Being surrounded by these giants I was reminded of one of the three gunas or qualities of nature. Gunas, in short are: rajas or passion, tamas or inertia, and sattva or peace, and these three qualities are interwoven all throughout nature. We are always experiencing the play of the gunas from the food we eat (spicy food, raw food, heavy food...) to the time of the day. Our yoga practice itself tends to start slowly, then build up get really fiery, then slow again and finish in a quiet space. 

The guna known as sattva refers to quality of peace. Sattva has as its root the word sat which means: truth, is-ness, being-ness. We sing it in the second line of the Anusara chant: "saccidananda murtaye." Which roughly translates as: this one energy takes the form of "being, conscious bliss." So whenever we find ourselves experiencing a quiet strength, a gentle yet definite presence, we are touching that part of us that is there always, that can be felt when we enter a chapel or when we hear the Dalia Lama speak, or we are in a forest.

Sometimes we can feel this quality of sattva when we are in a specific place, or at the end of our yoga practice, or at the end of our meditation, or when we are in the company of a great being... Think of that friend you have who is always there for you, who loves you unconditionally and who exudes a quiet integrity without any judgment. We all have sattva, the challenge is how to find it when you are feeling drained and weak. 

In our yoga practice we have the ability to consciously engage our strength through what we call "muscular energy." We draw from the outside of our bodies, in, hugging skin to muscle and muscle to bone. We also draw from the periphery to the core. And lastly, we draw from the outside to the focal point of any given pose, the power center of any given pose. When we do that, the result for a lot of us is a strength that is never too hard, a strength that allows us to still feel the air touching our skins and be in touch with our breath.

Theme of class: Sattva, or quiet, peaceful strength.

Highlights: 

*Did every tree pose variation I could think of: Handstand with tree leg, forearm balance with tree leg, Tree pose with friends... 

*I notice that because I had just arrived from spending three days in nature, in such an exquisite atmosphere, I noticed that I was channeling a quiet strength and some students commented on it. Teaching is truly the transmission of energy so today I was reminded of how important it is to not only have a great theme and spend your time planning it, but to actually embody your theme. To become your theme!

*Beginning of class, when students are in seated meditation told them to deepen their breath, begin their ujjayi breathing and asked them to use their breath to explore places that need more strength today.

*In downward facing dog, told them to be strong in their foundation and yet soften their skin, and then from this place to hug in towards their core, towards their trunk, towards their center.

Things to work on:

*Would have liked to sat them in mediation and when the time came after a few seated poses I took them to savasana. Would like to continue to do my best to bring more meditation and/or pranayama to classes.

*I notice that whenever I say something that sounds potentially corny, like: "sit as tall as a tree" I get a bit self conscious. Have to remember that although I might think it's corny, sometimes corny can be powerful in its simplicity.