⚖️ The balancing act of October ⚖️
NEWS FROM THE STUDIO
I am now officially teaching 3 classes weekly in Lisbon! I’m so excited! All of them take place in Campo de Ourique.
⚖️ In honor of Libras month, our theme for October is Balance (and Arms Balance!)
🏄🏄♂️ Yoga for Surfers
📅 Every Wednesday 9am at Studio Organic Flow
👩🍼🤰Baby & Me - Prenatal & Postnatal
📅 Every Wednesday 11am at Studio Organic Flow
🧘♀️🧘♂️ Mindful Flow - Slow Vinyasa
📅 Every Friday 12.30pm at Yoga no Bairro
You can book your mat here. Classes are limited to 8 students. Online Private classes can also be scheduled on demand, contact me to learn more.
This new weekly group class is specifically designed for the surfers bodies. We focus on strengthening & stretching the shoulder, neck and knee joints, and opening the hips and chest.
Join me and learn new moves to improve your balance, focus and overall physicality on the board, and please share this with all the surfers in your life
NB: it’s an all-level but vigorous class: no previous Yoga experience is required but you must be in good physical condition.
EASY-TO-DIGEST YOGA PHILOSOPHY
The 8 limbs of Yoga (continued)
It may help to visualize those limbs as actual arms or legs composing the core of our practice, all of them connected through a common body, all interwoven and interdependent.
Today we go more in-depth into the Yamas, the first of those eight limbs. As a reminder, the Yamas (Restraints) are in the number of five: Ahimsa, Satya, Brahmacharya, Asteya and Aparigraha. They are some of the moral qualities that should be practiced by every yogi (and everyone really!) on their path to a wiser life.
Ahimsa: non-harming, non-violence or compassion for all living things. This is a good reminder to be kind and supportive with our peers but also with ourselves. It is difficult to extend to others what we can hardly apply to ourselves. Self-love can be a lengthy and complex process but it’s worth the work and Yoga can be a helpful tool to get started with it.
Satya: commitment to the truth. This concept is pretty simple to grasp, however, applying it on a daily basis is actually far from easy. It starts with speaking and living our own truth, and being true to ourselves. Sometimes that means leaving things, places, jobs or even people behind, so we can be more honest (and eventually more at peace) with who we truly are.
Brahmacharya: this is usually understood as the moderation of sexual energy. Instead of thinking of it as celibacy, we can question the optimal way to direct or redirect this energy. Could we use it to reconnect with our spiritual self? I will deliberately leave this question wide open . Food for thoughts.
Asteya: non-stealing. The obvious principle of not stealing material things but also of not taking more than we need of the “free” things, such as people’s time and energy.
Aparigraha: detachment. In Buddhism, attachment, resistance to change and holding onto things (or places, people, the past, etc.), cause suffering and prevent us from being free. Haven’t we all experienced a time in our lives when we were holding onto something (or someone) so tightly that it actually hurt us more than it served us?
Next week, we will go over the five Niyamas (observances) composing the second limb of Yoga.
NB: You can access the previous newsletters and more context about the 8 limbs of Yoga here.
LIFE IN LISBON
Indian Summer
Like most places in Europe right now, the weather in Lisbon has been hot for the season. Truth be told, I find 30 degrees days in October more scary than enjoyable; even the ocean feels warm (which is not typical in Portugal). For some, those sunny beach days might be as a welcome follow-up to the always-too-short summer…but come on, bring on some real Fall weather now! I’m ready to wear a sweater.
After spending a delicious evening with good friends visiting from Australia at Prado, I was eager to share that gem of a restaurant with the world!
It’s modern Portuguese, with produce sourced from local farmers and purveyors. The whole experience, from the food, to the decor to the service was so perfect that I wholeheartedly recommend it, to locals and visitors alike. We were lucky to get a table last minute, but this place usually gets booked months in advance so plan ahead. I eat a mostly vegetarian diet (with little fish) and the highlights of the seasonal menu for me were the Butternut squash with whey & brown butter and the Oyster mushrooms with massa pimentão & buckwheat. And for dessert, the Mushroom ice cream, with caramel & pearl barley was surprisingly subtle yet interesting.
Lastly, here are a few things I loved in September: this playlist, this Instagram account and especially this post. I’ve started reading the Artist’s way by Julia Cameron, so I’ve embarked on that 12-week program and started writing morning pages. I’ll share an update on that in a few weeks.
And a quote, why not.
”There are only two ways to influence human behavior. You can manipulate it or you can inspire it.” Simon Sinek
Simon Sinek is an American writer and inspirational speaker, famous for his “Start with why” video & book. If you are not yet familiar with his work, I highly recommend checking it out.
A little postcard from a lovely stay at the Bukubaki eco-lodge in Peniche: beautiful, immersed in nature, family-friendly & good vibes.
Highly recommended for a weekend getaway just an hour and a half from Lisbon!
🌲 Wooden bungalows up in the trees 🌲
🛹 And even a skate bowl 🛹
✨ FROM LISBON, WITH LIGHT ✨
