A NEW Story for a NEW Year \ \ \ \ \

/// START A NEW STORY


As we live through each season we move forward through cycles, change and choice. Within us and all around us.  On the solstice we move from the time of Ether to Earth.  Each of the seasons is symbolized by one of the 5 elements: Winter = Earth, Spring = Water, Summer = Fire and Fall = Air.  The element of Ether is symbolized by the time between Halloween and the Solstice.  The element of ether is symbolic of our intuition, our ability to close our eyes and sit still.  It is a place of creativity before boundaries, judgment, insecurity and this freedom is what ignites the creative spark at our core. It's where the story begins. It gives us a light in the dark, our word for the year, an idea about how we would like to tell our story for a new year.  

But in order for our word, dream, desire to manifest it has to become physical, like a seed.  It has to take shape, to have a place to root into and grow.  The element of earth is symbolic of the body.  As we move from ether to earth we start to manifest our idea physically.  We begin to make choices about the way we breathe, move and rest to build a body that reflects where we are now and what direction we want to go.  Our bodies literally take the shape of our hearts and minds, each pose a reflection of our awareness as we weave and unwind our narrative of experience.

 Next week we move from Ether to Earth.  We will move from one season to the next and into a new year.  We will step into a new cycle of change and choice and create the story of a new season in our lives with us as we go.


w LAUREL VAN MATRE

Monday 12.21

6:30 - 8:00 PM - All Levels Vinyasa

Stay for a toast to a New Season after class!!!!

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) ) )) 1 Minute MEDITATION (( ( (

Lord knows we could all use a little down time during the holiday season.

Enjoy the first of many podcasts and recorded meditations and classes to come in 2016!

p.s. - you can also go to the YG website and download the MP3.

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www.yogagardenmpls.com

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> > > Our Body's Potential To Wholeness < < <

Realize Your Body's Deep Potential to Wholeness Yoga Garden is a space—physical and spiritual—very dear to my heart, where I have realized the deep potential of my body’s relationship to grace, empowerment, community, and wholeness, and my capacity to continually evolve in my practice, through the brilliant guidance of Laurel Van Matre. In more ways than one, Laurel has facilitated healing in my life, and has instilled in me a deep understanding of yoga’s expansive potential to create openings, in the body and in the world, for healing. I was especially impacted by Laurel’s gift after experiencing a fully ruptured disc in my cervical spine, which doctors insisted required nothing less than surgery and spinal fusion. Laurel’s research into this condition, and her personal attention both in class and private sessions, supported my eventual full recovery with literally no medical intervention. In addition to fostering all levels of asana practice, Laurel also cultivates arts and culture events among her students and in the community—I, along with many other artists, have been warmly hosted in performance and sharing, and her classes always incorporate metaphoric resonance and myriad portals for not just somatic, but imaginative and intellectual comprehension as well. She is a goddess! And Yoga Garden Minneapolis is truly a special, welcoming, peace-affirming refuge.  —Sarah Fox /// / / / / / / // //\ \ \ \ \\\ \\ \\\\\ \ \ \\ \ \ \ \ \ \  + + + +++++ + + + + + +++ + +++ # # ## ## # ##### # # A lucky lady am I to be surrounded by such a great community of students and teachers.  We have an amazing group of yogis, artists and entrepreneurs @ YG I am forever proud to be a part of.  I love and appreciate each one of your voices and the energy you bring to the studio.  Thank you to Sarah Fox for the beautiful words and insight on her experience there.  For any of you looking to deepen your body's potential check out the info below.  A TTing is for all teachers and students and anyone looking for more.  Love to all.  LVM Understanding Alignment Through Action EXPLORING DEEPER INTO STUDY, PRACTICE AND TEACHING YOGA FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS Winter/Spring 2016 /// February 18th – May 19th Weekly schedule will be: Thursdays 5:00 – 10:00 pm Saturdays 11:00 – 5:00 pm Sundays 12:00 – 4:00 pm REGISTER HERE There will be a break March 17th – 20th.  No class Easter Sunday. For questions please call Laurel @ 763-458-2190 or email laurel@yogagardenmpls.com Training taught by Laurel Van Matre $2,650 by January 13th /// $2,850 after January 14th, 2016 Credit Cards Accepted + Show Up Every Day + www.yogagardenmpls.com \ \ \\ \ \ \\\//// / / / / / /

* * * You're a STAR -- and so am I * * *

I am a competitive person I will admit.  I LOVE to compete and I hate to lose.  But I am most competitive with myself.  And for the sake of growth and to learn not just because I hate losing.  The part about losing isn't the loss in not winning the game it's the loss in not moving ahead.  It's about feeling like I didn't grow.  So competition to me equals growth.  And in order to grow we need each other.  

I will never be more competitive with you than I am with myself because you're a star.  I want to compete with you because I think we're all amazing and we all have our own weird way of seeing and experiencing the world that needs to be shared.  

Level playing field were we all get to compete and work together is so much better than dividing us up into winners and losers.  The competition is the game.

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You're a star -- and so am I. I'm a genius -- and so are you. Your success encourages my brilliance, and my charisma enhances your power. Your victory doesn't require my defeat, and vice versa. 

Those are the rules in the New World -- quite unlike the rules in the Old World, where zero-sum games are the norm, and only one of us can win each time we play. 

In the New World, you don't have to play down or apologize for your prowess, because you love it when other people shine. You exult in your own excellence without regarding it as a sign of inherent superiority. As you ripen more and more of your latent aptitude, you inspire the rest of us to claim our own idiosyncratic magnificence . . . .

Rob Brezsny  /// Free Will Astrology

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:::: : : : NEW BEGINNINGS : : : ::::

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"There are years that ask questions and years that answer"
- Zora Neale Hurston

The winter solstice is out there and not that far away.  Only 5 weeks from now our sunlight will already start to get longer each day. As we come up to the last month of the year we start to think about what it is we want for the future.  What direction do we want to be headed as we cross over that line from this year to next?

Yoga philosophy has it's own stories to tell through the wonderful world of Hindu Gods and Goddesses.  In these stories we learn to see and develop a better understanding of ourselves and the world through metaphor.  The story of GANESH, who is referred to as “the remover of obstacles”, “the lord of new beginnings” and “the lord of the threshold” is perfect for this time of year. He is symbolic of crossing the threshold of where we are now into a new experience.  Ganesh represents having the courage, will, and strength to move from what is familiar to us into ambiguous spaces in order to learn and grow and create the lives we want.

So, we head into the dark, toward a new year and prepare ourselves for something new.  We make an alter (literally or metaphorically), or in the yoga world it's called a "puja," and place in front of us what we want to become.  We layer ourselves with experience as we make our way through a new year.  We start again, and again and again.  The sum total of those experiences is what makes the shape of our lives.  It's way we tell our stories for a new year and every year.  What is the story you want to tell for 2016?  

+ GIVE THANKS +

HELLO LOVELY YOGIS 

LET’S GIVE THANKS

It's time for our yearly Thanksgiving yoga practice…just like our forefathers did.
Before we eat and drink and celebrate our lives with our friends and loved ones let’s weave and unwind together.

Thanksgiving Morning 10:00 – 11:30

All Levels Welcome.

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 LVM'S CURRENT SCHED:
SUNDAYS:

430-600 pm Back to Basics
MONDAYS:
630-800 pm Advanced Level Vinyasa
THURSDAYS:
 630-800 pm Mixed Level Vinyasa

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+ YOUR YEAR in a WORD +

+YOUR YEAR in a WORD+

whole
heal
own
build

All words I'm thinking about as we move toward a new year.  

Several years ago now I decided as the days got shorter and the nights got longer and colder I wasn't going to let myself slide and get lazy through the winter.  I wanted to make sure that when spring arrived I had done my work in the dark, defined boundaries and built strength around goals.

So I decided I would pick a word that would signify the work I needed and WANTED to do.  I kept it simple, just one word, knowing what direction I wanted to head off into with my word out in front of me like a flag.  I knew where I wanted to go but didn't know how I was going to get there or what it would look like along the way.  So it became an adventure.  Not so daunting or scary.  I would remember my word when I got lost and let it help me build those boundaries and keep me on track.  It would unfold from a word to a phrase, to a sentence, to a paragraph, to a story over the course of a year.  By fall I will have done my work and have something to show for it.  Something that is part of my greater foundation to build upon.  And it's super fun to see what happens to a idea when you nurture it and let it grow, like a seed.  Not so far off the bean seed I took home in 3rd grade in a styrofoam cup (it was the 70's) packed with soil to watch it grow...

We start on Halloween every year.  Halloween marks the cross-quarter holiday between the equinox and the winter solstice, when we go from the light half of the year into the dark.  And we just start to meditate on what we want.  Where do we want to be this time next year?  We pick our word and move it forward on the winter solstice as we cross into a new year.  So, you've got some time to think about what you want and set the foundation.  I hope to see you on Thursday - LVM

+Your Year in a Word +

Thursday 10/29

6:30 - 8:00 pm

w Laurel Van Matre

<3 All Levels Welcome <3

www.yogagardenmpls.com

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Summer PLAYList * * * * * *

Hello yogis and music lovers.  Here's the latest playlist for those of you who have been asking and anyone who's looking for a new yoga or summer soundtrack.  I know I'm a little late to the game but I just fell in LOVE w Nick Cave.  God he's music is so good.  I get asked a lot about the music I play in class so I will try to be better about posting.  You can look back in my blog and get previous playlists too :)  Have a lovely summer day.  Love to All.  LVM

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SUMMER IS HERE! + + +

Which makes it the perfect time for YOGA.  The studio is bright and sunny and waiting for you and your friends > > > - Sunday -   Abbreviated Ashtanga w Calley Bliss > 10:30 - NOON  Back to Basics w Laurel Van Matre > 4:30 - 6:00 pm (Pete Cairns will be subbing through August) - Monday -  Mixed Level Vinyasa w Calley Bliss > 5:15 - 6:15 pm Advanced Vinyasa w Laurel Van Matre > 6:30 - 8:00 pm - Tuesday -  Candlelight Vinyasa w Tessa Kasinkas > 7:30 - 8:30 pm - Wednesday -  Mixed Level Vinyasa w Erin Amundson > 6:30 - 7:45 pm - Thursday -  All Levels Vinyasa w Laurel Van Matre > 6:30 - 8:00 pm - Saturday -  Mixed Levels Asana w Stephanie Loes > 8:00 - 9:00 am Slow Flow w Stephanie Loes > 9:30 - 10:45 am + Show Up Everyday + For Bios, Cost, Class Descriptions, Pics, Video and all the goodies: www.yogagardenmpls.com \ \ \\ \ \ \\\//// / / / / / /

I carry your heart

“I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)I am never without it (anywhere

I go you go,my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet)I want no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows

higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)” 

― e e cummings

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3