FORREST YOGA
with Karuna O’Donnell , EdM, RYT
at Akasha Studio in JP                

Where:  Akasha Studio, 14 Meehan St. Floor 2, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130 (near Doyle’s)
Times:  Sundays- 11am- 12:30pm & Tuesdays 6pm- 7:30pm   $13 drop in

Forrest Yoga honors and celebrates the beauty of life and the power of Spirit. It is an inspiring yoga practice that builds flexibility, intelligence and strength while helping deepen the relationship with your authentic self. Accessing your intuition - the voice of your Spirit - builds personal strength and ushers integrity into your daily interactions with all beings. Forrest Yoga challenges you to heal, grow and welcome your Spirit home.

Karuna holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Harvard University and is in her second year of mentorship with Forrest Yoga Guardian, Heidi Sormaz, PhD. Teaching Forrest Yoga to people in recovery and healing is her deepest passion and greatest honor.
Contact- karunaodonnell@gmail.com  info@akashastudiojp.com or call339.532.7500

I’ve been practicing Forrest Yoga with Karuna for close to a year now and I can honestly say it has done wonders for me. I started practicing while going through an especially tumultuous and stressful time in my life. Karuna takes her experience of nearly two decades along with her training in trauma sensitive yoga and carefully adjusts the practice to the needs of the student. Her classes are conducted professionally and at a steady pace. She puts a lot of planning and preparation into her classes and is careful not to go beyond the ability of the students. I cannot recommend this class highly enough and don’t know where I’d be right now without it.”  -Joshua L.

“Karuna is a wonderful yoga teacher. She is very attentive, present, and giving. I am always amazed at how restored I feel after 75 minutes in her presence. I was completely new to Forrest yoga when I took my first class with Karuna, and I am hooked. Karuna is extremely sensitive to injuries, pregnancies, tightness, etc, and always asks about issues and tailors class for each person, regardless of if it is your first yoga class or your 5000th. It's sweaty, challenging, shaky, and possible. It's the best mind-body experience out there, so far as I'm concerned. I love Forrest yoga, but I love Karuna yoga most of all.”                                                                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                                         -Anna H.




Thursday, March 24, 2011

those who have passed

I am keenly aware of the loss of a yoga teacher who made a major contribution to my life through his sweet and open way of being. I wish I could have given him something to have helped him not check out of his life. I really do. Gabriel took his life two years ago this spring. Thank you deeply and dearly for your help.

Monday, March 21, 2011

breath

today, the focus of the intensive is enlivening a spot. I was lazy but worked as hard as I could. Often the results hit me after that practice. my breath was so available to me as a resource today. I often move through life overwhelmed with many things to attend to. today my breath was deep and strong, carrying me from my first to second job. I was teaching a class to teenagers. One of the other results of my practice was that I felt my fear more acutely but also more fluildly. I went to the place where I teach and I had a sense of how did I get here, what could I possibly have to offer? how an I going to get them to do this? the breath was right there to back up my brain, heart and words.

I also had a guest stay over who is another Forrest yoga teacher who I did my training with. She is so great. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by smart, connected, wonderful people.

ok to bed. 4:30 will be here quick like.

Friday, March 18, 2011

second half

today began the first day of the second half of the intensives. I had been with one of my previous teachers from India last night and was full of awe at my spiritual/ healing path and all of the unexpected turns. I was so moved to be in the presence of Rama Mata and yet it was so clear that Ana is the right now teacher for me. I got and returned a smile and hello with her this am in the hall of BByoga. It is a very different paradigm than the guru paradigm. She is a human being walking a healing path and happens to be ahead of me. The guru paradigm was such a mind twister for so long that I'm barely able to begin to unwind it....they are saints and enlightened and everything they say is for the good of all....not my thing anymore...thank GOD. I do believe in spiritually evolved humans. I also prefer to be around those who are not in shadow and lies around power, sexuality and money.

being a martyr, also not my thing. I was so profoundly moved in my deepest core this am when Ana spoke a teaching story only about two weeks old. The essence of the story was this; it is ok to value your life more than someone else's. To feel the preciousness of your vision and self and be willing to protect that. Through catholicism and yoga (sorry to say) I have cultivated and had to unwind a perversion of healthy self esteem that is contorted into becoming what Ana calls a "sacrificial whore":) making everyone else more important than myself. Having taken the name Karuna about 16 years ago, being so moved by the teachings on compassion, I wonder where I will end up when I continue to evolve on this path of integration. what does compassion look like when one is also deeply caring, even willing to fight for one's self.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Forrest yoga intensives 2011

after 8 morning intensives in a row, while doing my vibrantly full life, I rested this morning. I am awestruck at the "God damn genius" as I told someone in an interview today, that is Ana Forrest and her paradigm of yoga. It has helped me to become more courageous and prepared to speak my truth, like, for real...than ever before. Some of the themes we dealt with were; opening the heart, the ecstatic spectrum, emotional healing, feeding your needy spots!!, working with deeply held beliefs that healing is for everyone else but me, practicing pain free and pain freeing. I have the urge to shout out when I listen to her speak and pray in the morning intensives about being truly embodied and connecting to spirit with our humanity. I will be there in the am. Thank you Ana.