The Slap

The Slap by K Richardson

Sitting in yoga class yesterday I heard something profound.  It was simple, straightforward and it stuck.

Butch, our 70-something year old very hip yoga instructor and cancer survivor, was talking about life and how we tend to drudge through, dragging ourselves around without much thought and just putting one foot in front of the other day after day.  It’s a miserable way to go through life and yet we all seem to do it at times. Some blame their circumstances (Life dealt me a bad hand) while others blame those around them (It’s not my fault I’m so unhappy) and some people just accept the misery (It is what it is).  We carry on like soldiers walking into battle, worn and tired, holding tightly to our emotions stuffed into the invisible backpacks we hoist onto our shoulders every morning when we rise from our beds. We remind ourselves how many more days until the weekend or our next vacation or some random time in the future where we think we will find contentment, peace or happiness.  We go through life, through the days, and through the moments.  And then sadly, one day,  we die.

I am guilty of handing the wheel over to Auto-Kelly.  She gets up every morning, does her hair and puts her make-up on, takes her daughter to school, goes to work, stops at the grocery store, comes home to cook dinner, reads her emails, pays bills, blah blah blah.  On a good day I hit the gym or take a yoga class or walk my dog. It’s too easy and it allows me to just get through the day, coasting with my head down and eyes half closed.  I am guilty of being a passenger in my own life.

What Butch said struck home: what if we didn’t just go THROUGH life but we actually went TO something?  What if we looked at our purpose, our passion and our potential and we changed our thought process, followed our heart or set a goal for ourselves?  What would happen if we turned off auto-pilot and started driving our own bus in the direction we wanted to go? What if we decided what we wanted and we set out to achieve it, regardless of how old or weathered we think we are?

Butch woke me up. In the class he even said “Hellllo McFly”. No joke.

All day I asked myself: What do I want to go TO? Where am I headed? The question bothered me because I didn’t know the answer.  Wait, aren’t I supposed to have an answer for everything– I am a therapist.  We help people find their answers, their truths and their direction.  And yet, I blanked on what it is I want to go towards in my life that would wake me up and set me straight.

I woke up in the middle of the night and it hit me. Another “Hellllo McFly” moment.  The Slap.

I didn’t have a big epiphany of a career change or taking my family on a year long trek across different continents exploring the world or selling all my belongings and moving into one of those tiny houses you see on TV that people say will allow them the freedom to explore or live life the way they want. (Side note: Tiny houses scare me and personally, I like my space and need a big spacious bathroom in order to have peace and happiness.)  It wasn’t a profound goal or unanswered prayer that changed the direction of my life or made me do some drastic u-turn from where I was headed – instead it was simple. It put me back in the drivers seat, straightened the wheel and reminded me to shed the backpack. I realized I wanted to go TO a place of gratitude, appreciation for where I AM and enjoyment in the day to day things I get to do.

Gratitude is a very cliche thing these days.  I blame Oprah. Everyone talks about it like it’s some holy sacred temple you get to visit.  People speak it, live it for a brief time and then go back on auto-pilot. In all honesty,  it’s an overused and underappreciated word.  It is so much more than just an attitude, it is a complete change in thought process . It requires you to stop, slow down and find the good. Some days, this is hard, especially when you question your meaning and value to this world. But it is possible to go to a place of gratitude,  even on dark days when nothing seems to be going right. Finding gratitude means showing up and being accountable to see what you have instead of what you want. It means finding value in those around you instead of seeking new people to fill old wounds.  It means hitting the reset button and taking the blinders off. It means to stop comparing ourselves, our lives and our flaws to others.  It means less under the microscope and more wide lens.

I am grateful I’m lucky to do a job I love and going to work is not a chore, but a privilege.  I have an imperfect family but they are mine to love and they love me unconditionally, mask off.  My kids drive me crazy, stress me out and cause me question my parenting skills but I am grateful they also have good moral compasses, love their grandparents and hug me nightly before they go to bed.  I am reminded that my husband, who puts his dishes in the sink instead of the dishwasher or doesn’t pick up his clothes off the bedroom floor, is also the man who tells me I am beautiful when I feel fat and ugly, writes me poems every Christmas and encourages me to have wine night with the girls because he knows how much I need and treasure women friendships.  I am genuinely grateful for him because I know he is genuinely grateful for me. We aren’t perfect but we make it work and for that, I am grateful.  I don’t have a vacation house but I have a cozy home that my kids like to be at and while I don’t travel as much as I would like, I have saved for my kids college and my credit score is pretty darn good.  I realized that while I could be skinnier, have less wrinkles or a flatter tummy, I am grateful I am healthy and my body does a pretty amazing job every day carrying me around. I realized that gratitude isn’t a place I am going to but rather a place I am already at.

I don’t want to just go through the days and forget the moments because I had my head down and my backpack on.  I want to open my eyes, trust my skills, throw the backpack out the window and take the wheel. There is always something to be grateful for.  There is always something to appreciate about my life.  It is not happy people who are grateful. It is grateful people who are happy.

 

Leap is with Yoga Support.

 Leap Proud to Partner with Yoga Support.

 

You will sometimes see that some of our events are specifically tailored to Yoga Support.  We have one coming up on October 29th with Hanna at 12.30 to 2.00pm.  We also have teachers donate class proceeds to this fine cause.

In this regard we thought it appropriate to post a little from their website explaining the very fine work they do to help brain injury patients recover through the use of Yoga.

They help brain surgery patients get their lives back through tailored yoga curriculums designed specifically for them, providing the connection of specially educated teachers and teachings at an affordable cost.

The goal is to have a community of brain surgery patients which are back to work full time, anxiety, depression, and PTSD free, not dependent on disability or pharmaceutical drugs.

They have a specialized team that help patients across the United States who have had brain surgery to rehab and get their lives back through the use of restorative yoga, meditation, breath work and vinyasa yoga.

Hospitals and physical therapists across the US refer patients to their program after surgery and they connect each patient with a partner teacher at a local studio or online through Skype.  This is where Leap Yoga comes in. Each patient receives three partially subsidized sessions weekly for three months, working through a specialized yoga curriculum designed to reduce stress, anxiety and PTSD, relearn balance, gain stamina and take a new path to their new lives.

This is such a fine cause, led by wonderful, caring people.  We are happy and eager to help and encourage you to attend Hanna’s class on the 29th of October at 12.30pm.

Should you wish to find out more about Yoga support, visit their website: www.yogasupport.org

Senate Awards Leap as Best Yoga Studio

We are delighted to continue our quest to become the true bastion of Yoga, Love and Family within our community. It is always a pleasure, if somewhat humbling, to receive recognition for our endeavors, and from the California Senate no less. Thank you to all our students, members, teachers, staff and friends. We could never have done it without you. Namaste.

Papa Yoga

So here’s my “yoga story”.

In my mid 20’s I found myself living on a futon in San Francisco.  It was one of the darkest points in my life.  I was drudging through the aftermath of a horrendous heartbreak, which seemed to mercilessly insist that I also wrestle with all other unexplored struggles I had experienced up until that point.

I searched for anything to bring me clarity, understanding… but mostly I was on the hunt for HOPE.  Hope that life would get better.

I read books, listened to lectures, talked with others (when I wasn’t isolating) and penned my way thorough countess journals.

Eventually I found yoga in a cold, crowded and smelly gym in the Mission District.  The vibe was more “standard group exercise class” than “yoga boutique” which made it hard to differentiate the yoga from other physical endeavors I’d experienced previously.

Yet, I was immediately clear that there was something to this yoga thing.  It was unique.  Different.  Good.  It seemed to crack a door open.  I couldn’t explain how, but it made me feel like it might just lead me somewhere that I was curious enough to follow.

I began to practice.  I went back to the gym, but classes were limited there.  Then I explored a few sleepy studios.  I mostly practiced via VHS tapes provided by Yoga Journal.  For years I’d plop down on my carpeted floor to repeat the same recorded practice with Rodney Yee and Patricia Walden.

I wasn’t used to giving myself time to slow down in this way.  Many days it felt pointless but the desire to connect to this newfound hope kept encouraging me to show up on my mat.  The breathing was doing something.  It seemed so intuitive and natural and yet so foreign at the same time.  This was pretty much my life for the next 4 years.

Each time I practiced I found myself feeling a wee bit better.  Life began to appear in color again.

In and around this time of my life I met my husband who graciously mended my broken heart and was game to help me with the rest of my unraveled-ness.  In love, I moved to Arizona (to be with him) where there was NO yoga at the time and so I continued with the tapes.  We soon moved to Encinitas, California.  Greg was active in the United States Marine Corps at the time and was sent to deploy to Okinawa, Japan, for 8 months.

I was alone, in a beautiful area with endless unstructured time.  I had quit my job at Intel to move to him so I wasn’t working.  It was time to figure some MORE stuff out.  Daily I began at Swami’s beach and walked our yellow lab Mike along the shore.  We’d be out for hours and hours.  I’d end my day with a Bikram yoga class.

A previous San Francisco roommate had mentioned Bikram to me before.  I saw a studio in Lucadia.  I gave it a try.  This type of yoga felt so healing to me.  The room was humid and heated to over 108 degrees.  I loved the sweat.  I was releasing everything that no longer served me.  For almost 250 days in a row, I got on my mat.  I savored the people around me.  I hadn’t yet recognized them as “my people” but I got something different while practicing with the salty surfers fresh off the beach.  We all seemed to have something in common.  We didn’t speak about it, it just was.

Greg returned from Japan and we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas.  I bought space heaters and would attempt to heat our spare bedroom, desperately trying to recreate the studio setting.  I purchased a cassette tape that had audio for the 26 poses of the Bikram series.  I looked into being trained in this method but things didn’t line up.  I could then recognize that I missed the community of the practice.

I met a friend in Texas who also liked yoga.  This was a rare find in the early 2000’s, especially in Corpus Christi.  She exposed me to Ashtanga yoga and to a man named David Swenson.  She also mentioned a woman named Gurmukh who did Kundalini Yoga.  I bought one of her books but she seemed less relatable to me at the time.  Soon after these introductions I found myself in Ashville, North Carolina being trained at a small studio by David Swenson.  I trained in ashtanga (that’s hard yoga!) and in pre-natal yoga at that point too because I was sure kids would be in my future, and well, why not?

I immediately began teaching yoga at local gyms.  For the next many years I taught between 10-14 classes a week.  Most of the classes I’d have to actually DO the yoga.  One, because that’s how you taught back then (at least in Corpus Christi) and two, no one knew what to do, so demonstration was necessary.  I learned a lot with every single class.  Eventually I opened my own small studio. I knew I needed to share it even more.  I was also burning out.

In my early 30’s and two kids later we moved back to Northern California.  There wasn’t yet a major yoga studio in the area.  I practiced again at home with those same old VHS tapes and then studios began popping up.  I stopped teaching and practiced hungrily in the Folsom and surrounding community for the next 5 or 6 years, most often daily.  I had one more baby and knew intuitively that it was my time to receive on the mat.

Then eventually, a few years later, I found myself beginning to get the itch to teach again.  I was patient with it.  The local studios introduced more of the flow or Vinyasa yoga.  I liked that too.  So, I went through Level One Vinyasa training with Baron Baptiste in Tulum, Mexico.  A couple years later I was officially ready to teach again and so I went through Level Two in Catskills, New York.

The past 10 years I have attended every, and any yoga related lecture, workshop, class, retreat, festival and training I can possibly get to.  I consider my teachers to be many.

Almost 8 years ago I went back for a masters degree and established a career in Marriage and Family Therapy.  I currently run a private practice and specialize in couples work, and in individual and relational trauma.  I understand how the body stores stuck energy, trauma and negative emotions and cognitions.  I know the value of bringing the nervous system down, regulating hormones and allowing a resourced and calm state in the body so it can begin to heal naturally.  I can totally geek out on this stuff!  I love my job!  And I love yoga.

Then, last fall via a valuable girls trip to Bhakti Fest at Joshua Tree, I was reintroduced to Kundalini Yoga.  I took one Kia Miller Kundalini class and knew I had to do the training.  My body felt more relaxed and reset after that single class than I had experienced in any yoga scenario previously.  It was to me the EMDR or Brainspotting of yoga.  My worlds matched up!

Additionally, I knew enough to know that the technology of Kundalini was addressing the deeper energetic layers of the body, the subtle body, and was utilizing the breath to bring authentic balance and restoration.  I circled back to Gurmukh.  She was offering a teacher training at Golden Bridge Yoga Studio in Santa Monica.  I had a gut instinct that I needed to do the training asap as I didn’t trust how much longer Gurmukh would be available as a teacher.

Over the course of the past 8 months I have been honored to study Kundaini yoga.  I’ve traveled down to LA on a monthly basis for an average of 5 days at a time to participate in training days from 5am to 530pm.  The days begin with a morning Sadhana practice (morning ritual/practice).  These early hours have come to be one of my most revered and looked forward to times of the day.  There is indeed a magical energy in the space before the day starts or the sun rises.  For this reason I am honored and blessed to be able to offer what I have learned in my Kundalini training to all of you at 5.45am on Friday mornings.

Weeks before our final graduation weekend from the 200hr program it was announced that Gurmukh was closing her studio, confirmation that I was exactly where I needed to be at the time.

I have learned the deep healing Kundalini offers emotionally, physically, and energetically.   I am beyond excited to share it with this community and with anyone who is willing to give it a try.  It is very much experiential and must be tried to understand.  I invite you with my deepest sincerity to come give it a whirl!

I look forward to seeing you bright and early (yes, 5:45am) on a Friday soon!

Hannah leads Vinyasa class on Mondays 12-1pm, and Kundalini class Fridays 5:45am at Leap Yoga

Finding Joy Through Meditation

Joy is Truth.

Sat Nam.

Within you is a fountain of joy, within you is an ocean of bliss! 

— Swami Sivananda

When I think of the word Joy I think of deeply genuine smiles, gut barreling belly laughter, music that sends chills up my spine and words that elicit tears of happiness.

I feel joy when my kids tell me they love me out of the blue or reach for my hand for no reason at all.  I feel joy when I catch my husband looking at me with that look I’ve known since we first met or watching my dog chase wild turkeys and rabbits through the weeds and shrubs that engulf her, ears flapping in the wind.  I feel joy just thinking of dark chocolate cake, with coffee, rich and creamy.

However, there is a deeper layer of joy that I am beginning to understand.  I find this joy when I meditate; when I close my eyes and go deep inside my body.  I arrive here mostly during yoga, but sometimes I find joy while journaling.  I find it alone, in nature, or lying on my bed and listening to the rain fall outside my open window.

This type of joy is inward out joy.  It comes from some place so deep inside of me that it arises in a way that shows me it’s always there.  It’s not situational available.  It’s always there, but it does require me to be present, grounded and still.  It finds me. I don’t look for it.  If I open myself to it and see that it was waiting for me I am joyful that I have found it.  There is no looking.  There is no struggle to find it.

This inner experience of joy makes me grateful and fills me with feelings of contentment and gratitude.  In a state of joy I can fully embrace my favorite mantra…”I have all I need for all I need right now.”   Doubt is erased.  I trust. I feel blessed and alive.

I recognize my true self is joyful.  My true self is also kind, loving, patient, accepting, passionate, calm, and super fun to hang out with.  Joy makes me beautiful, not in a vain or superficial way.  It makes me beautiful in the way that my presence alone brings vibrancy.  In the same way you are beautiful too.  It is simply amazing.

We know that meditation stimulates the parts of our brain that expand our loving compassion for ourselves and for others.  We know it helps us to pause before we react and use more conscious choice in our decision-making.  It slows our reaction time in times of struggle.  A consistent meditation practice lowers the flood of cortisol and down regulates our nervous system.  It does much, much more and is full of amazing things!   All of this reassures me that meditation is a good thing, but the most compelling validation is that my day is better when I meditate and my life improves with my practice.

Come join me at my upcoming meditation workshop learn how you too can arrive in sweet meditational bliss.  Please check the website for details on my November workshop.  I hope to see you there!

Hannah

Stacy’s Story

Hi yogis! Hope this week finds you all well. Im excited about this weeks post, as this week we’ll get to know Stacy and her story a little more.

For those of you who have taken Stacy Whittingham’s classes, you know that there is something about this woman that shines so bright it fills the room. She moves with grace and has so much
love and passion for people; she genuinely cares about supporting others in their personal journeys to health and wholeness.

Last year I had the privilege of going through Stacy and Gena’s teacher training and got to know Stacy on a deeper level. With her permission, I’m honored to share with you part of her story!

Living the American dream and working in corporate America, Stacy found herself run down and in a yoga class. After a series of divine interruptions (don’t you love those?!) she was lead to her teacher Rusty Wells, in San Francisco. Soon she completed first teacher training. It was clear at that point that this was her path, and with that, She dove all in and has never looked back.

Stacy’s journey to embracing the yogic lifestyle lead her to Mahendra Briksha  who quickly became one of her teachers. As she studied under Briksha they eventually became friends and collaborated co-creating a yogic catering and conscious eating education venture in San Francisco called Bhakti Kitchen.

During this time Stacy’s sister was diagnosed with cancer. Stacy took this diagnosis as an opportunity to grab hold of her passion and convictions and dive in deeper, learning more about how to heal the body with food. As she supported her sister through this battle she saw the fruits of the yogic diet manifest in her sisters healing. The valley of pain and struggle became a gateway for hope as Stacy’s sister went into remission and has been cancer free for the past five years. Stacy experienced first hand and in a powerful way the potential food has to heal the body, if we allow it.

Stacy lives Yoga. If you know her to any extent, you know this. She believes yoga is not just something we practice on the mat, but that as we step off the mat we are to step into the world and “walk like a yogi.” Every January she herself goes to San Francisco to join a community of between 100-200 yogis who practice an annual detox flow with her teacher Stephanie Snyder .

Stacy has been leading cleanse workshops at Leap for the past four years. She also Leads workshops and has clients in San Francisco as well and around the Sacramento area. Though she works with individual clients, what she loves is walking through the experience of cleansing in community. There is strength and support in that.

When I asked her what she loves the most about watching people go through her detox/cleanse workshops, she had a hard time sharing just one thing. What she did say is that “It changes their lives” and having gone through her teacher training, I can attest to the gift Stacy has to influence and change lives!

It’s a new year Yogis! Its time to breakup with the craving cycle, the unhealthy habits and rise up to a new level of wholeness, to take yoga off our mats and into our kitchens. To really experience the power of yoga, the power of loving ourselves, even with the food we eat. I know I personally have struggle in this area for most of my life. I’ve struggle with body shaming myself, and putting limitations on myself and I know how good and freeing it feels when we let go of what’s no longer serving us emotionally, spiritually, relationally and physically. I know I’m going to make the most of this gift we have in our community found in Stacy and glean from her all she has to offer. I invite you to join me, I hope you will! It’s time my friends to choose the best for our lives.

Stacy is starting off her workshop with a DETOX FLOW on Jan 16th and you do not want to miss this vital part to the process. This is the space where we pair movement and breath to prepare the body to release and receive everything else that’s coming in the 7 DAY CLEANSE. You know how its wise to build a house on a solid foundation, consider this detox flow your foundation for the cleanse workshop. Starting on the 17th, the week to follow we will be educated, equipped, inspired and supported by Stacy (and each other) as she walks us through what she has shared with so many others and little by little, step by step, we will become the healthiest versions of ourselves! Lets do this friends!!

I’m excited! Are you?! Hope to see you there!

namaste!

Tanya

Fresh Start

Hello fellow yogis!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Tanya (like in the summer you get a tan-yeah!) and I have been practicing at Leap (on and off) since 2013.

I was first introduced to yoga through a DVD in 2009 and quickly fell in love with not only how it effected me physically  but how it calmed and centered me emotionally and strengthened me spiritually.

I have had the honor of being on staff at Leap since April of 2015. Being welcomed into the Leap community was divine providence, truly! The opportunity came to me at a point in my life’s journey when I really needed it… and I have been so blessed by the doors that have continued to open for me since!

You may know me from the front desk, and we’ve possibly practiced along side of each.

In September 2015 I had the opportunity to go through Gena Foreman and Stacy Whittingham’s teacher training… and as so many forewarned me, it was truly life transforming!

Side note…

Have you heard that Leap is offering an Assistant Training in February?! Corey Mitchell and Gena Foreman will be teaching. Having taken Corey’s workshops, and gone through Gena’s teacher training I know they will make a dynamic pair to study under, and your own personal practice will grow to places you never imagined!

One of the qualities of Leap that I believe truly sets this studio apart from others (and I’ve practiced at many studios, I was a 30/30 hopper for years!) is the strong sense of family experienced within this community.

I was talking with one of you this past weekend (shout out to Lisa Hendricks!) about the value of community, and that is what so many of us have found at here Leap!

Leap has asked me to jump online and take the sense of community we already have and strengthen and broaden it online, which I am both humbled and excited to have the opportunity to do.

So, stay posted in the weeks and months to come. We will be posting on Facebook and Instagram and you can follow us on twitter more and more to keep you all in the loop with what we have going on in studio (we have some really exciting things lined up for 2016!)

I’d love to highlight teachers and students (yes… that could mean you) and share your stories. To share how your yoga practice has elevated the quality of your lives.
In case you haven’t heard… Stacy will be hosting a Detox flow Jan 16th followed by a 7 Day cleanse Jan 17th-24th to support us all to start the year off strong and healthy, Its like hitting the reset button physically, emotionally and spiritually! Stacy has been working one on one and leading group cleanses for years and we are so fortunate to have her sharing her years of expertise and passion with us at Leap, and at such a deal!

What can you expect from jumping into this online community with us? Special online only promotions, Information to help deepen our practice on and off the mat, Interviews from teachers and fellow Leap yogis, updates from owners, you’ll find out first about workshops and upcoming events… and my hope is that we will all connect and encourage one another to live like yogis!

I invite you to join me as we all continue to learn to live out loud the lives that echo in our hearts;  full, vibrant, healthy lives supported by a strong sense of community!

Here’s to you! Here’s to us, as we continue our journey and grow together!

Namaste,

Tanya

Leap up to Christmas Holiday Sale!

Leap up to Christmas – The Leap Yoga Holiday Sale is now on!

  • Sale Clothing items up to 50% off
  • 30% off mats and mat towels with the purchase of any Unlimited Membership until January 15th!
  • Year paid in full Membership on sale for an incredible $999
  • 6 month paid in full Membership for only $599
  • 20% off all boutique retail items until Christmas Day

Check out our Holiday boutique and memberships for the beginner yogi as well as seasoned practitioners too!

“A gentleman has his eyes on all those present; he is tender toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the absent.”

George Bernard Shaw