Vata Season Survival Guide

Please enjoy these slides, featured on our social media, that offer suggestions for support during the Fall season.

An Empathy Meditation

Empathy is the ability to understand someone’s experience from their perspective. Not you standing in someone else’s shoes, but as though you could be inside of them, standing in their shoes. It does not involve feeling someone’s feelings for them, but cultivating an awareness of how life’s experiences look from another person’s perspective.

Take a moment to bring a beloved person into your awareness. Now remember back to a time you shared an experience together. Separating from the experience for a moment, consider some things that are different between the two of you. For example, your upbringing, your height, the type of work that you do. From a sense of your differences, review the experience from their perspective. What do you notice?

Move the Energy: Techniques for Releasing Emotion from the Body

Ways to dispel energy that is feeding unhelpful or unkind thoughts:

Move. Move move move move move. Strong feelings are energy. Transmute that energy into physical action. Take a hike, turn on music and dance, scrub your shower, shake and wiggle your entire body. The more vigorous the better, the more absorbing the better (you can actually intensify the energy by ruminating while you move, so do something that captures your attention). Go for many minutes—for me, it’s at least 20. Until you’re warm or even sweating.

Write. Grab a pen or pencil and some paper (better than typing!) and pour it all out. Forget about structure and mechanics. It doesn’t even all have to be words. Extinction writing just keeps going and going and going until you are empty, until you’ve said everything that there is to say. Let your arm cramp, let it be illegible, but get it out.

Chant or sing. Out loud or silently in your head, though out loud is a better dispeller of energy. It doesn’t matter what—you could shout the alphabet repeatedly and it would do the trick. Go for many minutes, until the mind is quiet.

Balance. Have a negative thought? Purposely think two positive ones. Find yourself ruminating on a person? Send them blessings. You don’t even need to believe the positive thoughts or feel the blessing that you’re sending, but you do need to be disciplined about it. Every time you catch yourself in a negative spiral, find your way home with positivity and gratitude.

Forgive and be patient with yourself for being caught in the whirlpool. As you more deeply self accept and self forgive, it will flow to others naturally. Falling into a dark place is nothing to be ashamed of, it’s human nature. Kriyananda called this the greatest Yoga pose: picking yourself up, brushing yourself off, and beginning again.

This list is related to a newsletter article that I published on 5 November 2024. It appears below.

Lately, I am thinking about throat (Visuddha) chakra things: thinking, speaking, listening. Particularly noting that you are your own best audience—the only person who’s heard everything you have ever said is you. And your subconscious mind has soaked it all up, constructing your reality from it.

Also note that the mind directs your energy. Energy follows your thoughts. So if you’re thinking and thinking about a particular person or a particular issue or a particular contest, your most precious resource is flowing there. Exponentially more so when you speak about that person or issue or contest. Consider, is that a person or issue or contest deserving of your energy? Do you want to feed him or her or it from your body?

Consider this process that happens all day every day, even when there’s not an election happening: a thought arises. The body responds to the thought by creating a physical sensation, a feeling. Because physical sensations are the most important and immediate sensory information perceived by the nervous system, that feeling is immediately recognized by the mind, at which moment it turns into an emotion.

And then we’re off to the races.

“That makes me so mad.” “That person is such a _________.” “I don’t understand how anybody could _________.” “Don’t they understand that _____________.”

The energy of the feeling is powerful. It gives birth to a cascade of thoughts, which then spark more physical sensations, which then feed even more thoughts and all of a sudden, we’re an emotional mess.

We then use these strong emotions to justify all sorts of ugly thoughts, words, and deeds of our own, directing our precious energy to feed a conflict that I’m convinced isn’t do any of us any good.

Never mind that, while we’re engaged with conflicting, the world goes on. We step right out of the divine flow of love and abundance and into turbulent whirlpool waters that trap our raft and keep it spinning.

And often, we like it. There can be an addiction to emotion just the same as to our screens or food or booze. Humans often get trapped in the waves of passion—be it passionate love or passionate disgust—and from that emotional place, construct meaning and identity.

“I belong to this party (or none).” “I believe ___________, not that.” “Those people are wrong and need to be stopped!”

We confuse strong emotions with truth, and then act from that place.

But what if that intense sensation—I used to call it “the bees buzzing up in you” when my kids were little—is just that? An energy? A sensation? Transitory like all other sensory input.

Logic tells us that there are people on the other side of the aisle who are having the exact same experience of those sensations arising and constructing meaning and identity completely opposite of ours. So who’s correct?

It doesn’t matter.

It’s a distraction.

And you’re drinking poison.

It’s not that you shouldn’t feel strong feelings. You sure should. When somebody deeply offends your values, that’s what happens.

It’s not that you shouldn’t feel energized. Of course you’re activated. Strong feelings are BIG energy in the body, and it needs to be expressed.

And I beg you. Step back. Discern: what is the nature of the energy coursing through me right now? Creating thoughts and speech and action? Is it the energy that I want to be made of?

The energy of conflict? Hatred? Anger? Judgement? Pain?

Is that what I want to fuel my actions, my thoughts?

Now, I will give you that extricating yourself from the trance of the conflict it no small task. Even when the conflict is over, its energy and the thoughts stemming from it will reside in the body for some time. The greater the emotion, the longer the time.

Because we do want to let go of it, move on from it, it is wise to take action to dispel this energy. I’ve spent the past many months dispelling the energy of a tremendous personal trauma, and wish to share with you some strategies that I find helpful.

To Kim

26 October 2024

Kim,

I am rather spectacularly failing to heed your desire that I not mourn your passing. Though I greet this moment grateful for the manner of your transition, were you embodied, you would find me sitting here flowing many tears. And you are worth every one to me, and then some.

I wish to convey my profound gratitude for you. That I am privileged to have spent a decade as your student. That my practice and my life have been blessed by your tremendous wisdom, wit, and patience. That you prepared me to teach in the way that you did—and continued to, until the end. I am speechless at your boundless generosity, even more so that I have received so much of it.

There are a handful of moments in my life that reside in my mind acutely, as though they aren’t memories. Two, in particular, connect me to the Kriya lineage. The first, the first time I head Michael Bonamer give a dharma talk, which was around 2004. The second, a lunchtime during my first teacher training retreat, in November of 2014.

You were eating at a table with a group of us, answering questions. And you started talking about the locations of the chakras along the spine.

At both of these moments, I experienced the same thing: heart stopped beating in my chest, the mind intensely and utterly focused, and I was flooded with knowing that this is where I ought be.

I had been seeking that particular teaching on chakras for some years before that lunchtime, without quite realizing that’s for what I had been searching. I was that day—and continue to be—dedicated to the wisdom of your Teaching.

It’s a substantial frustration of mine that my life circumstances didn’t allow me to practice with you as often or as much as I wanted. Though, truthfully, I’m not sure in any circumstance could I have practiced with you enough to sate my desire. I am certainly guilty of parigraha when it comes to your Teaching and your time! Though I suspect that it was to my benefit that periods of studying with you were interspersed with time to practice and integrate what I had learned before I saw you again.

Because it takes time to make such big shifts in the body, the psychology, and the understanding of the world as I have. Because of this practice. Because of what I learned from you.

Michael once admonished us to “read the signs” that the bodies give us. You taught me how. To read my own body and respond to it, to read others’ so I may respond to them. You helped open me to a pathway of knowing that far exceeds my ever busy, too-analytical mind. To a life where asana is a whole separate language that I speak—one in which I dream, visions of which arise when I need direction.

To a life where I can read not only the signs of my body but of the world and surrender to its direction—instead of bulldozering my way through it the way I always had.

So many once-abstract concepts have become not only concrete, but allies under your tutelage. For example, as I have painstakingly educated my hips to do their work, organizing my root chakra and separating it from the sacral, I’ve developed a sense of self—and with it, strength and courage—a 10 year younger version of myself could not have imagined.

As a result of not one, but two rounds of your Pranayama workshop (I am a slow learner), I came to recognize my entrenched reverse breathing pattern and correct it. And to that single act, all other interventions for grounding and healing pale in comparison.

Some of my purest moments of joy happened on my mat with your instruction. Especially when you’ve cracked a joke and I’m falling out of a pose laughing. Doubly so when you’ve made me the example and are both working me to my edge and cracking me up in front of a room full of people at the same time! How blessed am I that so many of those delicious memories reside with me on my mat?

Kim, I cherish your tremendous gentleness and approachability. I never felt judged by or inadequate around you, which is not something I can say of all of my Teachers. Memory after memory of connected moments, awkward moments, peaceful moments, illuminating moments have flooded my mind these few days since I learned of your passing. Enjoying them, I marvel at your quiet generosity. The tremendous grace with which you met my struggles both on and off the mat. The way you could be so firm and so kind simultaneously.

Somewhere in the middle of my teacher training, I experienced something for the first time. We were at the end of a long day of practice. Setu Bandhasana was the pose. As I followed your cues, some thing erupted through my body, and suddenly I was crying uncontrollably. In those days, I cried barely at all, even when I wanted to (something that has dramatically changed in this past decade). I felt mortified and confused, and did the best I could to keep it under control through Savasana and into my room, where I sobbed for no apparent reason for a long time.

After I collected myself, I knocked on your door and asked what the heck had just happened to me. You said something that I have quoted to many of my students in the years since: it was an energy and it moved. And it maybe didn’t need any more understanding than that. That, by the mind trying to understand and identify it, the mind may inhibit its full exit from the body.

Last October, the last time I saw (and practiced with) you in person, I lingered a little after my friends had left your home. You turned to me with passion in your voice and said, “the karma is in the muscles,” by way of discouraging me from a soft tissue focused practice. Organize the bones so the muscles can release those old energies.

Alignment is enlightenment.

The second time I came to Albuquerque to study with Ramanand*, you shared a meal with me and some fellow teachers with whom I had traveled. Ramanand had just announced that he would not return to High Desert, as he was retiring as a traveling teacher. At dinner, Darren expressed something that I have felt many times: how terrifying it is when our Senior Teachers retire or leave the Earth.

You looked at us seriously and with no pity, and told us to get ready, because the time is already upon us. Ours is the time to rise to that occasion.

And here we are.

Kim, I am just one of many who have been touched by you and your Teaching. I delight in being part of the ripple effect of the good you’ve done on this Earth, and take such solace and joy in what harmonious karma will follow you as a result. May your soul drink deeply of the nourishment of your guides and know unyielding peace and rest in your return home.

In undying love, immense gratitude, and some heartbreak,

Tiffany

Kim Schwartz is Tiffany’s Teacher Trainer. He conducted teacher trainings for both the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago and High Desert Yoga in Albuquerque. He died Monday, October 21, 2024 of lung cancer.

*Ramanand Patel, who founded the Iyengar Institute of San Franscisco, was one of Kim’s senior teachers. I also mention Darren Christensen, CIYT.

Welcome to Vata Season!

The transition from Summer to Fall is a sensitive time for many human bodyminds. The summer’s heat and activation stay in our bodies much the same way our brick homes and studio retain heat from baking in the summer sun. As days grow shorter and cooler, the heat seeks release in the form of cold- and allergy-like symptoms (and sometimes actual sickness), increased anxiety, decreased sleep, feeling scattered, and inflammation.

Through the Ayurvedic lens, we’re dealing with an aggravation of Vata Dosha by Pitta Dosha. Cool and dry Vata is associated with the air and ether elements. It rules and regulates the nervous system and the movement (or lack thereof) arising from its state.

Pitta, on the other hand, is the fire element. It is the motivation behind the movement, passion, heat, activation. We experience its imbalance in the body as inflammation, indigestion, impulsivity. In the same way that fire creates wind, the pitta of the summer aggravates the nervous and immune systems.

All people become more Vata imbalanced with age. You see this in the drying and thinning of our skin and the loss of suppleness in our joints and muscles. The increasing rigidity in our ways of being and our worldview. Perhaps you’ve noticed about yourself that you didn’t experience seasonal allergies when you were younger, but you do now. That’s the increased Vata being more easily aggravated by the Pitta (or Kapha Dosha in the transition between Winter and Spring).

So how do we work with this seasonal change? For starters, we can slow down, reconnect to ourselves, reconnect to Mother Nature. When we notice the frantic behavior of the wasps, see more spiders making their way into our homes, we can appreciate the shorter days and cooler mornings provoking their behavior—and perhaps avail ourselves of a few minutes every day of that dawn and dusk air on our skin, light in our eyes.

We can emphasize hydration (see the rehydration therapy and Abhyanga slides that I recently published on social media). Neti pot (or a more Western sinus irrigator like this one) practice with a drop of sesame or nyasa oil added to the saline flushes out irritants and moisturizes your sinuses.  We can trade the raw salads of summer for the soothing soups and chilis of fall (mind spice if you tend toward indigestion, however). Warm, liquidy foods are our allies now. Oats or quinoa porridge in the morning. Slow down for lunch.

Tart apples can also be helpful as they particularly help the liver and gallbladder release heat. I’ve seen recommendations of eating 2-3 per day in the fall.

Slow down. Turn in. Prioritize rest. Be wary of mind stuff that whips you into a frenzy of doing—so difficult during this season of back to school and sports. I know it’s hard, but making time to get to Yoga (we even have a weekly Restoratives class at Akasha now!), to sit quietly and intentionally every day or every other day, to snuggle up with a pet or a loved one is a radical act of self care that prevents illness and the stressful mistakes that come from moving too quickly.

As always, connect, connect, connect. To the natural world of which you are part, to people who ground and support you, to practices that soothe you. Break free of momentum and set your right pace.

High Fiber, High Protien Vegetarian Meals: Managing my Vata

Years ago, during my Yoga Teacher Training, several of us (students and instructors) had a conversation about right eating. My friend Mecki said something that’s stuck with me: that our bodies show us the right way to eat, we just ignore their signals.

It’s taken me years to get my head wrapped around this idea. On one hand, I work with binge eating disorder. I get all sorts of signals from my body that are downright unreasonable, never mind unhealthy.

On the other hand, I’m a student of healthy living. And there’s a mess of good advice out there from many people who I respect and trust. And I lost a great deal of weight a decade ago following some of it. But letting the head override the body in this way left me with some lingering issues, not the least of which was such severe constipation that I’ve been known to go 2 weeks without a bowel movement.

Clearly, my body’s been telling me something isn’t right.

A year and a half ago, my Teacher Trainer Kim Schwartz stayed with me for a few days while teaching a weekend workshop. He observed some of my patterns and eating habits and made a suggestion: that I learn about Ayurveda, and particularly how to use it to balance my aggravated Vata (air + ether) dosha.

We Vata imbalanced people tend to be dry from our skin to our digestive systems; anxious, with easily aggravated nervous systems; and cold (I type as I’m wearing sweats and a long sleeved shirt on an almost 100° day). We don’t sleep well and are sometimes spacey. Sometimes, a tendency toward binge eating arises in an instinctive attempt to get grounded.

Fast forward a great deal of study later, and I’ve come to understand that many of my standby meals—including my beloved “chicken on salad”—may be making things worse. And my perimenopausal body is steadily becoming less interested in eating meat at all.

This leads me to my summertime meal obsession: one bowl, high protein, high fiber vegetarian meals. Which just so happens to be in alignment with the dietary recommendations of the We Wise Well Body Program for perimenopausal women. And, when combined with thoughtfully keeping on top of my hydration, has my elimination working normally, my water retention reduced, and my food cravings substantially diminished.

I’ve found so many excellent recipes that I thought I’d share some of them here with you. All of these are tested by my teenagers, too. Happy cooking!

Quinoa Tabbouleh by Epicurious

Lentil Salad by Love and Lemons

Misir Wat by Meals by Mavis

Kik Alicha by Vegan Richa

Mediterranean Bean Salad by Cookie and Kate

Mediterranean Chickpea Egg Salad by the Mediterranean Dish

Evolition Summertime Workshop Poll: Give your opinions!

Hello friends! The Akasha Collective teachers are discussing a summertime workshop series. If I were to give a 2-3 hour long workshop on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in August or September, what would you like to see me do?

Becoming Embodied

We live in a society that calls us out of our bodies from a very early age. Being required to sit still and quietly as young children, lest we be labeled troublesome or inadequate, sets a perfect stage for ignoring the body’s signals. Fast forward to our adult working lives, and many of us have jobs that hold similar expectations.

Layer trauma on top of it, and a culture that highly associates pleasure with escape: screens and substances provide entertainment and respite from stress without ever having to feel anything. It’s little wonder that it is very common for a gulf to exist between our everyday awareness and what’s going on in our bodies. We are largely disassociated from our somatic experience, often treating the body as a nuisance or a chore.

Many years ago, I underwent a period of trauma therapy, one of the impacts of which was to make me aware of my bodily sensations so I could learn to respond to them. As basic as that sounds, it opened a whole new world to me.

I came to understand that feelings really are physical sensations, and if I address them as they arose, my life was happier and healthier. Over time, I recognized that I frequently disassociated: overeating, being swept away with stress and worry, numbing out on my phone or in front of the TV.

And, as I meet my habit of disassociating with more constant connection to my physical form, I find I fall into those habits less and less. Or did, until my current stressful period. Because, of course, it’s not typically the pleasant sensations that cause us to flee toward the comfort of disassociation.

But that compassionate witnessing, the tethering to my body even when the heart and hips ache, has yielded unexpected benefits. Yes, I feel terrible, my heart is broken, I fear for what the future holds. AND I have both a strong sense of what I need to do and a connection to my inner voice unlike anything I’ve previously experienced.

With practice, I’m getting better at activating through my frozen moments. And when I find myself in dark places, I’m able to get out of them more quickly.

I am always touched when you share what’s going on in your bodies, even moreso when we have an opportunity to respond to whatever’s arising. I believe these are acts of profound self care, those moments when you tell me that a movement or pose is hurting your back or your knee and we address it.

Years ago, I came across the term “spiritual reparenting.” And that’s what I consider these practices of embodiment to be: opportunities to feel ourselves and respond to them. Opportunities to be our own best parent, healing old wounds and rebuilding self-esteem in the process.

Shadow and Structure: Reflections on a Coaching Intensive

I started 2024 with growth on the mind. Grow, business becomes more sustainable, my community is more secure. Easy, right?

With that mindset, ideas and opportunities started to arise. It was exciting, that feeling of being in flow with the universe, of things that would feed my businesses coming my way.

After a couple of explorations, I came into a firm and grounding knowing that my desire was to build my in-person business. More people in the door, lots of energy at Akasha, business is more sustainable, my community is more secure. Easy, right?

So I reached out to a friend of mine, who is the only person I know who used social media to build her in-person business. And, from what I knew, it was a successful endeavor. I very much admire her work and her presence. So we talked, and it was hopeful and helpful and energizing. From the recesses of my brain, a thought I had years ago when Jennifer* first started coaching emerged: I am going to go through a round of coaching with her someday.

That day had arrived.

A week and a half elapsed between that initial phone call and our first formal coaching session. And in that week, an avalanche of new potential students and teachers reached out. That sense of being in flow arose again. More opportunities to grow, make the businesses more sustainable, my community more secure. Easy, right?

I approached out first coaching call in that mindset. I’m going to increase my skills at keeping this pipeline flowing. I felt hopeful, positive, powerful, and definitely in flow. Jennifer had asked me to sign a contract with her stating that I agree to be coachable, and I was ready to be coached.

Until, at the opening of the call, Jennifer said, “let’s talk about how your codependency** shows up in your business.”

Holy yikes.

The next week or so is kind of a blur. I know that I was not just triggered, but absolutely inflamed. Nervous system on fire. Jennifer suggested that I get a copy of Melody Beattie’s Codependent No More and start listening to it in the car. I had read part of Beattie’s The New Codependency in the fall and wasn’t particularly gripped by it, but I agreed to be coachable, so I started listening to Codependent No More on my commutes to and from the studio.

And I heard the most spot-on description of the worst of myself in those initial chapters. Unbearable shame surged through my body. Mind shut down, nervous system on fire. I was triggered by a new thought or experience or concept every 5 minutes those first few days.

Welcome to my shadow work.

Though I’ve been interested in shadow work for some time, I realize now that I’d only danced around my own. Even during 6 months of eating disorder treatment with a Jungian Psychoanalyst, I had only scratched the surface. Because that’s the nature of shadow. Shadow is the parts of ourselves that are unbearable to look at—and our psychologies artfully hide it so that we don’t have to see them.

Having mine dragged into the light felt like having my skin set on fire. The physical discomfort I experienced in those first couple of days was barely tolerable. I had experienced a profound amount of similar discomfort since the onset of our blended family experiment a year and a half ago. This was like all of that discomfort happening at once.

I let Jennifer know what I was experiencing, and between her intervening with an additional coaching session and my own not insubstantial skills, things evened out and the subsequent weeks of our coaching have been extremely productive. Life changing, actually.

Because I didn’t need to learn how to open a pipeline, grow the business, get more sustainable, protect my community. I mean, I do—there’s much I can do to improve the business of my businesses and I’m grateful and excited for the path I’ve laid out to bring Evolition and Akasha into sustainability.

But what I really needed to do was something that I’ve known about small business owners for a long time, having had the privilege of observing several in great intimacy: I needed to correct my energy.

I’ve observed that part of the dharma of owning a business—especially a healing arts practice, but, really, any small business—is that this act of creation puts your energy body on display materially. In the same way that the physical body is a direct reflection of the psychology, our businesses reflect our energy.

Going through a period of low energy? Business will drop off in kind. Having trouble managing your boundaries? The resulting drama will unfold for all your associates to see. Working with major imposter syndrome due to your underdeveloped self-esteem? You’ll be so insecure that you’ll give your services and time away rather than upholding their value.

Engage in codependency after a lifetime of relationship trauma? You might hold the reigns of your business so tightly that you can’t let anyone new in.

The body and the business are the psychology. If I want Evolition and Akasha to be in the highest and best service to this community that I love so tremendously, it is self-correction that is needed. I knew this conceptually. Now I know viscerally what must be done.

You may have noticed, when visiting myevolition.com today, that I’ve made some substantial changes to my website and business model. If you’re in class with me currently, you know that some nuts-and-bolts structure changes are coming. A LOT of work went into that, but that was the easy part.

The body/psychology stuff is always juicier, and mine continues to unfold. After years of encouragement from my excellent and beloved therapists—and now Jennifer—I’ve joined Al Anon group and am working actively to address my codependency. Already in that work, I’ve encountered the parts of myself that really don’t want to grow up, and the tsunami of grief that they are futilely resisting.

So many different threads from the copious self-help work that I’ve invested in over these past 5 years are weaving together right now. And a new understanding of how to move in the world is emerging. To say that I am grateful is a massive understatement.

I greet this Spring with curiosity and a sense of vulnerability. I usually have an excellent sense of timing, of what’s coming and when and how. Not so much right now. What comes next feels new, and unwritten. It’s pretty uncomfortable, and I’m working to welcome it with open arms.

In gratitude to all who walk on this path with me,

Tiffany

*Jennifer Zenner Clark only works with a couple of coaching clients at a time to ensure that she gives them the best of herself. This work is for those who are truly ready. If you are interested, you can contact her at this email.

**Beattie takes two chapters of Codependent No More to arrive at a complete definition of codependency. I’ll try to summarize: Codependency is a way of being in the world and in relationship that abides by unwritten and oppressive rules that lead to a constellation of behaviors: caretaking, low self worth, repression of feelings, obsession about others, controlling, denial, dependency, poor communication skills, weak boundaries, lack of trust, and anger.

Energy into Action: Making the Most of the New Year

Our culture’s disconnect from nature fascinates me. The way we practice new beginnings during the season of hibernation. Celebrate the most sacred time of the year with excesses, then dive headlong into the opposite extreme. No wonder our resolutions fall apart by the end of January! Since when does teeter-tottering from one extreme to the next bring anything close to health or success?

That said, there is an important energy attached to the “New Year.” 2000+ years of cultural imperative is a load of momentum that can be supportive with the right technique. I’ve been reflecting a great deal this year on how best to harness that energy in a way that supports my own growth and transformation. As I’ve done this, a strong desire has arisen to share it with you.

Lunar Cycles

Look to the cycles of the moon for assistance manifesting. Twelve (and a third) lunar phases per year support us in a cycle of tuning in and taking action. Under the waning moon, reflect, witness, do internal work. When the moon is waxing, turn your energy outward and create. Two feminine/lunar weeks to rest, incubating creative potential; two masculine/solar weeks to activate, bringing that which has incubated into being.

January 1, 2024 is in the waning phase of the lunar cycle. We had a full moon on 12/26 in the sign Cancer. Our next New Moon is 1/11 in Capricorn. This is such an auspicious lunar cycle for new beginnings! Cancer is ruled by the Moon herself, providing gentle, nurturing support for our incubating. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, bringing the energy of grounding and building once the Full Moon comes.

Solar Cycles

That said, these Lunations happen within the greater container of the Earth herself, and Winter is time to rest and renew. To lay foundation (Sun in Capricorn), energize and get inspired (Sun in Aquarius), and connect with the Divine (Sun in Pisces) before the ardent activation of Aries starts the Spring. Winter is the only season lacking a fire sign. Fire, the energy of doing, is the energy of Spring, Summer, and Autumn.

Winter instead is a time of Earth (laying foundation), Air (clarity and inspiration), and Water (depth and intuition).

A couple of days ago, I had a conversation with one of my Mothers in Law on the topic of spiritual surrender. She pointed out that God is always there for you, as long as you are doing your part. We support that process by making good use of our Winter incubating time. By understanding the difference between collapse and rest, indulgence and true self care, we can support the manifestation of our goals far more effectively.

A Winter Ritual

The MAP Coaching Institute uses a framework for manifestation that I find both practical and powerful. It has 3 steps, the first two of which are well timed for the current season:

1.       Identify a crystal clear, specific vision of that which you wish to manifest

2.       Identify and remove barriers to living your dream

3.       Begin to live as though you have already achieved your vision

The current waning moon is an excellent, excellent time to begin your manifestation process. Go deeper than a simple goal and reflect: what do I really want? What am I trying to do here? Go deeper still: what would your life look like—in clear detail—if you achieved your dream?

As you reflect, the barriers to your vision will become apparent. And part of your foundation laying can include removing them. For example, as I have dreamed the dream of a healthier relationship with food, I realized that I use food to manage my nervous system. Eating is good medicine when I’m feeling frazzled! Sadly, eating to manage my nervous system is mutually exclusive with eating to fuel my body in the healthiest way. If I’m going to shift my relationship with food, I need some new skills to manage my nervous system. And developing those skills is going to take some time—behold, the three glorious months of Winter!

Perhaps, as you work with your intention in this way, you will realize that what you thought was your intention isn’t really what you intended after all. Maybe you set a goal to get to the gym 3 days per week, but as you work with it, you realize that what you’re really after is far deeper: a lifestyle shift that includes more exercise. Suddenly, your horizon is far broader: regular exercise that happens both inside and outside of the 4 walls of the rec center. Shifting the way you spend time with friends from drinks and dinner to hiking or pickleball dates.

Imagine the momentum . . .

you would develop behind your intention by starting now, during this auspicious time, and working with it through the entire Winter season. By surfing the waves of the lunar cycles through Leo (willing)/Aquarius (inspiring) and Virgo (harvesting)/Pisces (deepening), each time growing more clear in your vision and your understanding of the obstacles?

Round after round of this work, gaining clarity and insight as you go. Deepening, refining, exploring. I’ll bet you’ll discover some of the deeper “whys” that keep you from living your dream now. The needs met by your current behaviors. It may cause you to question your intentions. It will almost certainly create shifts in your behavior.

And suddenly, you won’t be able to help yourself with the third step—you will live yourself right into the vision that you’re cultivating. No being at the mercy of the winds of motivation. No beating yourself up for falling off the wagon. Just an ever deepening embodiment of your intention.

The time is right, right now. Let’s begin.

Aparigraha: Non-Greed, the Fifth Yama

Aparigraha, restraint of greed. The final Yama.

Deeply woven both into the fibers of humanity and our culture, the drive to get more and do more is a nearly unstoppable force. Doing the opposite shifts our energy and focus back toward ourselves, making space for self care, rest, human connection, and, if we desire, spiritual life. Aparigraha moves us away from sometimes addictive dopamine-seeking behavior and toward more nourishing oxytocin boosting pursuits.

Brahmacarya: Sexual Celibacy, the Fourth Yama

Brahmacarya, also spelled Brahmacharaya, the practice of sexual celibacy. Sexuality is sacred. Goswami Kriyananda says it’s the closest many humans ever get to God. Yet—or maybe because of this—it can have a huge impact on our life force and vibration. Compare a time when you sexually expressed deep love and connection with one that you expressed obligation. Or when you used sex as power, to gain something or withhold. It feels different, right?

One one level, Brahmacarya practice is one of reserving expression for moments of high vibration, and retaining sexual impulses at other times. How much? That’s up to you. We can extend this practice to include treating other cravings this same way—for food, screen time, buying things, etc.

Asteya: Non-Stealing, the Third Yama

Asteya, on the surface, is a very boring and obvious of the Yogic restraint practices. Don’t take what isn’t yours seems very straightforward, but there is so much more under the surface of this great practice.

Djuna Zupancic, one of my fellow teachers at Akasha, shared with me that, in the Zen tradition, we honor that we are in relationship with all that surrounds us. Our possessions, our relationships, our ideas. Each and every thing in our lives is something that we’ve earned. That which is in others’ lives, they have earned.

Asteya is this practice of respecting what someone would have had to do to earn that which you covet. It’s taking responsibility for earning what you want, instead of taking it if the opportunity arises.

Conversely, it’s also about taking responsibility for having earned the things in your life that you don’t want (your debts, your enemies, your misfortunes). That’s a hard and not terribly popular piece of teaching, but you can’t truly practice without it.

Pondering all the good in your life, it’s hard for gratitude not to arise. Look at all that you have earned! What a powerful manifester you are! And when that gratitude arises, the tendency to steal diminishes.

Satya: Truthfulness, the Second Yama

The Yamas, the first limb of Yoga, is a practice of restraining 5 natural life forces that, when unrestrained, can be destructive. Satya, or Truthfulness—think restraint of the tendency to be dishonest—is the second of these 5 practices. It is situated within the boundaries of Ahimsa, or nonviolence—in speaking our truth, we simultaneously seek to cause no harm. Many Yoga teachers believe that it is preferable, when practicing Satya, to refrain from saying honest things if they may hurt someone’s feelings.

Practicing Satya goes deeper than our words. It’s about living in alignment with our true selves. With maturity, we begin to leave behind the “shoulds” and start to walk with what actually is. For example, we might leave behind the career path that we thought we wanted in favor of the one that serves us best, within the boundaries of still meeting our financial needs.

We stop judging ourselves for the way that we feel, and respond instead to the feelings as they arise, without acting them out in a way that harms ourselves or others. There is no universal truth, just hearing ourselves and seeking to live consistently with that which we value.

As more and more you practice Satya, your life becomes more easeful. It’s not that you get everything that you want or all will be awesome, simply that you will recognize the way in which your outer world begins to directly reflect the inner. You begin to manifest, and that which you manifest will reflect back to you the truth of what’s inside.

Ahimsa: The First Yama

The Yamas, the first limb of Yoga, is a practice of restraining 5 natural life forces that, when unrestrained, can be destructive. Ahimsa, or nonviolence, is the first of these practices, the foundation of all of Yoga.

If you find that you are prone to explosive moments of unloading angry words or actions at yourself or others, that is the beginning of your Ahimsa practice—to take care of yourself in such a way that you can restrain from causing others harm AND give yourself a relief valve at the same time. More physical activity, therapy, etc.

Many of us are not regularly overtly violent, and then the practice requires more subtlety. Look for tendencies to suppress your feelings or taking on too much to be “nice.” Watching violent media, including the news, trains the mind toward violence. It’s not that we don’t do these things, but we seek to limit them.

The great thing about this practice is that there are no rules. Only an ongoing self-reflection. How might I gentle my life more? What are the most beneficial ways for me to do this?

Ahimsa requires firmness. To set strong boundaries on that which may cause harm gently. To become kind, which requires putting kindness to yourself first.

The Yamas: Yoga's First Limb

My favorite way of understanding the 5 Yamas comes from my Teacher Trainer, Kim Schwartz. there are forces of nature that, when allowed to express in us unrestrained, are destructive and scatter energy. some expression of each force is necessary to sustain life, but how much?

Yama is the practice of restraint of potentially harmful life forces. Each of us is asked to determine how much is truly right by us, without justification, and practice accordingly. The Yamas are not universal laws, but more a matter of applied ethics.

The Yamas. On this first branch of the Yogi tree, we begin to gather and settle our life force, which in Sanskrit, we call prana.

Human life is often a messy, complicated thing. Our life force is pulled in so many directions. As householders—those living a worldly life instead of a monastic one—we can’t help it. Work life, family life, home life, romantic life, health life, dream life, community life, friendship life, spiritual life . . . all ask for attention. All need it.

Practice of the Yamas gives us a way to retain and concentration the life force while we manage this balancing act of life. It is a practice of restraint—which most of us do already—followed by the cultivation of the opposite. Restrain tendencies toward violence, cultivate instead kindness and gentleness. Restrain dishonesty in thought, word, and deed, and cultivate ever greater truthfulness.

Can you imagine how each of the life areas listed above might benefit from more gentle honesty? How you might benefit from being a kind and truthful One? And those are just the first two . . .

All on its own, this off the mat work can change your life. And, for those of us on the mat regularly, the way we practice can give us clues to which Yamas need our cultivation.

Yoga's 8 Ashtanga or Limbs

What is Yoga? It certainly is not being the bendiest person in the room!

The Yoga Sutra defines Yoga as an 8 part practice meant to help us settle the mind so we may know our true nature.

How does all that bendy stuff get us there? In the context of the whole practice. It’s not the bending but the alignment the postures provide that drives the benefit.

A healthy, well organized body creates a healthy, well organized psychology. And from there, the training of the mind to be our ally and vehicle for merging with the Divine begins.

But if Yoga is the settling of the mind into stillness, how do we do that? How do we go about seeing our true nature?

Patanjali’s 8-limbed path gives us a roadmap. It begins with a foundation of ethical practices to gather and concentrate our life force, prana.

Once established, we get physical to vivify and align our vehicle, then use it as a container for working with the breath, which directs and strengthens prana.

We then draw our senses away from outside distractions and begin to train the mind to remain fixed on a single point.

Once trained, the mind can become so utterly absorbed in the object on which it has concentrated as to become one with it. Once we learn to do this, we can go beyond consciousness to be in Union with the Source.

Mercury Retrograde Cycles 2023

2023 promises to be an interesting year for Mercury’s retrograde periods, of which there are 4:

In astrology, Mercury is the planet that rules the everyday mind, commutes, our siblings and neighbors, communication, logic; the shoulders, lungs, arms, and hands.

Mercury retrograde is an astronomical phenomenon where, due to differences in Mercury’s and the Earth’s orbits, Mercury appears to be moving backwards through the sky relative to the Earth. These retrograde periods are approximately three weeks long. An additional two weeks on either side is considered to be a “Shadow Period,” when Mercury is moving through the degrees of the zodiac that will be visited a total of three times as a result of the retrograde.

Astrologically, Mercury retrograde periods are associated with failures in logic and discernment, poor decision making, miscommunication and failures of the tools of communication (emails, computers, phones, etc), issues with siblings and neighbors, discomfort in the region of the throat chakra (neck and shoulders in particular). It’s not unusual to feel like you’re thinking through mud, can’t say the right word to save your life (my Hatha Yoga teaching during these times is always a good illustration of this!), or drop the same pen 5 times in a row. Over the years, I’ve observed an increase in stiff necks by the third week of a retrograde period as well.

However, retrograde periods are excellent opportunities to see things differently, to slow down and pay extra care to what we’re saying and how. It is wise during retrograde periods to double check your math, re-read important contracts before signing them, and give others the benefit of the doubt if miscommunications occur. Very often, the inconveniences that come with the time are winged messengers to look around and question what’s going on in your head.

In 2023, all but the very tail end of the Mercury retrograde periods are in Earth signs. Earth signs rule concrete, material things, the stuff of daily life that we might tend to overlook for its mundanity. I expect this year will give us all opportunities to think differently about our daily lives and the way we think about them.

The 29 December 2022-17 January 2023 retrograde period in Capricorn may bring lessons to do with your father or fathering, self-discipline, career, reputation, or employer. Possible examples might include accidentally cc’ing your entire company on a private email; miscommunicating with your sibling about your father’s care; making a new year’s resolution and later questioning its wisdom. Ruled by Saturn, Capricorn can bring some uncomfortable karmic lessons with longer lasting effects than a Mercury would inspire otherwise. Be sure to slow yourself down as you get back in the saddle at work this new year.

The 4 April-13 May retrograde period in Taurus may bring lessons about money and financial standing, your possessions, and your values. You may make poor financial decisions during this time or realize that a conflict with your neighbor is rooted in a difference in values. You may, conversely, have opportunities to clarify your own values and elucidate them to others. Taurus also rules the throat in astrology, and with Mercury ruling the energy body in that region, take extra care to speak clearly and honestly. In esoteric astrology, our most precious possession is our memory tract; you may find yourself forgetful or filled with surprising memories during this period.

The 8 August-14 September retrograde period in Virgo may have strong energy, as Mercury is the ruling planet of Virgo. Virgo rules the digestive system and general health as an expression of the integration of the nervous system and the body—how nervous energy can make you sick or well. Mind the contents of your thoughts during this time. If you find that they’re dwelling on a particular subject, take it as a sign that there’s emotional energy that needs expression and get physical with it before the energy gets physical with you. Especially anywhere in your life where you give service to others or others give service to you, paid or unpaid. Consider extra service to yourself in authentic boundaries and other forms of self care during this time.

Our final retrograde period of the year, 13-31 December, revisits the themes of Capricorn, with a little Sagittarius thrown in toward the tail end. Sagittarius rules the higher mind, travel, education, religion, and life philosophy. Holiday season travel could get spicy, though Mercury is a small, fast moving planet, and is more likely to cause inconveniences (flight delays or easily resolved cancellations) than outright disaster. Family or religious gatherings could create uncomfortable opportunities for miscommunication, so remember to exercise patience and give the benefit of the doubt.

Please note that making general astrological statements like these is difficult, as good astrological prediction relies on the high degree of specificity provided by comparing events like retrograde periods to individual astrological charts. If you would like more personal detail or are experiencing challenges during any of these retrograde periods, please reach out for an appointment. We will certainly be touching on these themes in class, especially my Hatha Yoga classes. See you there!

2023 Lunations

In Western Astrology, the Moon and Sun are considered luminaries—the most important planets in our charts, working as a dyad to give us a picture of our personalities. Especially in American culture, we identify with our Solar sides—the thinking, doing, outward-facing, problem-solving, conscious, future-oriented parts of ourselves. Without awareness, our Lunar sides lurk in the shadows. Easily neglected, we don’t tend to notice our emotional, restful, inner, subconscious selves until some unwelcome trigger from the past arises from our murky depths, causing us to act or numb out.

We are so fortunate that the Moon’s cycles are so apparent to us. Waxing and waning every month, giving us a chance to see more clearly that which lurks in our depths. From the dark of the New Moon to the bright Full Moon is the waxing cycle—an auspicious time to activate, to start new things, be more outward facing. From the height of the Full Moon to the depths of the New Moon, the waning cycle, an invitation to turn inward and provide care.

Michael used to encourage us to watch the Lunar cycles so as to see more clearly our inner emotional tides. Getting a sense of what resides within, we are less likely to act it out and more likely to integrate. To that end, I’ve compiled some detail about 2023’s 25 lunations in Denver/Mountain time. I hope it is a useful tool for your own self-study.

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6 January, 4:07pm MST: Full Moon at 16 degrees, 21 minutes Cancer

21 January, 1:53pm MST: New Moon at 1 degree, 32 minutes Aquarius

5 February, 11:28am MST: Full Moon at 16 degrees, 40 minutes Leo

20 February, 12:05am MST: New Moon at 1 degree, 22 minutes Pisces

7 March, 5:40am MST: Full Moon at 16 degrees, 40 minutes Virgo

21 March, 11:23am MDT: New Moon at 0 degrees, 49 minutes Aries

5 April, 10:34pm MDT: Full Moon at 16 degrees, 7 minutes Libra

19 April, 10:12pm MDT: New Moon and Solar Eclipse at 20 degrees, 50 minutes Aries

5 May, 11:34am MDT: Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse at 14 degrees, 58 minutes Scorpio

19 May, 9:53am MDT: New Moon at 28 degrees, 25 minutes Taurus

3 June, 9:41pm MDT: Full Moon at 13 degrees, 18 minutes Sagittarius

17 June, 10:37pm MDT: New Moon at 26 degrees, 43 minutes Gemini

3 July, 5:38am MDT: Full Moon at 11 degrees, 18 minutes Capricorn

17 July, 12:31pm MDT: New Moon at 24 degrees, 56 minutes Cancer

1 August, 12:31pm MDT: Full Moon at 9 degrees, 15 minutes Aquarius

16 August at 3:38am MDT: New Moon at 23 degrees, 17 minutes Leo

30 August, 7:35pm MDT: Full Moon at 7 degrees, 25 minutes Pisces

14 September, 7:39pm MDT: New Moon at 21 degrees, 58 minutes Virgo

29 September, 3:57am MDT: Full Moon at 6 degrees, 0 minutes Aries

14 October, 11:55am MDT: New Moon and Solar Eclipse at 21 degrees, 7 minutes Libra

28 October, 2:24pm MDT: Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse at 5 degrees, 9 minutes Taurus

13 November, 2:27am MST: New Moon at 20 degrees, 43 minutes Scorpio

27 November, 2:16am MDT: Full Moon at 4 degrees, 51 minutes Gemini *we’ll be celebrating this lunation on the beach in Mexico! Join us!

12 December, 4:32pm MDT: New Moon at 20 degrees, 40 minutes Sagittarius

26 December, 5:33pm MDT: Full Moon at 4 degrees, 58 minutes Cancer

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Solar Eclipses occur when the Sun fully conjuncts the Moon, meaning both luminaries occupy the same point in the zodiac simultaneously. Solar eclipses tend to illuminate objective events—things occurring outside of you, like an event or situation involving someone else.

Lunar Eclipses occur when the Sun fully opposes the Moon, meaning that the two luminaries occupy precises opposite points in the zodiac. Lunar Eclipses tend to illuminate subjective events—thinking occurring within you, like your dream, thought, or feeling states.

To more fully understand how each individual lunation is likely to impact you, we would need to compare this list to your natal/birth chart. Contact Tiffany to schedule such a reading.

Mercury Retrograde early Libra-late Virgo, September-October 2022

The planet Mercury goes retrograde on Sunday, 9/11/22 at 8 degrees 53 minutes Libra, and enters direct motion again on Monday, 10/3/22 at 24 degrees 14 minutes Virgo.

But what does this mean?

Retrograde motion is an astronomical phenomenon whereby, due to the planets orbiting the sun at different rates, a planet appears to be moving backward from the Earth’s vantage point. Think of it as an optical illusion.

In astrology, retrograde motion is a symbol of a lessening of or interference with the planet in question’s energy, sort of like a reverse tarot card. Mercury rules the daily mind—our thought processes—communications, commutes, siblings and neighbors. During Mercury retrograde, we may find ourselves thinking less clearly, making poor decisions, feeling like we just can’t get our point across, and miscommunicating.

Mercury retrogrades typically happen 3-4 times per year. They are generally considered to be inauspicious times for making major decisions, negotiating, or signing contracts because of the potential to overlook important details.

The planet Mercury.

As in all of astrology, however, energies that seem daunting are often blessings in disguise. If you have a problem plaguing you, the retrograde may usher in new perspective. Things may cross the mind that haven’t in a while, like an old friend or activity you used to enjoy. As with all things, it’s the attitude that you hold that often determines your experience.

That is doubly true with this particular retrograde through early Libra and late Virgo. Virgo is the ruler of our house of health and attitude and Libra the experience of our personality in the context of relationships. Over these next few weeks, we may be called to observe our attitudes and how they play out in the larger world, especially in our relationships with those close to us. Conversely, to understand how our close relationships impact our health.

If we’ve fallen into pessimistic or critical thought patterns, how are our relationships affected? What about our overall health and vitality? If we cultivate more productive, positive attitudes, do things improve?

Under stress, Virgo energy can lead to a paralysis by analysis pattern, where we overthink situations to the point of getting stuck or making ourselves unwell. Likewise, unbalanced Libra energy may place us in a bind between opposing forces, opinions, or needs that prevents us from moving in any direction because we can’t find the middle ground.

In the event that you find yourself in such waters these next few weeks, hang tight. Clarity will catch up with you by mid-October!

The Vishuddha Chakra in the throat region is ruled by the planet Mercury. Over many years, I’ve noticed that, by the end of a retrograde period, stiff necks and shoulders arise. Keep them moving and mind your sleep posture. Sarvangasana (All Parts Pose/Shoulderstand) and Sirsasana (Headstand) are auspiciously practiced during this time, provided your form is good and you’ve robustly warmed your body for your practice.

Please mind that all of these things are generalizations; to know more specifically how any astrological phenomena will affect you, we’d need to compare them to your birth chart specifically. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.