Near Kayenta

Snow
and juniper wood smoke
Incense of frozen air
Heavy feet, full of knowing this land
feet walking softly as the sun shines
Penumbral sky, harvest of clouds
gleaned apart to reveal the bare
backs of mountains
The mountains can feel
the warm strength of a Grandmother’s feet, dancing imperceptibly
in each solid step.

Quiet is this house
Quiet are the faces
but eyes are laughing

Quiet is the dignity of living
“surrounded by Beauty”

Childsong, warm kitchen
and happiness here

soft flapping of raven’s wing
icy sound
they watch
I listen
for their familiar presence of observing
is caught up in the cipher
of an opaque silence.
They love a good story--
those wings, playful and augurous
still and folded in now.
Like a rock from the Sun
their blackness shines against the snow

Listen, these birds are crying,
for us to know this life is Beauty

But let me have my sky-circle,
and you your own.

Pacific Cultural Center is
located at 1307 Seabright Ave., at Seabright and Broadway in Santa Cruz
To pre-register click here

Surya Namaskar, or the Salute to the Sun, is one of the oldest recorded practices of Yoga. Along with the postures a chant is traditionally done addressing the different kinds of light transmitted by the Sun and the attributes of the Sun as the Friend, the Nourisher, and other benefic qualities. This practice will teach you the twelve mantras of the Sun Salutation series as we explore variations on these asanas from different schools.

Our practice begins with pranayama and an overview of this kind of chanting, including handouts with teachings on the meanings of the chants and the mudra which is used in saluting the Sun as it rises in the East. This is followed by a 2-hour asana practice of 72 Sun Salutations (6 cycles times 12 mantras). This is a steadily-paced practice and so some previous experience with asana is recommended.
We'll conclude with some restorative floor work
and deep relaxation.

Cost: $55 with pre-registration
for non-members and members alike
$70 at the door for non-members
download a flyer
For more info and to pre-register please call 408/985-5555

Minoan art, anthropology, and Yoga, all oceanfront accomodations.

~Come for one week to Crete only, June 9-16th
or two full weeks in Crete and Santorini, June 9-23rd... (details)

Join us on a journey that will nourish your Spirit through twice-daily practices of pranayama, asana, and meditation, in sight of the lapis blue Aegean and Libyan seas bordering Crete, and the stunning cliffs of Santorini. This Yoga retreat includes seminars on Minoan culture and guided tours during several excursions for those coming on the two-weeks session. In Crete we will visit the Minoan Palace of Knossos, which was a center of trade between ancient peoples of the Mediterranean, as well as the epicenter of Minoan religious activity, culture and government; and the incredible National Archaelogical Museum of Crete. In Santorini will visit Nea Kameni volcano by boat and the adjacent ocean hotsprings and see the Minoan settlement of Akrotiri and Akrotiri Museum.

Study classical Ashtanga Yoga
for one month in Rishikesh, India
September 17 - October 15

This year Phoenix and her teacher Mataji will be leading a course in the complete practice and lifestyle of Ashtanga (Eight Limbed) Yoga on the banks of the sacred Ganga river at the lovely Parmarth Niketan Ashram. The daily schedule includes morning sadhana- pranayama, chanting, and meditation, then asana. The morning continues to unfold with special classes given by Mataji in Vedic chanting and philosophy based on the Yoga Sutras and Bhagavad Gita. Phoenix teaches an afternoon asana class, and twice a week there will be a special focus on healing with in-depth explorations of subtle anatomy (the chakras, nadis, koshas) and Ayurvedic wisdom for specific constitutional types and their appropriate asanas and pranayamas.

Parmarth Niketan gives a certificate upon completion of this 200+ hour course from the International Yoga Heritage Foundation.

Note: For the sake of clarity in our jumbled bureaucratic times, teachers and students who are interested in pursuing this course with a certificate in mind should know that this is not a Yoga Alliance accredited school. It is however, perhaps more highly credentialled to give such certificates in their own right as centuries-long holders of the living Yoga tradition, in any regard. It is not possible to combine these hours for a 500-hour Yoga Alliance certification.

Those who wish to join Phoenix's guided tour of Rishikesh, Haridwar, Agra, and Delhi are encourage to enroll concurrently with Phoenix by contacting her at garudayogini@yahoo.com

For more information on the monthlong Yoga Intensive, please contact Parmarth Niketan Ashram at info@parmarth.com or visit Parmarth's website.

Listen~
inside of you there is also an old person
waiting for you to know the stories;
as distant and high as the bedrock of red canyons,
but closer than breath,
enfolded in the sediments of time.

and here we are, too
thin tongues of new young grass
learning to speak again in the Spring.