Category: Seasonal Yoga

Be The Light

by Claudia Fountain, posted in Meditation, newsletter, Recipes, Seasonal Yoga, Yoga

and blaze your own trail.

I will be the first to admit that lately the world seems to be becoming darker. Peace feels like a distant beacon of hope. I also know that one of the best ways to shift my doom and gloom is to get outside and walk, feel the breeze on my face, watch the leaves shimmer in the light, and listen to the sounds of the larger world around me.

Fall is a beautiful transitional season. It reminds me to let go of things I can’t control, and to count my blessings. I also get to dive into my cozy fleece hoodies and joggers! The key for me is balance–when my thoughts get dark, I balance them with light. My hope is that this newsletter brings you some light also!

This October and November, the offerings include:

  • a delicious baked bean recipe, full of spice, heat (and yes, pumpkins!),
  • a yin yoga session focused on releasing tension in the upper body,
  • and, a guided Metta (Loving Kindness) meditation.

In closing, I leave you with words from the poet Tyler Knott Gregson:

Into the great darkness
when veils are thin
and we see handprints
pressing
on the curtain
between this life and the next,

I heard them
whisper

“If it is light
you seek
you must carry
your own
fire.”

Chipotle Pumpkin Baked Beans

  • 2 cups cooked cannellini beans
  • 1 1/2 C water
  • 1 1/2 C cooked cubed pumpkin or butternut squash
  • 1/4 C tomato paste
  • 2 small canned chipotle chili peppers in adobo sauce
  • 3 T brown sugar
  • 2 T molasses, maple syrup or date syrup
  • 2 T cider vinegar
  • 1 t dried oregano
  • ½ t cinnamon
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1/4 t black pepper
  • 3 pepperettes, chopped (optional)
  • 1 large carrot, chopped
  • 2 chopped shallots

Heat oven to 350 Farhenheit. Blend together pumpkin, water, tomato paste, chipotle pepper, brown sugar, molasses, cider vinegar, oregano, cinnamon, salt and black pepper into a smooth paste. Place beans, pepperettes (if using), carrot and shallots in a casserole dish. Sir in pumpkin mixture. Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Makes four servings.
*** Source: IDEAFit.com

Let the leaves fall…

by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Online Offerings, Seasonal Yoga

Let’s imagine…”What if”….you sat down one day–effortlessly, comfortably–as though you were in a magical time bubble. You sat and simply watched nature in all Her mystery do what She does best? Seasons shifting, birth, growth, life, death. Sunsets and sunrises. Full moon to new moon. What might you learn or discover?

As we move through Autumn in all its glorious colors and crisp temps, we may notice the subtle shifts from within to start letting things go. Trees cloak themselves in a riot of reds, golds, and oranges, and then let the leaves fall. Instead of trying to hold onto them, they know that after a period of rest something new will appear.

It’s like keeping your closet filled with only those things you wear on a regular basis. If you never get rid of old clothes, you will run out of space for new clothes.

“Be like a tree, and let the dead leaves drop.” ~Rumi

Consider some of the following ways to lighten the load:

  • Let go of one, two, or more of your insecurities. Replace them with affirmations.
  • Let go of grudges. 
  • Forgive someone. 
  • Forgive yourself.
  • Simplify your schedule. Re-prioritize, and prune to the essentials.
  • Stop trying to people-please.
  • Clean out one drawer a week.
  • Pranayama practice:  Exhale for at least 2 counts longer than the inhale. Practice for 10 rounds.

This month in class, we are focusing on releasing 🤲🏼 in order to manifest, grounding 🌍 so that we feel safe to let go, and soothing pranayama 🫁 breath work.  If you haven’t tried one of my classes on MOXIE yet, I’m dropping you a FREE CLASS PASS! 

The newest exercise video is out! Opposite arm/leg raise–sometimes called ‘bird dog’–a simple and very effective core strengthening exercise. Please find it HERE.

In closing, may you find satisfaction in letting go of something, enjoy some good walks in the fresh crisp air of fall, and some some delicious pumpkin spice!

In peace,
Claudia

Potential (puh-ten-shuhl): capable of being or becoming

by Claudia Fountain, posted in newsletter, Seasonal Yoga, Yoga

Every moment in time, every breath, every space in between thought and words contains potential.  Every felt emotion in the body–joy, anger, love, sorrow, fear–holds the seed of potential change.  

The past two weeks for me have been charged with so much emotion.  A tiny furred being that I have had the privilege to live with and take care of for 20 years, is in her twilight days.  The tears I have shed are like a trickling stream, that merges into a river, and eventually unites with the ocean, Source.  

Each experience holds the potential for merging with Source, for learning more about ourselves, for shifting the course of our lives, for GROWTH.  What are our attachments?  What are we avoiding?   What are we not seeing as it is?  

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”  –Anne Frank

This month is about cleansing (think cleaning out your closets, freshening the house, or an Ayurveda Spring dietary cleanse), and uncovering your potential that is hidden behind patterns of thought and habitual movement.

See you on the mat!  

Fall Transitions

by Claudia Fountain, posted in Ayurveda, newsletter, Seasonal Yoga

“To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly.”
–Henri Bergson

Autumn is the season of change and transitions.  From the falling leaves, the subtle browning of the earth, and the hints of crispness in the air, fall signals the shift from growth to dormancy.  Fall brings with it a predominance of the air element (Vata)–think dry, light, rough, windy, erratic, cool, mobile, and empty.

These external, environmental, and energetic qualities are also reflected internally.  Fall holds a certain sense of emptiness that can leave us feeling exposed, spacey, anxious, or disconnected from our ground of being.  But, it is also filled with possibility.  This is the time to ‘strip down’ to a quiet sense of being, to savor simplicity, and to reconnect with our roots.

Here are some seasonal tips for balancing the predominant seasonal fall Vata energy:

  • Choose foods that are warm, cooked, and moist.  Eat lots of warm soups, stews, steamed vegetables, and hearty grains.
  • Drink a warm tea of fresh ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon.
  • Eat more apples, avocados, dates, grapefruit, squash, chilies, beets, onions, amaranth, brown rice, quinoa, kidney beans, miso, butter/ghee, kefir.
  • All spices are good for Vata season: allspice, anise, asafoetida, basil, bay leaf, black pepper, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, dill, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, oregano, paprika, parsley, rosemary, saffron, turmeric.
  • Get consistent, moderate exercise.
  • Practice periods of silence.
  • Use a neti pot to keep the sinuses and lungs clear of congestion.
  • Massage your skin with warm, organic sesame oil, followed by a warm, relaxing shower.
  • Commit to a regular meditation practice to help settle and clear the mind.

This month our yoga practice is filled with warming slow flows, grounding standing postures, and restorative forward folds.

See you on the mat!