☀️ Summer postcard ☀️

Bom dia! Here is the latest and the upcoming in the world of Voilà Yoga. The theme this month is Slowing Down.

I hope you are enjoying some slowness & down time this summer. As always, please hit reply with any questions or comments!

NEWS FROM THE STUDIO

I am enjoying some family time in France and taking a break from teaching for the month of August. Online Private classes can still be scheduled during the summer. Please contact me if you’re interested.

My 2 weekly classes in Lisbon will resume on the first week of September. 

🏄‍♂️ 🏄‍♀️ Also in September, I will be launching a new weekly class: Yoga for Surfers! Thanks to its proximity to world famous waves (in Sintra and Caparica especially), Lisbon is home to a strong surf culture. As a (not great but willing) surfer myself, I am excited to start teaching Yoga sequences that can complement a surfing practice. More info coming soon!

✨ Supta Baddha Konasana

was the pose of the month in July. We did it in almost every class! Propping it up makes it accessible to more bodies. In the first version, the bolster lays on 2 blocks and we place a belt around the top of the thighs and the top of the feet. It’s a nice cooling summer pose to simultaneously open the chest and the hips

✨ Another nice variation of this restorative pose is with a block under each bent leg, and a bolster under your back. Try to do the first pose at the beginning of practice, and this one at the end, and see how your body feels by the second variation. How lovely to be supported and open at the same time!

EASY-TO-DIGEST YOGA PHILOSOPHY

The 8 limbs of Yoga

Some philosophy principles vary from one tradition to the next, but most do agree on the 8 limbs, or pillars, of Yoga as a path to self-realization. Those 8 limbs are, in Sanskrit:  Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. Let’s focus on the first four, or those external to ourselves. 

Some consider they should be taught and practiced in the below order (i.e. one needs to master the asana before practicing pranayama, and then yama and niyama will naturally come next). I believe it’s important to know about them even if you’re only practicing asana. Exact translations of the Sanskrit words can vary slightly, but they are generally understood as follows:

Asana: Posture. What we practice the most in the West, the poses. They aim to transform the physical body to make it strong and supple.

Pranayama: Breath. Breathing exercises to control the breath. They have a calming effect on the nervous system and the breath can be a strong object of meditation.

Yama: Restraints, in the number of five: Ahimsa (non-harming), Satya (truth-telling), Brahmacharya (moderation), Asteya (non-stealing) and Aparigraha (detachment). They are some of the moral qualities that should be practiced by every yogi (and everyone really!) on the path to enlightenment.

Niyama: Observances, also in the number of five. Saucha (cleanliness), Santocha (contentment), Tapas (zeal of life), Swadhyaya (self-study) and Ishawara Pranidhana (surrender). They are positive virtues considered necessary to achieve self-transformation and self-realization.

We will revisit some of these concepts in upcoming newsletters, but if you practice Yoga regularly it’s important to have some context and to understand that Asana is in fact only a small part of the practice. Donna Farhi, whose books I highly recommend, famously said that ultimately “Yoga is about opening the heart more than opening the hips”. Knowing about Yama and Niyama (and eventually abiding by them) allows us to bring our practice away from the mat and into our everyday life. 

LIFE IN LISBON

Summer in the city

Summer weekends in Spring and Summer in Lisbon are mostly spent at the beach. And since moving here I have happily been learning about and embracing the local culture of beach restaurants. In California, the only options for lunch or dinner on the sand were either incredibly expensive or extremely cheap. Here, it’s easy to find good food with a good view, all for a fairly good price. Praia Piscina is one of those places. 

Lastly, here are a few things I loved in July: this podcast with Gloria Steinem, this article and this video about posting photos of our kids online, and this kombucha.

And a quote, why not. 
”Religion is politics in the sky, mostly. Spirituality is in everything, in all living things.” Gloria Steinem, on the difference between religion and spirituality, on the above-mentioned podcast. 

I was never a religious person, but spirituality speaks to me. It’s about believing in something grander than ourselves, and seeing the light within each of us. To learn more about Gloria Steinem, an iconic women and civil rights movements activist, check out this great Google Arts page about her home and her life. 

⛱️ I hope you’re having a colorful and restful summer. Here’s a little postcard from Sintra ⛱️

FROM LISBON, WITH LIGHT ✨