I loves me a good sale..

If you're in the mood for some pre-holiday self-indulgence, Be Present yoga clothing just put a good bit on sale. 

Happy Shopping (click here)

Love,

Carrington

RHYTHMIC FLOW ROCKS THE BLUE AGAIN!

In case you have not heard the rumble left from the drumming that rocked the blue this past weekend, let me tell you what a FABulous time we all had! Moving to the live drumming and your own inner rhythm is the most liberating feeling and expression that I know.

I sure hope the rest of you who attended had as much fun as I did.

Thanks Kristin and the Kunga drummers for an amazing weekend of liberation!

Love,

-yvonne :)

Be Still My Beating Heart...

Kristin and her beloved Kunga drummers graced the Blue with their presence this weekend. Personally, the journey I took with them was MUCH needed. The Earth Practice on Saturday really helped to ground me after a whirlwind election week. And Sunday's Air practice provided me with the space and energy to let it all GO! From the fantastic asana to the incredible adjustments and without a doubt brilliant drummers, the whole experience left me, well... whole.

Next time... be there or be square!

Love, Carrington

More tunes

So many of you have asked, and here it is! Saturday's Playlist!

Love,

Yvonne

Friday Playlist

Play me a rhythm please...

A few of you asked for my playlist on Friday. Enjoy!

Playlist

Much Love,
Carrington

Tulum Follow-up

Our beloved Carrington, Internet Diva that she is, found this little gem online. Anyone who followed our crazy yoga retreat in Tulum won't want to miss this!

Your Story

It was not our intention for the blue blog to be a one-way street. We'd love for this to be a forum for you to ask questions, share ideas and experiences, and generally get more involved with this amazing community!

Share with us, and others, how and why you first came to yoga, or what keeps you coming back. We would love to hear your story!

Yoga Celebration!

On September 19th - 21st, the Triangle yoga community unites with yogaSPARK as studios, teachers, and organizations around the area raise awareness of the many styles, benefits, and practices of yoga. Join the celebration! On this yogaSPARK weekend, we celebrate the International Day of Peace, the Autumnal Equinox, and the Global Mala Project with our joined intention for creating peace and unity.

The goal of the Global Mala Project (now in its second year) is to unite the yoga community from every continent in the world, forming a "mala around the earth" through collective practices based upon the sacred cycle of 108. Here in Raleigh, blue lotus is teaming up with Evolve and Gateway yoga studios to offer a weekend of special events! All donations will supprt Prevent Child Abuse NC and the work they do to create peace in NC homes. See the Raleigh Global Mala website for more information. You don't want to miss the fun!

Immersion Day

After a few quiet days in the land of 9 months of transformation, the blue lotus yoga immersion and teacher training program, apparently consideration/decision critical mass was reached. We received six inquiries today, and so we wanted to post a follow-up to the info session post that the course beginning this December is full.

We will still accept applications for anyone who would like to apply and be on the waiting list for this December, or first-call for September '09. Otherwise, general application/enrollment for the second program will begin in May '09.

Thank you for your interest!

Playlists

So it would seem that blue lotus playlists have become a new favorite feature on the e-news!

I had promised a few of you to include Carrington's fabulous Labor Day Flow mix, but was a little slow on the take.

Here it is, enjoy!

Labor Day Flow

(ps, we would LOVE your comments!)

I am a work in progress

Anyone who is a regular at my classes has heard me go on about how yoga helps to show us the universal nature of the human experience: we are not alone in our joy, struggle, grief, awe-- the full spectrum of emotions and experience. Here's a quote from Donna Farhi, a good reminder for anyone on the path...

Perhaps it is only when we have tested our footing on everything else and found nothing but instability that we can step off into this vast potential and let our life become a free fall. Whether or not we are on a spiritual path, we might ask ourselves, What is the function of these meltdowns? I believe that the intensity of these experiences, especially when they occur well down the road of a spiritual quest, comes from our PROXIMITY TO rather than our DISTANCE FROM our authentic self. As we get closer to the core issues, the central knot, the last frontier of our place of holding, there is more at stake.

It must be Quote Month.

Do your practice and all is coming. (p. jois)

9 months of transformation

I've been wanting to offer a yoga immersion experience and teacher training program for several years now. In fact it was one of the motivating factors in opening blue lotus! Just as you can only go so far into the practice taking a few classes per week, I want to go deeper in my teaching as well-- having the space and time to get into the "tofu" of yoga. :)

I was so incredibly pleased, suprised, and delighted to be joined by more than 30 others for the information session we had last Sunday night. It was so affirming to know that what I feel inspired to share with the community was received with so much enthusiasm.

Many good questions came up, and I was asked to post a summary, for those who were unable to attend.

• The program will last for nine months, one weekend per month. Although the times vary slighty, in general, we will meet Friday afternoon and evening, all day Saturday, and Sundays 7am - 3pm.
• The course is open to anyone who has had at least one year of consistent practice.
• Readyness for the course is not related to performing advanced postures, but rather an openness and willingness to learn and be stretched in ways other than just the physical.
• Before applying, students new to the blue should take several classes to ensure that it is an environment that feels good to them. This is a way to deepen our experience of ourselves, as well as our experience of community.
• Although each weekend is different, you can expect to enjoy a mix of practice, lecture, teaching practice, alignment/refinement and structural and energetic anatomy each module.
• In addition to the weekend modules, there are additional class attendance and assisting/observing hours that must be completed. See details on the FAQ www.bluelotusnc.com
• The program is open to men and women of all ages-- as of today, we have enrollments of both, between the early 20s and mid 60s!

Two spaces remain for the session beginning this December, as we are capping enrollment at 18. We will run the next course from September 2009 - May 2010.

If you have other questions about the blue lotus yoga immersion and teacher training program, please send us an e-mail or post them here!

blue rhythm

In June, Kristin Cooper-Gulak and the Kunga drummers returned to Raleigh for a blue lotus Rhythmic Flow Yoga weekend! It was their second visit, and even more fun than the first. Friday night was an Earth practice, grounding down, stretching out and getting back into the body. The experience of practicing with live drumming is amazing! Saturday was a Fire practice when Kristin and the drummers really turned on the heat with lots of kriya and fast-paced flow. The big news? Kristin & Co are returning in November! Mark your calendar:

Friday, November 7
7:00 - 9:00pm Rhythmic Dance

Saturday, November 8
1:00pm - 4:00pm Earth Practice

Sunday, November 9
10:00am – 1:00pm Air Practice

Kristin won’t be back to the area again until next June when she guides a weekend of the blue lotus yoga immersion and teacher training so you don’t want to miss it!

Our apologies for the delay

There have been a few comments in regard to the inappropriateness of a three month lapse since the last blog entry. (Especially due the the nature of that particular entry.) Sorry about that. This is a work in progress.

The short version? Carrington and I got all of the drama out of the way before anyone else arrived in Mexico. The weather was amazing, the food was great, our hosts were gracious, (you know the yoga was fabulous). So there it is! Nobody talks about the great trips. ;)

Seriously, a few of the traveling yogis said it was one of the best holidays they had ever had. We are ALL looking forward to the next trip! Blue Lotus Raleigh. We like it. Blue Lotus Tulum. Hmmm...we could get used to that, too!

Take a look for yourself: Tulum You will see *lots* of happy faces!

More to come. Soon. I promise.

Put your yoga where your mouth is

Sitting in the plane en route to Cancun, my mind was filled with the travel stories of my past: bus chaos on the way to Croatia, wild dogs and dung beetles in the desert between India and Pakistan, flat tires in Mexico, food poisoning in Nepal, being stuck in the Dubai airport (and not allowed into the terminal) for an entire night…so many places with so many amazing stories. In fact, most trips worth talking about are ones that didn’t go as planned. Funny I should be thinking that…

I’m unsure how to share the abridged version of our trip to Tulum thus far, so perhaps chronologically ordered bullet points will be simplest:

Carrington and I arrive in Cancun on Tuesday morning at 10:15am—a day before the rest of the travelers—so we have time to get settled, check out the scene, and unwind before greeting the guests on Wednesday.

We pick up our Uber Rental Van (thank goodness we both drive a stick shift) and head south toward Tulum.

Recognizing that bad things happen in threes, we learned quickly the watch points for the Uber Van/driving in Mexico: 1-The brakes are mediocre at best. In other words, brake really, really early. Like, before you know you need to. 2- Watch out for tope, (“tow-pay”) which are giant, often unmarked speed bumps in the middle of highways. These, combined with the braking issue makes for a lot of fun. 3- Alert: there are NO lizard crossing signs in Mexico. And there should be.

The directions we had to Casa Magna Tulum were incorrect. After driving into the middle of nowhere we recognized this and turned around, eventually finding the right road. Little fault to us—the road is only signed headed NORTH.

We drive all the way to the end of the road the hotel is supposed to be on. No luck. We keep driving back and forth. The small cartoon map locates Casa Magna right **HERE** but we can’t find it. Eventually we stop at a gated crossing. The sign is covered over with a giant tarp. The gate is locked. There is an armed guard.

My limited Spanish reveals that no, we can’t come in. It’s closed. Nobody is there. We can’t stay.

Oh Heck, and other four-letter-words, or as Carrington put it, "Didn't see that coming..."

I find out where to locate Melissa (the proprietor, who is at another property) and we drive there.

Finding Melissa, we give her the, “Uh, hi we’re Jill and Carrington from blue lotus?” and get a surprised wasn’t-expecting-you-today followed by “there’s a little problem.”

Really.

We are taken to yet another property and given a room and a bizarre explanation of events.

In Mexico, possession is 100% of the law. That 1% difference is apparently a BIG deal. Something about Escobar’s drug dealing family still holding title to the land, and Melissa & co were (temporarily) thrown out?

Did I mention that Carrington and I were arriving a day early to unwind?

And thirteen people are arriving in less than 24 hours expecting a wonderful yoga retreat?

*breathing*

Back and forth, back and forth, and then a little more back and forth through the day and evening with Melissa. Apparently the 2nd boss has OK’d the retreat, but the 1st boss has to bless it. He is coming into town Tuesday night. He is totally unreachable. Something about 12 million dollars being paid to the new owner.

*Here, I begin to recognize my pre-conceived ideas about people with 12 million dollars to throw around, including they have cell phones.*

We will know something in the morning, and Melissa is 92%-99.9% sure that we’re a go and can get into Casa Magna in the morning. The percentage range shifted in the downward direction in the course of a three minute conversation.

*there is no sleep*

Carrington and I have a lovely walk on the beach in the morning. It is SO beautiful here. (Good to include, lest we forget our priorities.)

We meet Melissa at 9-ish, ready to hear the good news that all is well and we are in!

The $12-million-dollar-man-with-the-answers is still unavailable…or just needs to check his messages, or SOMETHING.

Carrington heads off to the airport to pick up the first arrivals, with NO IDEA what we are going to do with them.

I spend the morning sitting, breathing, watching the tide come in, staring over at Melissa, willing a decision in one order or another.

This continues until noon when I tell her we need a final decision now. I can’t have a group of people arriving for a beautiful retreat in a private and secluded paradise sitting in the Uber Van while we look for rooms.

We walk a few doors down to Suenos Tulum. They have been closed for two years completely renovating their villas. They are about to reopen.

Sold.

I call Carrington. One word for her: Suenos.

I get our things moved to Suenos, chat with the lovely owners, make room assignments and get things ready for the guests, who begin to arrive about 45 minutes later. They have NO idea what is happening. Except Caroline, who had a great “what is going on here” look.

We let everyone get settled into their rooms and then had a group meeting to tell the story.

That will happen two more times yet today, as the others arrive.

In case you are wondering, the accommodations are absolutely lovely. The beach is spectacular. The breeze is delicious. The company, amazing. We still have to sort out a new schedule (we have no yoga space here) and walk to another location for meals. Everything will be fine.

Don’t you just love the yoga!!

Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

Stay tuned.

Game on!

Finally! Thanks to the genius (and endless patience) of David Holt, we're up! I've been thinking about this, planning this, talking about this for over a year now and here it is. I hope you enjoy the blue's virtual community, too.

My vision for this blog is actually part-blog, part-forum, part-blue info center. When we have special events coming up, when we have news to share, when we've been inspired and want to tell you about it, you can find us online. Likewise, if you have comments, questions or inspiration of your own, please join us!

The one catch is that I have no idea how all of this works. More to learn...always more to learn...

First post on our new blog...

Ok, the blog is up and running, but we're still sorting some stuff out... please check back soon for the good stuff!